Pilita Corrales, a Golden Diva

Pilita Corrales is holding her Golden Divas concert tonight and tomorrow, March 7 and 8th at 8pm at the Music Museum in Manila. To celebrate, here's an exclusive video of a popular song of hers in the Philippines sung in Spanish, "A Media Luz." You won't find this anywhere else on the web, it's an exclusive made by yours truly. Also, a picture of Ms. Corrales singing with American singing legend Sammy Davis, Jr. of Frank Sinatra's famous "Rat Pack", and her opening the Beatles' Manila concert during the 60s. She is legendary, this beautiful award-winning, multi-lingual talented and still sexy as ever Filipina woman. If ever there is a single woman to represent everything beautiful about our rich Filipino heritage, history, culture, our people and achievements in this world, it is Pilita Corrales. Mabuhay!

Pilita Corrales (born 22 August 1939 in Cebu City, Philippines) is a famous Filipina folk musical recording artist, who is widely referred to as Asia's Queen of Songs, having produced over 135 albums in her music career spanning over four decades.

Pilita Corrales was born in Cebu City, Cebu in 1939. Her father was a Spaniard and her mother was Cebuana. She is multi-lingual and speaks Spanish, English, Tagalog, and Cebuano fluently. After finishing her studies at Colegio de la Inmaculada Concepcion in her native land of Cebu, she went to Spain to enroll in a finishing school in music. In 1958, Pilita began her recording career after arriving with a shipwrecked troupe of performers in Melbourne. She left her mark by becoming the first woman to make the Australian pop charts with a local recording called 'Come Closer to Me'. She became a star of the Melbourne TV circuit and her first hit, Come Closer to Me, became part of a collection on which she’s billed as one of the Grand Dames of Melbourne Radio and Television.

Pilita holds the distinction of being the first female artist to top the Australian pop music charts long before Helen Reddy, Olivia Newton-John and Kylie Minogue. Pilita also recorded at least 3 LPs in the late 1950s-early 1960s: Pilita with Arthur Young :Pilita tells The Story of Love, I'll Take Romance and This is Pilita under Astor Records. Being one of the pioneers of Australia's early television years, a street was named after her outside Melbourne. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) recently featured Pilita and several pioneering female artists in Australia in the 2nd episode of the highly acclaimed TV special, Love is in the Air. Pilita returned to Manila during the mid 1960s to pursue a career in the Philippine music industry. Her Philippine career began when she hosted a radio program La Taverna over DZPI where she sang Spanish songs and played the guitar. She performed regularly in stage shows at the Manila Grand Opera House. Subsequently, her reputation grew and during her international stints, she has performed with internationally acclaimed artists like Sammy Davis Jr. the Beatles, Bob Hope, Pat Boone, Frank Sinatra and Julie Andrews. She also appeared in movies, most of them musicals. Her film debut was a lead role in the 1968 film Miss Wawaw, and was followed by 11 more movies for the next two years. Pilita later recorded numerous albums in Spanish in the early 60s as well as numerous long playing albums in English, Tagalog and Cebuano during the 1970s under Vicor Music Corporation. Her multiawarded TV program at ABS-CBN, An Evening with Pilita (1965-1972), is widely considered as one of the benchmarks in Philippine broadcasting history.

Pilita frequently performed for Seeing Stars with J@e Quirino in IBC-Channel 13 after the martial law years where she demonstrated her range as a gifted performer of Spanish, English, Cebuano and Tagalog music. Aquarius Record Philippines produced a compilation of Pilita's Spanish songs in CDs like Noche de Ronda, Vaya Con Dios. Her signature song A Million Thanks to You was translated in seven languages. She eventually recorded songs composed by Filipino composers like Danny Holmsen, George Canseco, Willy Cruz, Ryan Cayabyab and several others. Under Vicor Records, Pilita interpreted numerous Filipino classics and introduced them to younger audiences.

Pilita first met Canseco in Your Evening with Pilita (aired on pre-Martial Law ABS-CBN) as a guest in the composers' portion of the show". For the show Canseco brought with him You're All I Love. Canseco later wrote Filipino lyrics for the song, which became Kapantay ay Langit, the first song Canseco sold to a record label in 1966. The song was first recorded by Amapola for the movie theme of Kapantay Ay Langit starring Marlene Dauden and Eddie Rodríguez. The song won for George Canseco and Amapola the Manila Film Festival award for best song of the year. The song did not fare well commercially, because Amapola had left (for her U.S. concert tours) and the song was not promoted properly, according to Canseco during an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer. But when Pilita revived the song, it turned into a classic and defied trends and time. "The song," Pilita said, "was included in my album Philippine Love Songs Vol. 1, which was released in the early 1970s."

Through the personal invitation of Sammy Davis Jr., Pilita became the first Filipino to sing in Caesars Palace. In her concert in Caesars Palace, Las Vegas during the late 70s, Pilita sang Spanish, English, Cebuano and Tagalog songs, all conducted and arranged by Ryan Cayabyab.

After receiving a 1965 Philippine Citizen's Award for TV as Best TV Female Performer, Pilita went on to receive Cecil, Aliw, Tinig and Awit and several other awards for her performances and lifetime achievement. In 1990, she received a Merit Award from the FAMAS Awards. In 1991, she was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Philippine Association of the Record Industry (PARI) for bringing Filipino musical artistry to international audience. She also holds the distinction of being the first Filipino to win in an international music festival by bagging the Best Performer Award during the 1st Tokyo Music Festival (1972) where she bested numerous international artists including the highly-regarded Olivia Newton-John.

These days she operates Pilita, a restaurant-bar in Greenhills, one of Manila's prime commercial districts. She is also a highly-acclaimed host and comedy actress on Philippine television. With over 135 albums to her credit and an international profile with many appearances in Asia, the Middle East, Australia and North America, she still enjoys a reputation as “singing icon and living legend.”

In 2006, Pilita Corrales was handpicked by Associated Broadcasting Company (ABC Channel 5) and FremantleMedia to be one of the celebrity-judges for the first-ever nationwide search for the Philippine Idol together with composer Ryan Cayabyab and rapper Francis Magalona. She was a judge in the first Asian Idol held in Indonesia, representing Philippine Idol.

Corrales has two children, Lourdes Jacqueline Blanco (commonly known as "Jackielou" Blanco) and Ramón Christopher Gutíerrez. Both her two children are also well known celebrity figures in the Philippine Film Industry.

Corrales was married in 1963, to the late executive businessman Gonzalo Blanco and separated soon after, while her daughter "Jackielou" was still a child. Gonzalo later died in 1981.

Corrales gave birth to her second child, Ramón Christopher, in 1971. Ramón's father is actor Eddie Gutíerrez.

On May 22, 2001, Pilita married Paraguayan businessman Carlos Lopez.

Attention Aspiring Musicians!
Here's your chance at becoming famous and winning a record production contract!
Pilita Corrales' Worldwide Song Competition
has been extended until September 21, 2008, 12 midnight, Manila time.
Watch the video above for more info.
In Pilita's own words...

"PWSC, or Pilita’s World Song Competition, is an idea I owe to my fans. For nearly four decades I received thousands of original compositions sent to me for possible recording and/or promotion.

Thanks to Alborada Productions, Inc., this idea finally materialized in the form of a songwriting competition.

PWSC is the first ever World Song Competition of its kind. It seeks to find the best melodies on the web for lyrics that I have written in Spanish, English and Tagalog, with the end objective of having the songs recorded in the ultimate album of my career, 'PILITA BEYOND ETERNITY'.

Amateur or professional songwriters will be tested to the limit as we hope to find the most inspiring melodies that will be the perfect match to the eleven sets of lyrics, which I wrote with equal inspiration. We will select two winning melodies for each set of lyrics and both songs will be recorded.

PWSC will produce a double-album containing twenty-two songs. The winners will become co-authors/producers, with a 40% share in all royalties that will be derived from the album to be divided equally amongst them. PWSC reserves 60% of the said royalties for production and promotional costs.

This is my invitation to you to make your dream, and mine, come true. Together as one, we can create beautiful songs which I hope will not simply be enjoyed but will endure BEYOND ETERNITY.

- Pilita Corrales "

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Frank Sinatra in the Philippines

SERIALIZATION: The Traveler and the Gate Checkers
"Manila My Way, Boss"
Part 1: The elusive Miss Belgium
By Ted Lerner

The skinny taxi driver with one white towel wrapped around his neck and another wrapped like a bandana around his forehead fiddled with his pair of tweezers, waiting for the car in front of us to inch forward. We were stuck in another monstrous traffic squall, the kind that much of the world thinks is positively unbearable, but people in Manila just yawn at and take for granted. While he waited for the traffic to open up, the driver continually stuck the tweezers into his nose and plucked out tiny nose hairs. Each time he did this, he took the freshly plucked hair and wiped it on the middle part of the steering wheel. I could see that he'd been doing this since before I got in his cab because the steering wheel was covered with probably 20 nose hairs. When a space did open up, he quickly dropped the tweezers in his lap and literally peeled out, lurching forward ten or 15 meters then pounding on the brakes when the traffic came to an abrupt halt.

His cab was somewhat old and a rattling noise came continually from the back. The nose hairs, the rattles and the continual whiplash and the near nausea it all induced would normally have made me miserable and cranky. But at least his air-conditioner worked well. And in the sweltering late June heat of Manila, that's a bonus one doesn't take lightly. I was also listening intently to his radio, which he had turned up loudly to an AM talk show where they were talking about Frank Sinatra. The 78-year-old Sinatra was in Manila for four concerts, starting the following night.

The hosts on the radio were interviewing Sinatra's publicist on the phone from the Manila Hotel, where Sinatra was staying. The publicist pointed out that though Frank had never been to Manila before, he knew he had legions of fans in the country and was excited about performing. The hosts talked about how much money Sinatra would be earning in Manila. Four shows, four nights, a whopping quarter million dollars per show. They talked about the exorbitant ticket prices: From $50 all the way up to $800 for the front rows. The hosts gushed and the publicist promised nothing short of heaven. Indeed Sinatra in Manila was for Filipinos almost like having the Pope come to town. Frank's songs are a part of the social fabric of the Philippines. Every single one of the millions of karaoke machines that dot the Philippines is loaded with Sinatra classics.

The song "My Way" is perhaps the most preferred song when the drinks start flowing and the karaoke gets turned on. The song is so popular, and singing it is taken so seriously, that dozens have literally died because of "My Way." Perhaps someone laughed while a buddy was singing during a drinking spree, or someone didn't like the way the guy at the other table clapped after he tried to imitate Frank. It's always a ridiculously stupid reason but, no matter, out comes the fan knife or the pistol and wham!-it ends in a liquored-up flash, another senseless death due to "My Way." I wondered if Frank was aware that so many had died because of that song.

Apparently 6,000 people a night would be attending the shows but I knew I had no intention of going. I'd never gotten into the Sinatra myth. I always considered Sinatra to be of another generation. I was raised on rock and eventually ventured into things like reggae, funk and salsa. Frank just never caught my imagination. I had never seen him and had little interest in seeing him in Manila. It sounded like something for the old folks and sentimentalists. Anyway, at that point, my main concern was getting my hands on someone perhaps more popular than Ol' Blue Eyes, at least in Manila anyway. Her name was Christelle Roelandts.

Christelle Roelandts? Although she was probably the most popular person in the Philippines at the time, even Filipinos didn't know her by her real name. Mention the moniker, "Miss Belgium," however, and you'd get quite a different reaction.

The Miss Universe pageant had been held a month prior in Manila. Although she didn't win, and didn't even make it into the top ten, Miss Belgium was the one contestant who nearly brought the country to its knees. Her innocent, vulnerable and voluptuous features made her the instant favorite among the beauty pageant-crazed public and press in the Philippines, all of whom mobbed her wherever she went.

The country simply fell in love with her. Anything she did drew crazed interest and a horde of people. The four Belgian neckties that Miss Belgium donated to the Miss Universe charity auction fetched a hefty total of $400. Miss Belgium even complained that a woman was waiting to take her picture as she came out of the stall in the ladies' room. There were several stories about men who got in knife fights over who was more beautiful, Miss Belgium or Miss Philippines. This was how big Miss Belgium had become in the Philippines, as big as Sinatra. Normally it would take a botched version of "My Way" to set off a murderous brawl. But in this instance, which occurred during a drinking spree, two men had taken Miss Belgium's side while one argued for Miss Philippines. The two men attacked the Miss Philippines supporter and killed him.

"She's a natural beauty," said a doorman at the Manila Hotel, where the contestants stayed.

"She's mysterious and intriguing," said one of the hotel's supervisors. Explained one Filipino reporter, "Miss Belgium is the typical girl any Filipino male would love. Filipinos love mestizas-white skin, tall, with a face like a doll. She looks so vulnerable."

I had covered the Miss Universe pageant a month before and was trying to write a story on the event for a magazine back in the States. I was able to get a lot of pictures of the contestants during the pageant but nothing good of Miss Belgium. Each day for a month, the pageant organizers had put out photos for sale of the contestants and you couldn't even get near a shot of Miss Belgium, unless you felt like elbowing people in the head. Men and women were acting like stark raving lunatics trying to get their hands on her pictures. This spawned a thriving black market in copies of Miss Belgium's photos. In June, one month after the pageant, underground copies of her photo were still the hottest selling item on the streets of Manila.

In Manila if you want something from the underground, you're very likely to find it in the teeming madness that is Quiapo, where you can just about get anything your heart desires, and doesn't desire, as well. I was also informed that Quiapo had a street known for its many photo shops. I figured Miss Belgium could definitely be found down there.

The taxi finally crossed over the Pasig River and crept along in traffic through the old city of Manila. I knew we were near Quiapo but wasn't quite sure exactly where the area began. One bright spot about being stuck in a monstrous traffic snarl is that oftentimes it affords you the luxury of some good people watching. As befits a place where supposedly you could get just about anything you wanted-or didn't want-Manila never failed to give the appearance that chaos reigned. People were everywhere and the crowds were thick. Nobody seemed to follow any kind of rules, such as crossing at the intersection, or on green. They just walked when they wanted, in and out of the idling cars. The sidewalks were littered with vendors selling everything imaginable; fresh fruits, newspapers, cheap toys and electronics and imported hardware.

"Boss I want to go to Quiapo," I reminded the taxi driver.

"Yes Quiapo, I know," he said, "but heavy traffic. I know short cut." When a Manila taxi driver tells you he knows a short cut, it often turns out to be a short cut to disaster. I was pretty sure Quiapo was to the right, but he found an opening and veered left around a large church. Ten minutes later we were still stuck in traffic. I figured I was pretty much near the place so I decided to get out and walk. When I paid him I noticed his steering wheel was littered with dozens of nose hairs.

It was a searing hot and sunny afternoon. I stood on the sidewalk outside the Sta. Cruz Parish Church, which teemed with the faithful. The large doors to the church stood wide open and people strolled through into the sultry, cavernous parish. Near the entrance stood a statue of the Virgin Mary. As a white robed priest spoke dryly in English, the newcomers stopped by the statue, dipped their hand in the holy water, made the sign of the cross then took their places among the subdued throng.

I strolled up the sidewalk past the gates of the church. Everywhere people had set up makeshift businesses. Vendors sold pirated tapes, a new fangled screw driver with a tag that blared, "As Seen on TV!", various knickknacks and cheap jewelry and accessories. One man had a table full of miniature Buddhas. Nearby, a blind man played harmonica while holding out his cup. A few steps down, a family had set up a makeshift carinderia (canteen); a small gas tank provided the flame while on the stone ledge sat a small bowl of raw fish, a bowl of vegetables and a pot of rice. Further on I stumbled upon several guys selling various sexual potions, love oils and a stunning array of sexual devices known as French ticklers. One of them had photos of the Miss Universe contestants, including the coveted Miss Belgium.

He wanted 25 pesos for each photo but I didn't like their look. The pictures were photos taken of other photos and the quality was poor. I was sure I'd be able to find plenty of good stuff in the photo district, if I could ever find it. In the winding, narrow alleys and congested streets of old Manila, I suddenly realized the real Miss Belgium could prove elusive. So I flagged down a calesa (horse drawn carriage.)

"Boss I want to go to Quiapo," I said. "There's a street there with many photo shops."

"Yes, boss no problem. Quiapo. Photo shops." In mere moments we were trotting down a curving back alleyway, past an off track betting shop and several buildings that were either run down or under construction. Around a corner we came across a busy, clogged commercial area containing mostly hardware stores with signs written in English and Chinese. I quickly got the feeling that the driver was taking me on a tour of Manila's Chinatown before he took me to Quiapo. For sure he would charge me for it later. But I wasn't averse to a little sightseeing. Chinatowns the world over usually offer interesting surprises. And riding in a horse drawn carriage under a cooling canopy provided a rather pleasant respite from the broiling sun.

Trucks and pickups lined both sides of the narrow street, making the going stop, start, stop and wait. Everywhere we went guys loaded and unloaded things like steel pipes, cabinets and doors. It was like this for block after block; mostly old and crumbling buildings lining the lanes, black wires strung high on leaning poles careening wildly all over the place and down on the pavement below commerce bringing the streets alive.

Along the way we passed some of the filthiest canals I've ever seen. The pollution level in some of Chinatown's canals can only be described as alarming. The stagnant water looked like it was bubbling with chemicals, mosquitoes and every sort of filth known to humankind, including piles of garbage standing in the still water, festering and reeking. Some creeks were lined by ramshackle squatter homes with tin roofs. Others were lined with dirty concrete apartment buildings.

As soon as we passed by this degradation, though, we came across a shiny new building containing a five star Chinese restaurant or a fancy bakery. I was impressed by the traffic expertise of our small brown horse. He waited patiently while stuck in a traffic snarl and, as soon as a space opened up, he was off trotting at top speed over a bridge and down the street.

I soon lost all sense of direction, which led to the feeling that I was no longer in the Philippines. Indeed Chinatown in Manila feels like another country. It's China with Filipinos doing all the grunt work. The crumbling looking buildings, many adorned with incomprehensible Chinese lettering helped set the scene. But it was more than that. I marveled at how the Chinese do business; they sit inside these old, dank offices and warehouses with piles of invoice books, receipt books, old typewriters, cardboard boxes, whatever they're selling or making strewn and piled everywhere, talking on the telephone all day, watching closely as one little nut and bolt, a piece of wire, a sheet of sandpaper, some gadget for a motor, a styrofoam box, or six steel pipes go out the door. The Chinese sell everything that nobody else knows the origins of; that certain kind of rope, the hard to find nut, the grip that goes over the handle that rolls down your car window. They'll sell one piece or a thousand, earning cents on each but making millions on the whole, no doubt.

Pilita Corrales Spanish song

The legendary Ms. Pilita Corrales sings in Spanish, Tagalog, and English and shows off her sexy legs all in one song: her duet with Janno Gibbs. Don't we all just love her? She's our bellisima reina de canciones, and still amazingly beautiful at the age of whatever her age is right now, which is ageless, hehe.

I was really happy because I remember that during the Latin American parade last September here in Los Angeles, Philippines was part of it, and it was televised nationally in the US, Latin America, and Spain on the Spanish language TV network Univision, which most Filipinos think, ah it's a Spanish language network, it's not important, actually it is, because regardless of it being in Spanish, it gets higher ratings than most of the major English language networks, last year it was the 3rd highest ranking network in the United States, #1 is ABC, #2 NBC, #3 Univision, and Fox, the CW, and MyTV are #4-6, so a lot of people were watching when the song during the part where Philippines was walking down the parade was a Pilita Corrales song, and the announcer said, "What a beautiful dance the Filipinos have, tan cariñosa, and what a beautiful song." I'm sure Ms. Corrales would be so happy to hear the influence she's still having on the world today.

Special thanks to Mr. Francis Magalona for the nice digital photo on the left (you rock Francis as always, you the man, compadre, keep up the great work on your music and your comedy stylings on Eat Bulaga!), which I photoshopped with an old album cover of Ms. Corrales on the right in which she looks amazingly beautiful, as always.

Chad Hugo with Ashlee Simpson

Filipino music producer Chad Hugo, is currently working with American pop artist Ashlee Simpson, sister of Jessica Simpson, on a new album.

Ashlee Simpson was partying Saturday night at Les Deux in L.A. and went home with Chad Hugo, friends said. “She tried to pick up Ryan Phillipe, but he wasn’t interested. So then she hung out with Chad all night and left with him.”

Bamboo Rock Sa Dome

Bamboo, who is also UNICEF's music representative from the Philippines, has to be the best band ever, in this world to me. These are some exclusive digital photos collected from the Bamboo concert at Rock Sa Dome just last week in the Philippines. There are like a million more pictures, but short posts, short posts, importante, we'll post the rest later here and in our new website Filipino Magazine with exclusive videos and interviews.



Shout out to Nikki Miss Dominique, kikaaaaaay! Love ya.

Bamboo - Live at 19 East


Bamboo - Hallelujah


Bamboo - Noypi


Bamboo At UNICEF Inauguration


Bamboo-Masaya


Bamboo - Mr Clay at East 19 Live


Bamboo - In Singapore

Tinikling in Historic Philippines

This is one of the many videos we're working on for the upcoming launch of our new website, Filipino Magazine. I hope you guys like it, the song is from the Tinikling, a traditional Filipino folk dance. There will be an online video gallery full of videos related to Filipino culture, including songs by Pilita Corrales, Bamboo, Francis Magalona, and much more.
Special thanks to Ms. Isabel Preysler and family. These childhood photos are of her and her family in this special video tribute to her home country and our home country, the Philippines.

Tinikling
Tinikling is the most popular and best known dance of the Philippines, receiving acclaim as the national dance. The dance is similar to rope jumping, but instead of a spinning rope, two bamboo poles are hit against blocks on the floor, and then raised up and hit together. Tinikling actually means "bamboo dance" in English. The dance requires one person to operate each end of the poles, and one or more dancers to move in and out of the poles.

Tinikling originated in the Visayan Islands, on the Island of Leyte. Dancers imitate the tikling bird's legendary grace and speed as they walk between grass stems, run over tree branches, or dodge bamboo traps set by rice farmers.

Different stories regarding the origin of tinikling have been passed down through oral histories and folklore. Tinikling is performed on certain Sundays in the Philippines.

Filipino singer-actor Antonio Morales Barreto "Junior" serenades Vilma Santos

Filipino singer-actor Junior (AMB or Antonio Morales Barreto) serenades Vilma Santos in Good Morning Sunshine (1980) with his hit song that he wrote and produced, Yakap.

Junior is the father of current hitmaker Shaila Durcal. Junior is 64 years old now and the oldest of 5 siblings and the Barreto sisters are 28 to circa-40 years old now (yes, they are, money does wonderful things in keeping you young looking and beautiful), and Filipino families are big so it's not uncommon to have cousins and immediate relatives that are twenty even thirty years older than you. But I don't have to tell you that, you probably already do.

Some Filipinos were comparing Claudine Barreto to Shaila Durcal, measuring their beauty against one another as if they were competing celebrities, but they're family by blood, Jesus Christ. But I guess it's normal since Filipinos always compare the beauty of Filipino actors/actresses with their sons/daughters or siblings, speaking of which, in my humble opinion, Gretchen is much more beautiful than her sisters, hehehe. I didn't like it before, but anyway I guess it's all fun, what fun is it having celebs if besides idolizing them, we can't also evaluate their beauty and compare them with each other, hehe.

Thanks to VSTProductions for sharing this great clip with Filipinos!

Antonio Morales Barreto "Junior" in Hola Magazine

So I'm finally talking about Junior, and this was my latest edit on Junior's article from that "encyclopedia" and I'm very happy about it, I added a lot of parts, a lot a lot of parts, including his Filipino movies and the tri-lingual part just because some Pinoys have this presumption that some Filipinos who have Spanish blood lived in an enclave amongst themselves in the Philippines where they only speak Spanish and drink wine and lounge at the pool, it's the image burned into their brains from the stereotypes from Filipino movies, ridiculous because Junior is as Pinoy as any other Filipino out there, and he wrote his songs in Tagalog, and speaks in Tagalog as well, and both of his parents are Filipino, it's just that his father just happens to be of Spanish descent, but he was born and raised in the Philippines making him a Filipino. It's really funny how Filipinos viewed Junior as a "Spaniard foreigner visiting the Philippines" during his popularity and didn't even realize that he's Filipino and still to this day sometimes until I posted this video of his song Yakap on Youtube, and Spaniards view him as a Filipino. It's because some Pinoys don't understand that's why, that the Spanish-speaking world is different from the English-speaking world in that their cultures and history are very, very different, so the Spanish-speaking world today doesn't really focus on race and racial fractions and quantities of a person, it's the country you were born in and your culture that determines who you are. Even though many Latin Americans and Filipinos have Spanish blood, they're not identified as Spanish when they go to Spain, they identify with the country that's close to their heart, the country they were born in. And for Junior, that's our Philippines, always. We'll post more pictures later, I'm trying to keep the posts short, which is impossible because I'm a writer and writing has always come naturally for me so I embellish a lot in what I write about, which is I guess good for a blog format, since that's what it's all about. Junior with daughter, singer Shaila Durcal: (their family is fond of stage names since "Junior", "Shaila Durcal", and "Rocio Durcal" are all artistic names, but not their real names, I guess it's a good way to keep your showbiz life separate from your family life)

Claudine Barreto and her sisters are his family by blood because his mother is a Barreto, and there's only one Barreto clan in the Philippines, and if you like San Miguel Beer, be grateful to their ancestors as San Miguel Corporation, Southeast Asia’s first brewery was established on Oct. 4, 1890 by Enrique Maria Barreto de Ycaza. A few of them have done business with and are friends of my cousin who works in Advertising and Public Relations for TV and print media, no he's not just a Kapuso or Kapamilya, that's ridiculous, and it's also a very successful marketing plan from the TV networks to draw in viewers from the C-D classes by making them feel like "family" (Kapamilya) and drawing in their "heart" (Kapuso), it's a great marketing plan for both networks, since it's obviously working considering the passionate online debates I've seen that Kapusos have versus Kapamilyas, that stuff is hilarious, anyway business is business and he works for both and has worked for both TV networks doing all that kind of stuff that he does, I don't care, hehe, anyway, the Barretos are from Manila and they own a bunch of companies, and Junior's from that one. And Junior was born in Manila. If you're confused about why his mother is a Barreto but his name is Antonio Morales Barreto, a lot of Filipinos were when I posted the video, it's because in Spanish naming conventions, the father's surname goes before the mother's. I believe that the way Filipinos do it now, where the middle name became the place to put the mother's surname, was just a clever adaptation our ancestors made to keep part of their heritage alive when they were told by the new colonizers after 1898 that you could only have one surname. So they found the loophole, "since there's no more space for our mother's surname, we'll put that in place of the middle name." And I theorize that that's how it came about. I can't be sure, because Filipino historians are so, like they don't care sometimes about researching these important things, so there's a lot of holes to fill in for us Filipinos about our history, but think about it, what other logical explanation is there for it? Putting your mother's surname as your middle name is certainly not a British or American tradition, in their middle names, they put names that are similiar to first names, but never the mother's surname because it's not the cultural tradition.

I'd also just like to say that I was really happy about what Aga Muhlach said about how the tv networks should just combine and find a way to work together, because that's what I always thought. Filipinos are always competing with other Filipinos, and we're always divided. But there's strength to be found in unity.
Junior (born Antonio Morales Barreto on May 10, 1943 in Manila, Philippines) is a Filipino singer and actor. He is the oldest of 5 sons. He was 15 years old when his family settled in Barcelona, Spain then in Madrid. He is tri-lingual and speaks Spanish, English, and Tagalog.

In 1957, he became part of the group Jump, a pioneering Spanish electric guitar group. In the group’s popularity, he was included in the movie Me Enveneno De Azules in 1969. His unstaked first themes Todo Porque Te Quiero (It’s All Because I Love You) in 1969 and Perdóname with English theme The Snake in 1973.

He became part of the group Los Brincos with Juan Pardo. His brothers Miguel and Ricky Morales were invited to join the group. Later, he and Juan Pardo left their group as Juan y Júnior. One of their songs include Spanish version of “Fool On The Hill” by John Lennon and Paul McCartney from LP titled Júnior in 1976.

In 1979, he stopped his career to manage career of his wife late Rocío Dúrcal whom he has 3 children, including singer Shaila Dúrcal who is dedicated not only to her mother but also to her mother’s namesake Rocío Jurado and Colombian diva Soraya who have been cancer victims.

In 1980, he starred in the Filipino movies Good Morning Sunshine with Vilma Santos, Bongga ka Day, and Disco Madhouse and released an album in Tagalog for the Philippines. One of his most popular songs that he wrote and produced was "Yakap". ^[1]

Kristine Hermosa Beautiful Filipina

Photographing around with Filipino actors Kristine Hermosa and Jericho Rosales in Manila and the Filipino Hamptons, meaning the Bundok hehe. Above, Kristine es hermosa, and ready for her photo shoot. Below, Jericho is happy about his crying ad.

Whaaa?Jericho Rosales purchasing his balls. Fishballs.Do I look handsome? I'm a hunk you know... THE Hunk

Goodnight.

Kristine Hermosa, Jericho Rosales Pics

Photographing around with Filipino actors Kristine Hermosa and Jericho Rosales in Manila and the Bundok.

Kristine es hermosa, and ready for her photo shoot.Jericho Rosales purchasing his balls. Fishballs.

Goodnight.

Sexy Pinoys and Pinays

Random Filipino celebs in Manila, Filipinas and Boracay.
Jericho Rosales and Heart Evangelista goofing around during a day off.

Besos with Bianca King, that model girl I forgot her name, and Raymond Gutierrez.


Bianca Araneta feeling proud standing in front of her billboard.

Sneak peek into Angel Locsin photo shoot.

At the beach with Jericho Rosales.

With Raymond Gutierrez again and Richard Gutierrez and peeps.

Old photo with Kristine Hermosa and Jericho Rosales.

Kristine Hermosa en el coche.

At the beach with Bianca Araneta, Maike Evers, and Tim Yap.

En el carro with Bianca Araneta.
With Bianca Araneta again at home with her little perrito.