2011 03/09-03/15

MANILA MAIL COMMUNITY

Thia Megia, 15, sang Irene Cara's "Out Here On My Own" (from the movie 'Fame') almost a capella and puts Mountain House, CA on the map by making it to American Idol Season 10's Top 10 (without the wildcards) last Thursday night.

Don't miss Engchong Dee (together with 17 more artists) in StarMagic 18 World Tour at SJSU Event Center Arena in San Jose, CA on Saturday, 7:00PM, April 16th.

GMA-7's "Dwarfina," starring Heart Evangelistsa & Dennis Trillo continues to dominate domestic ratings.

WBC and WBO Bantamweight Champion Nonito Donaire, Jr. and wife Rachel ended theirfamily feud but waged a new war - this time with the sportswriters who they blame for their family troubles. Photo by www.philstar.com

International Singer Lea Salonga will perform this Friday & Saturday, March 11 & 12, respectively at Club 88 of the Cache Creek Resort & Casino. Call (650) 826-0326 for tickets.

Belated Happy Birthday to Fremont's Mary Jo Montano.

Belated Happy Birthday also to San Ramon's Abby Borgonia

Gerald Anderson, who celebrated his birthday on March 7th will be seen in San Jose on "StarMagic 18 World Tour" on Saturday, 7:00PM, April 16th, 2011 at the SJSU Events Center Arena. Call (510) 828-4792 for tickets.

Belated happy birthday too, to Teofila Lao of San Ramon, CA.

Thia Megia Makes Top 10

(All 3 ‘American Idol’ judges have the most heartwarming praises for her talent)

TO-BE-SEEN IN THE CITY

Congratulations folks, your coordinated voting efforts last Wednesday night safely put Fil-Am singing phenom Thia Megia on American Idol’s Elite Top Ten, minus the 3 wild cards, (dubbed as the Crème de la Crème of the Mother of all AI competitions – the best they ever had!). At 15, she is the youngest finalist of the show, ever. They lowered the audition age from 16 last year to 15 just this season. Can’t wait for the California audition, Thia flew to Milwaukee to audition there, a decision she didn’t regret.

This Columnist spoke to Thia Megia’s elder sister Lia Megia from Mountain House, CA before the elimination round last Thursday, the highest rating the show had since 2007 (25 million viewers watched) . As we have gathered, their mother, Cynthia is from Pampanga while their father, Loreto is from Manila. Thia’s a former contestant at America’s Got Talent where she didn’t make it through the finals. She’s been singing since age 4 and her passion for music was very evident during the American Idol auditions up until her solo performance last Wednesday where she got nothing but good praises from all 3 judges. With no music and just a spotlight on stage, on the first half of her ‘Out here on right own’ (song from Irene Cara’s performance in the movie ‘Fame’), the audiences heard nothing but the purest high-grade quality of her young voice. Critics have called her a ‘robot’ for being always on pitch during her performances. Host Ryan Seacrest jokingly demanded further proof that she’s only 15. Judge Steven said that they did a good job judging all the good talent this year making it difficult to eliminate. But Thia made it easy for him – for she did a good job. Judge Jennifer said her performance was very special in the middle of all the big performances that night. Randy said she reminded him of Michael Jackson (the mark of all great singers - the quality of the voice) the first time they heard her sing.

Thia’s singing her favorite artist’s song (this week’s theme) this competition Wednesday, folks, so get ready with your dialing fingers to vote her again! To prepare, make sure you paid your cable & phone bills, spread the good news around and encourage other household members to participate.

There are 4 ways to vote for Thia Megia on AI – by calling, by text, by online voting (www.AmericanIdol.com) and by your family & friends in other parts of the world, that have magic jacks (they have US numbers too!). Hey, it’s a very good family bonding moment when all of you in the household are glued to the show every Wednesday & Thursday. As they say – the family that votes together, stays together!

SEEN IN THE CITY

GMA Network continues nationwide television dominance in the Philippines

(Manila, Philippines) Philippine broadcast industry leader GMA Network, Inc. (GMA) continued its winning ratings performance that swept through National Urban Philippines this February. The Kapuso station dislodged rival station ABS-CBN in the number one position at the start of 2011.

According to the full February data (February 20 to 28 based on overnight readings) from the more widely recognized industry ratings supplier Nielsen TV Audience Measurement, GMA ate up 34.2 percent of household audience shares nationwide, 2.2 percent bigger than ABS’ 32 share points; and 19.3 points higher than TV5’s 14.9 points.

GMA booked 16 programs in the list of overall top 30 programs nationwide. GMA News and Public Affairs’ (N&PA) Kapuso Mo , Jessica Soho was television’s highest rated public affairs program nationwide with a household rating point of 22.1.

In Total Urban Luzon, which makes up 77 percent of total television households nationwide, GMA enjoys top rank with ABS and TV5 remaining behind by huge margins. GMA finished its February programming with 37.9 household share points, more than 10 points higher than ABS’ 27 points; and up by 21.2 points from TV5’s 16.7.

Including specials, there were 21 GMA-produced programs that made it to the top 30 programs in Urban Luzon. The Charice Home for Valentine’s scored a high 27.2 household rating points on the board.

GMA also strengthened its grip in viewer-rich Mega Manila, which comprises 58 percent of total television households nationwide. For the covered period, GMA scored 39.4 share points, or a 14.3-point lead from ABS’ 25.1; and higher by more than twofold than TV5’s 17.3.

As always, top Mega Manila programs came from GMA. With specials, there were 23 Kapuso programs that made it to the top 30 programs in the said area. Of the top 10 programs on chart, eight were from GMA. Among the top raters for February were News and Public Affairs programs 24 Oras, Kapuso Mo Jessica Soho and Imbestigador; entertainment programs Dwarfina, Machete, Magic Palayok, Koreana, Alakdana, My Lover, My Wife and I Heart You Pare; Koreanovelas Tempation of Wife and The Baker King and the all-time hit Eat Bulaga. Newly-launched program of ABS the Price is Right did not make it to the list.

The Nielsen TV Audience Measurement used by GMA is used by 21 companies including two other local TV networks, namely, TV5 and Solar Entertainment; Faulkner Media; CBN Asia; 13 advertising agencies and three regional clients. On the other hand, ABS-CBN is the only local network reportedly subscribing to Kantar Media, formerly known as TNS.

In Mega Manila alone, the Nielsen TV Audience Measurement has a sample size of 880 homes as compared to Kantar Media’s 770 homes. Nationwide, Nielsen has a total sample size of 2,005 homes compared to the lower sample size of 1,370 utilized by Kantar Media.

GMA Network’s top-rating programs can be seen worldwide on GMA Pinoy TV, the network’s flagship international channel (Channel 369 on Comcast Cable).

PERSONAL NOTES

Briefs & shorts The Donaire father & son have reconciled in Castro Valley, CA and now, Rachel Donaire (Nonito Donaire, Jr.’s wife) is blaming the media for exaggerating their family misunderstandings… Yahoo reports that Best Buy is still struggling to entice customers, 2 years after knocking out Circuit City who went bankrupt, and the worst is yet to come…Latest Twitter feuds have ABS-CBN Actress Angelica Panganiban planning to sue Philippine Azkals fan for libel - she tweeted football star player Phil Younghusband should focus on the sports not do an indie movie and the Azkals fans responded not very nicely, calling Angelica unprintable names and calling her boyfriend an ‘athlete wannabe,’ among others…Verizon iPhone sales are reported to be lackluster. Reports have it that that AT&T iPhones are faster than Verizon’s…iPad 2 will start selling starting March 11^th…Borders Group recently filed for Bankruptcy protection…Stockton, CA is named as America’s Most Miserable City, again, by Forbes Magazine…Belated Happy Birthdays to Abby Borgonia & Teofila Lao of San Ramon, and Mary Jo Montano of Fremont.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"Your tone, when we first heard you reminded me so much of the late, great Michael Jackson, and I love it. It's infectious from the first note you sang." – by the last remaining original judge on American Idol – Randy Jackson to 15-year old Fil-Am Thia Megia during last Wednesday night’s Top 24 elimination round. Thia made it Top 10 (minus the 3 wildcards) last Thursday night.

This article also appears online at www.FilipinoVillage.com and http://sites.google.com/site/adkinsmmcevents/Home/ with readership in 115 countries now (& still counting!) according to the latest Google Analytics report.

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