2011 06/22-06/28

MANILA MAIL COMMUNITY

Starting this month, the lovely Rhian Ramos stars in GMA Pinoy TV’s Spooky Nights Presents: Snow White Lady and the Seven Ghosts.

Sharon Cuneta will collide head-on with Ai-Ai de las Alas in Reno, Nevada when she performs at the Silver Legacy Resort & Casino on Sunday, July 3, 2011. Ai-Ai de las Alas' show will be at the adjoining Grand Sierra Resort & Casino.

Elite Model and Viva Contract Artist, Coraleen Waddell (she's also former Manila Mail 'Magandang Filipina') shows off the latest in Forever 21 trend at the recently concluded Philippine Fashion Week. Coraleen also regularly appears in TV5's remake of 'Bagets,' the TV series. Reports have it that TV5 is coming soon in July/Aug on your cable TV here in North America.

San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee, right and Entertainment Commissioner Al Perez at thePhilippine Independence Day Celebration in San Francisco.

Belated Happy Birthday to TFC's Keesa Ocampo (June 20), last seen publicly doing her best emceeing at the 113th Philippine Independence Day Event at the SF City Hall. Personally, Keesa's one of the nicest high-profile persons I have ever met.

The Agooenians of America, Inc. presented their candidates for Mrs. Agooenian of America 2012 ( L-R , Jackie Gali Doctolero, Emma Ronquillo Martinez, Ma. Arabella Ballesil Liwag) during their June 5, 2011 meeting at the Mt. Hamilton Grange Hall in San Jose, CA. The first canvassing will be held on July 2, 2011. For more info, visit www.agooenians.com

Meet the new owners/managers of Smiling Jack Station, a Boiling Crab-type restaurant with live band music, more parking spaces and more (L-R) Beth Aranzamendez, Ramon Aranzamendez & Nora Vidal. They are located at 14680 Washington Ave, San Leandro, CA 94578 Phone (510) 483-8250 (between Halcyon Dr & Caliente Dr).

The husband and wife team of Denie & Joy Ortega (both from Zamboanga) is the unbeatable managing force of Econo Lodge Bay Breeze located at 2049 Fremont Blvd, Seaside, CA 93955. When in the Monterey area, don't ask for any other discount - but the "Filipino" discount - it's the lowest!

TV5 IS COMING TO THE U.S.!

(Nothing, nobody can stop the already unstoppable TV5)

TO-BE-SEEN IN THE CITY

The 60^th Annual Cable Show held last week (June 14-16, 2011) in Chicago brought back interesting news that will impact the television landscape of Filipinos and Fil-Americans in the US and other parts of the globe. And those news are all about TV5.

Before anything else, what is this cable show about? Well, the Annual Cable Show, according to their company website, “is hosted by the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) and it is a 3-day immersion into everything cable can do. The people, the platforms and the potential for new business growth are all here, along with the invaluable attributes only a live event like The Cable Show can deliver. You'll hear idea-inspiring panel sessions on the latest thinking in content delivery, consumer behavior and technology breakthroughs. You'll see first-hand demonstrations of new concepts for programming, technology and business support. You'll network with colleagues and be introduced to decision-makers and leaders who will influence your career and foster your success.

The Cable Show brings together the full spectrum of the global cable industry, fostering fresh dialogues with leaders of the entertainment and high-tech sectors to encourage collaboration and business relationships. And as always, The Cable Show serves as an important forum for news announcements, product introductions and the unveiling of strategic decisions that will shape the industry agenda in the coming years.”

Attendees to the cable show included top executives from the TV stations in the Philippines and in the US, who rubbed elbows with the shakers of movers from Fox, HBO, FX, Disney, Discovery, among others (I counted 271 cable exhibitors in their published list).

Words reaching this column, is that a lot of the attendees & exhibitors are all gaga about TV5. I have yet to get a confirmation from TV5, but the newest addition to our television channel is reportedly in turn-key condition to be broadcast effective this coming July and the latest is in August. A massive “recession-friendly” marketing campaign is already being laid out to lure cable subscribers. A TV5 office is reportedly being prepared to open soon here in San Francisco (clue, was their survey staff seen shopping at a nearby Goodwill store). And take this – a huge roadshow starring Willie Revillame and his TV5 entourage is coming to perform here in the United States sometime in December this year.

And everything is all set, except for one more thing – a yet-to-be-hired singular executive who has the experience, capacity, network of connection to make it all happen for TV5. Someone who has done this massive undertaking before.

As of last Sunday night, I got a word that, that executive has been found. And he reportedly accepted. And he is happy. And his bosses at his current station don’t know it yet.

In respect of the privacy of our friends on both stations, we are withholding the name of that high-profile executive. Don’t worry as an official announcement (from either station, or both) is forthcoming, definitey.

Abangan ang susunod na kabanata!

SEEN IN THE CITY

“GUNS AND ROSES” PILOTS WITH A BANG!

“Guns and Roses”, the newest television series on The Filipino Channel (TFC) debuted strongly as it took over its Philippine timeslot during its pilot episode last Monday (June 6).

Hitting a national rating of 29.9% according to Kantar Media, “Guns and Roses” gunned down GMA 7’s “Amaya” which only earned a 17.4% national rating. “Guns and Roses” also beat TV 5’s “Wil Time Big Time” (9.5%).

Lead stars of the Kapamilya primetime series namely Robin Padilla and Bea Alonzo are very happy with the outcome of their series’ first episode. “We’re very happy. Matagal rin kasi naming pinaghandaan ito. Worth it lahat ng preparation namin para mapaganda ‘di lamang ang pilot kundi ang buong palabas,” Bea shared.

“Maraming salamat po sa lahat ng nag-abang at nanood ng pilot po namin. Asahan ninyong mas gaganda pa ang mga susunod na mga tagpo,” Robin mentioned.

“Guns and Roses” airs worldwide on TFC via cable, direct-to-home satellite, and internet. To watch the pilot episode for free, log on to tfcnow.abs-cbn.com, the largest collection of official TFC content online. For more updates, visit www.abs-cbnglobal.com.

Briefs & Shorts

The Megastar, Sharon Cuneta will be performing in Reno, NV in “MEGA UPCLOSE 2011” together with her special guest, Angeline Quinto on Sunday, July 3, 2011 at the Silver Legacy Resort & Casino in Reno. For tickets and sponsorship information, please call Maribeth B. Ugalde @ (510) 734-1348 or email maribethbugalde@ymail.com

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"Do you know what schools I've been to? How well-educated I am?" by a “well-educated” woman aboard New York's Metro North train line last Friday who was video recorded (and posted online which later became viral) by a fellow passenger telling train employees that she is too "well-educated" to be told to quiet down and not use profanity in her cellphone conversation. The “well-educated” woman talking loudly on her cellphone was later kicked out of the train. Yeah!

This article also appears online at www.FilipinoVillage.com and http://sites.google.com/site/adkinsmmcevents/Home/ with readership in 128 countries now (& still counting!) according to the latest Google Analytics report.

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