From an article on Forbes by contributor Beth Greenfield, the Philippines ranked number 8 in the HSBC’s Expat Explorer Survey, released last month. “This country is friendly on wallets, too: 47% report an increase in access to luxuries, including domestic staff, swimming pools, and owning properties,” the survey revealed.

And I thought we were ranked number one or somewhere in the Top 3! (Nah, not really…)

The top three nations dubbed as friendliest of all countries ranked highest in the following: they are the easiest to befriend locals, learn the local language, integrate into the community and fit into the new culture.

15 France

14 Singapore

13 Mexico

12 Italy

11 Brazil

10 Malaysia

9 Spain

8 Philippines

7 United Kingdom

6 Turkey

5 United States

4 Canada

3 South Africa

2 Australia

1 New Zealand

via Forbes on Yahoo News

Who: Multi-talented singer songwriter and musician Keaton Simons and equally multifaceted artist Didi Benami in a duet!
What: The captivating new song, “If I Hadn’t Forgotten”

Where: now available on iTunes and Amazon as digital downloads.

When: release date, November 01, 2011

Song Trivia: Heard on Private Practice Episode 506, “If I Hadn’t Forgotten” | November 3rd. 2011

Why you should buy: It is organic and thoughtful in its simplicity. Unobtrusive, noteworthy on its gentleness. The duo’s solid vocals and phrasing shine through. Keaton Simons is giving and unassuming; Didi Benami’s quiet surrender and commitment to the song is compelling. Together, it makes for beautiful harmony and one you could put on repeat. via Amazon

The Making of “If I Hadn’t Forgotten”

Song preview at Didi Benami’s Official website. Keaton Simons official site here.

Get FREE song download from Didi’s fansite.

@DidiBenami on Twitter
@KeatonSimons on Twitter

Keaton’s Official Facebook | Didi’s Official Facebook

Inspired by Guy Fawkes Night commemorated every year primarily in Great Britain, and brought into the spotlight in the movie V for Vendetta — Anonymous group vows to ‘destroy’ Facebook on Saturday, November 5th, 2011. How they are going to do it and will they succeed? I can not wait to find out!

I have not been active on Facebook at all until I got myself a smart phone with unlimited internet access and easy social network connect capabilities, now it is almost impossible NOT to be on it all the time! I would probably be secretly happy if they could in fact take down Facebook, DELETE it’s entire database!! That’s what I’d like. If only they could hack the social network even for a few hours, enough to remove forever its content then all users could start over. A clean slate!! Who wouldn’t want that?! It’ll give everyone an excuse to ‘unfriend’ and ‘unlike’ people and things forever!

Partial transcript of the video:

Attention Citizens of the World,

We are Anonymous. We wish to get your attention hoping you heed the warnings as follows. Your medium of communication you all so dearly adore will be destroyed. If you’re a willing activist or a guy who just wants to protect the freedom of information then join the cause and kill Facebook for the sake of your own privacy. Facebook has been selling information to government agencies and giving clandestine access to information security firms so they can spy on people from all around the world.

#opfacebook . Engaged.

This is our world now. We exist without nationality, without religious bias. We have the right to not be surveilled, not be stalked, and not be used for profit. We have the right to not live as slaves.

We are anonymous
We are legion
We do not forgive
We do not forget
Expect us

Who are these people hiding behind masks?

According to good ol’ reliable Wikipedia: Anonymous (used as a mass noun) is a group initiating active civil disobedience and spread through the Internet while staying hidden, originating in 2003 on the imageboard 4chan, representing the concept of many online community users simultaneously existing as an anarchic, digitized global brain. It is also generally considered to be a blanket term for members of certain Internet subcultures, a way to refer to the actions of people in an environment where their actual identities are not known.

Anonymous have taken down websites representing banks, religions, and governments. What or who could stop them from stopping the social giant Facebook?

Go Ahead, share this news on your Facebook wall! Doesn’t that sound odd?! LOL.

At one point in his life, Arnel Pineda made twenty cents a day gathering scrap materials at a pier in the Philippines. Eventually he made ends meet singing for cover bands in a few marginal bars. Born into poverty and raised on the streets, Arnel abused drugs and alcohol to escape the turmoil of his everyday life. But he never stopped singing and believing in his talent – even when he almost lost his voice for good on two separate occasions.

Following a haphazard decade of singing in various bands, Arnel decided to clean up and follow his dreams. He formed a new cover band called Zoo and performed as much as possible to raise the band’s profile. As the band progressed, an admirer of Arnel’s began posting clips of the band to Youtube in hopes of spreading the word to potential new fans.

Little did he know he’d find one in Neal Schon, lead guitarist of the iconic American rock band Journey. Nor could he have expected that Arnel would be asked to audition to be lead singer of the band! Our independent film Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey intimately chronicles the amazing true story behind Arnel’s overnight rise to international stardom. As media hype starts to mount worldwide, we follow Arnel as he deals with a new set of obstacles and pressures – which push him further on his personal journey than he could have ever imagined.

Arnel’s story is a fascinating look at how fame and celebrity have transformed in our super-connected Youtube age. Like fellow Youtube sensation-turned-pop icon Justin Bieber, Arnel was catapulted to stardom after being “discovered” by sheer chance. Our film follows him through this uncharted world of democratized media, where a celebrity’s fame is fueled by viral hype and destroyed by short attention spans and fickle opinions.

Do you want to be part of a real-life rock’n’roll legend in the making? The good news is that the film has already been shot. We now need to raise $50,000 to kickstart the editing phase and need your support! Whether you’re a Journey lover, an Arnel follower, a documentary buff, a fan of inspiring true stories, or simply want to get involved, we are looking for “Believers” to help us finish our film. Join us! Thanks in advance for your interest and support.

VISIT THIS PAGE TO CONTRIBUTE…

Sign up for updates and view the teaser trailer, full synopsis, filmmaker bios, at the official website: http://everymansjourney.com/.

Join on Facebook by “liking” the fan page and adding as a friend on their official page.

If you tweet, you can follow them at their official twitter page. Please tweet about the film, and be sure use the hashtag #EverymansJourney.

Be sure to check out on imdb.com as well.

Katy Perry no doubt created numerous hits over the last three years of her career. Though she still has a bit to prove in terms of record sales, putting her along side Lady Gaga, Christina Aguilera, P!nk, and the still relevant Britney Spears– they are considerably among the biggest stars in pop music today and reminiscent of what Madonna was in the 80′s.

[ I can not mention Madonna without saying how she certainly shaped Pop music to where it is now. There is no comparison. She defied convention and paved the way for other artists to push boundaries in its lyrics, style and imagery. Truly a pop culture icon, Madonna is still the world's top-selling female recording artist of all time having sold more than 300 million records worldwide and on the business side as an entrepreneur- a true genius! ]

While I question most of Ms Perry’s music for lacking depth and profundity and for sounding too commercial and artificial at times, every once in a while I come across covers of Katy Perry’s songs stripped, created in such heartwarming tracks that the music becomes art itself. I could listen to these covers over and over.

Listen in and appreciate…!

“Teenage Dream” by The Rescues

Acoustic Cover of “Firework” by Tyler Ward and Alex Goot

“Teenage Dream” piano acoustic cover by Boyce Avenue

A Capella Beatbox Cover of “Firework” by Mike Tompkins

“Teenage Dream” acoustic piano cover by Tyler Ward

I cannot end this post without giving the best music parody to “Teenage Dream” . The lyrics masked in pain & vindictive thoughts in a ‘Weird Al Yankovic’ kind-of-way will crack you up…

The ‘future’ of instant fame happened six years ago when three cool geeks from California invented YouTube in 2005. Since May 2010, YouTube exceeds 2 billion views a day. 2 billion. Since March 2010, there are 24 hours of video uploaded PER minute. I thought there should be more but over the years, there have only really been a few breakout artists who attribute their good fortune to YouTube: Arnel Pineda, Charice, Greyson Chance, Kina Grannis, Marie Digby, and Justin Beiber comes to mind.

That’s what is special about Maria Aragon, a Filipino-Canadian 10-year old girl from Winnipeg, Canada. NOT everyone gets their chance! Her simple video of her covering Lady Gaga’s new track “Born this way” stood out from the hundreds of cover of the same song. She wasn’t trying to be anything. She wasn’t trying to copy Lady Gaga, she was just doing her own interpretation of the song!

Her charming, innocent rendition, subtle nuances, powered by talent–she can sing and play the piano– set her apart, out of the pile of millions of videos on YouTube.

What is most special about this fantastical story is Lady Gaga herself and what THE Lady did for Maria Aragon. I don’t have to tell you that Lady Gaga is considered to be among the most powerful and influential celebrities in the world and the top selling artist of 2010, do I? Show me one person in the world who hasn’t heard of Lady Gaga!

Sure, someone sent Lady Gaga the video but she could have ignored and passed on the video. Instead, she spent three-minutes of her time to watch the recording. Not only that, on February 17th, she sends a Twitter message to her 8 million followers that the video made her cry.

“Can’t stop crying watching this. This is why I make music. She is the future,” she tweeted with the link to the video.

Just like that, the video has gone viral in a Justin Beiber fashion. In less than a week, the video garnered over 19 million views! But Maria’s legendary luck doesn’t end there. She receives a telephone call from Lady Gaga!

“Not only do you have such a beautiful voice and you are so joyful to watch, but every once in a while, whether people believe it or not, I have a very bad day,” Lady Gaga said to the shocked Maria.

Next thing you know, Maria Aragon goes flying to the United States to perform for the Ellen DeGeneres show! On March 3rd, she was on the stage of Lady Gaga’s “Monster Ball Tour concert” performing with the pop star!

I wish I had the same enthusiasm and drive as Maria. When I was 10, all I did was play and sleep! Heck, I’m old-er and all I do is play and sleep!!

It’s 2011 and fairy tales do happen and dreams do come true. The world has embraced technology and the internet, take the good with it and make something happen…

Timeline:

February 16, 2011: Maria Aragon’s “Born this Way” was uploaded on YouTube.

February 17, 2011: The video has gone viral after Lady Gaga’s tweet.

Somewhere in between, the telephone conversation between the two.

February 21, 2011: Ellen DeGeneres meets Maria Aragon

February 25, 2011: Maria Aragon visits “Good Morning America” on ABC

March 3, 2011: Maria Aragon performs with Lady Gaga in front of a packed audience at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada.

Photo by Tara Salt.

March 4, 2011: Lady Gaga tweets a photo of her and Maria writing: “Myself +10 year Old Lady Maria of Winnipeg. She signed my t-shirt, she ate my heart, just like you.”

March 5, 2011: Lady Gaga tweets a link to her and Maria’s ‘concert’ together. “Maria and I singing Born This Way together. She (You) is why I wrote the song. Thanks for making it #1 for a 3rd week…”

Kudos, Thia! Will be following your long career…

-0-

I called it in 2009 that with the right break, Thia Megia could have a place in the music industry!

Her America’s Got Talent stint seem distant now, seeing her again at 16 years old on the American Idol stage looking grown up and blooming beautifully.

Fil-Ams on Idol

On March 3rd, 2011- Thia became the only fourth Filipino-American to ever make it into the finals of American Idol in ten years. She is one of the Top 13 finalists currently competing for the title and a recording contract.  Six years since Camille and Jasmine took the Idol stage and three years since Ramiele’s time.

In 2004, Camille Velasco and Jasmine Trias both of Filipino descent, sailed through what could be the most controversial season on Idol history. Season three was the year, Fantasia won. The year La Toya London and (now Academy Award winner) Jennifer Hudson were booted off ahead of Jasmine! While Camille finished early in the 9th place, Jasmine held on for weeks and weeks way into the Final three!!

Ramiele Malubay auditioned for Season 7 in 2008. She finished 9th in the competition and secured a spot to go on a nationwide tour with the Top 10 finalists for the Idols Live Tour Summer concert that same year.

… And truth be told, one can not underestimate the power of support from one’s own. Even Jasmine’s Wiki page acknowledges that her Idol success was “due in part to tremendous call-in support from California, New York, and her native state of Hawaii.”

The Filipinos and Filipino-American community did it three times in the past, we can do it again this year! We can do it for Thia Megia!!

History unfolding

I am very excited to watch Thia’s journey as she makes history happen!! She is making the entire Philippines proud and giving the Filipinos worldwide something to brag about. This is a good time to be a Filipino!

With so much happening around the world, entertainment is our only ‘escape’ from reality if only for a moment. Thia gives us something to look forward to on Tuesday Wednesday nights and forget about our worries!!

I am calling the 2.8++ million Filipinos and Filipino-Americans living in the United States to support our very own. She, along with Charice (and recently Maria Aragon) are representing the Filipino youth of this generation with charm, smarts, talent and beauty worth emulating.

Most importantly, to everyone comprising the majority- the American voting public– please give Thia Megia a chance to shine. Discover her talent and vote for her! 

American Idol is on every Wednesday & Thursday nights on FOX at 8/7pm (central) until May 2011. The performance night is Wednesdays and that is when you vote. The results show follow the next day.

Get your Thia Megia fix from this website.

Please help spread the word. Vote for Alexie! Watch the show on Fox every Wednesday 8PM EST (performance/voting night) and Thursdays, 9PM EST Results.

Results and short tribute | Voted off June 16th | Top 11 results show

Top 11 Group dance, Results show | June 16. Music: “Acapella” by Kelis | Choreography by Tessandra Chavez

Competition starts this week, June 16th
Alexie is paired with hip-hop all-star expert Twitch Boss, a season 4 favorite! Music: Butterfly by Jason Mraz | Choreography: Napoleon and Tabitha D’umo
This wasn’t hard hip-hop, more like girly hiphop. Wasn’t her best but definitely NOT an elimination performance! She held her own dancing with Twitch and I enjoyed it. I’m voting for her no matter what! Please vote too: 1-888-623-7807

First performance on the show | June 10. 2010 | Music: “There’s Got To Be Something Better Than This” from Sweet Charity (Original Broadway Cast)

Alexie is dancing with another hopeful, Melinda Sullivan. They dance with previous season faves Allison Holker (Season 2) and Lauren Gottlieb (Season 3) in a Broadway routine choreographed by Tyce DiOrio. [Tyce is fresh from choreographing the Tom Cruise on his recent hilarious appearance on MTV Movie Awards (June 5) as his potbellied film producer character, Les Grossman, from the film Tropic Thunder- shaking his booty to a Ludacris song with Jennifer Lopez!]

READ ALEXIE’S PROFILE HERE.

Meet the Top 11 Dancers | Who Alexie will be up against!

Audition | June 3. 2010 | Los Angeles, CA

Update: Journey was touring in California area in March 2010. The Oprah show also re-aired their special on Journey last March 18th, 2010. It is safe to say, there is still no truth to the story that Arnel is leaving Journey! He is the best thing that ever happened to Journey and VICE VERSA. Why would they let each other go?? (Watch the videos below)

-0-

Is Arnel Pineda leaving Journey? I am very surprised to learn that this kind of rumor has been circulating the internet for sometime now. People who end up on this site come from search engines using the keywords: “Arnel Pineda leaving journey.” There is no news about it at all here in the United States. I can only infer that this type of fabrication could only come from malicious reporters in the Philippines who want to sell their fictional story to anyone who would buy it.

There is no truth to this gossip and is plain hearsay. Even Arnel Pineda himself assured the public that he is not leaving and he will remain as the lead singer of Journey for as long as the band would want him to be. Journey’s official website continue to share updates to their fans and Arnel’s photos with the band still greet you when you visit the site.

In fact their October 2009 release two-disc Live In Manila concert DVD, debuting at the top of Billboard’s Top Music Video Sales chart , (marking the first time the band has topped this chart) has Arnel Pineda singing in front of 30,000 people in the Philippines last March. Why would they release a DVD of the concert if Arnel would no longer be part of the group?

There is also a documentary film in post production now and expected to be released in 2010 about Arnel Pineda and Journey, entitled: “Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey”. The feature film is written, produced and directed by US based Filipina Ramona Diaz, known for her documentary film “Imelda” about the former First Lady of the Philippines.

I have written about our homeboy Arnel Pineda’s personal ‘journey’ a few times on this site. His humble past, unassuming demeanor, and his discovery to worldwide stardom truly make him one of the Philippine’s modern-day heroes.

Could the Philippines have been so wrong about him?

Arnel was a struggling musician before all these. It is a sad fact that in his early years, he had to sing in foreign lands as he was never appreciated nor recognized as a star in his own country. There was no market for Arnel Pineda in the Philippines. In 1991, He moved to Hong Kong where he lived and performed for the next 15 years. His self-titled album released in 1999 is hardly remembered while his 2007 debut album of his band, The Zoo simply passed without any hoopla.

He said with such honesty in the upcoming documentary “Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey” that his dream for his band, The Zoo was to make it big in the Philippines- just to be big in the Philippines alone. He covered songs of foreign bands and had to settle for gigs in local and Asian bars while the names Gary Valenciano and Martin Nievera; bands like the Dawn, Eraserheads and Rivermaya, continue to claim huge local popularity. In our faces, huh! Shame on me, I have never even heard of Arnel Pineda until Journey’s official statement in mid December 2007.

It took an outsider, a foreigner to discover Arnel Pineda. How can we have been so oblivious and heedless all that time?! But fate is a funny thing isn’t it? It had to be that way for him. All his hardships, his trials and his rejections only prepared him for a much bigger opportunity. Had he been so big in the Philippines, would it turn out differently? Would he still become Journey’s frontman?

(photo from arnelpinedarocks.com)

He has gone where no other Filipino artist had gone, capturing America. He has walked where neither Gary V nor Martin N had stepped on, performing in front of thousands and thousands of people on tour all over the world. He is in a place where he has every Filipino’s dream on his hand and we can only admire from a distance, watch in awe as this man continue his journey touching and warming people’s lives. What an inspiration.

One can never really foretell his own destiny until it unfolds so in Journey’s iconic own words “Don’t Stop Believin.’”

Journey on the Oprah Show:
Part 1

Part 2

photo by Ninfa Bito, “Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey” site

Share the news. Spread the word. Let’s support Journey. Let’s support Arnel Pineda by buying their original cds and DVDs! Visit the official film site and watch the trailer for the upcoming film here. Check out Arnel’s official site here.

UPDATE: A triumph for Efren and a triumph for the Philippines, he is this year’s recipient of CNN;s “hero of the Year. Watch his acceptance speech here.

- o -

From the United States to Zimbabwe to Indonesia to the Philippines, CNN acknowledges ordinary people with extraordinary impact in its search for this year’s “Hero of the year.” Filipino Efren Peñaflorida, 28 is among the Top 10 contenders vying for the special recognition.

Efren has been making a huge difference in the lives of street kids in Manila, Philippines for the last 12 years. “Peñaflorida and his team of teen volunteers have taught basic reading and writing to children living on the streets. Their main tool: A pushcart classroom.” What he has accomplished in his young age giving back is truly remarkable if not indeed heroic.

This is sort of a last-minute plea to all readers! I just received the email from my sis in the UK and I’ve never heard of CNN’s ongoing search. To think that it started in early February! Goes to show, I am not a CNN follower.

“Since February, profiles of 2009 CNN Heroes have been airing weekly on air and online, each chosen from nominations submitted through the CNN Heroes Web site. This year, more than 9,000 nominations were received, more than twice the number of nominations submitted in 2008.”

Well, the last day of voting is tomorrow, November 19th (6 a.m. ET). Please vote for Efren Peñaflorida to become CNN’s Hero of the Year for 2009. There is no limit on the number of times you may vote.

Reading through the ‘heroic’ acts of the Top 10 honorees was truly inspiring. Any one of them deserves the title “Hero of the Year” but I am rooting for Efren of course. After Manny Pacquiao’s recent victory against Miguel Cotto in the Boxing arena, this is yet another way of putting a mark in history for Filipinos and making our presence known around the globe.

It isn’t too late to vote. I just voted 50 times over the last half an hour! To power vote, please go to this link: http://dynamicteencompany.org/powervote/

A special star-studded Heroes gala “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute,” will be seen around the world on Thanksgiving night, November 26 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on the global networks of CNN.

The telecast shines a spotlight on the extraordinary accomplishments of the Top 10 CNN Heroes, who were selected by a distinguished Blue Ribbon Panel (among them Efren P). Each of this year’s honorees will receive $25,000 in recognition of their work.

Actress Nicole Kidman and Grammy Award-winning artist Carrie Underwood are among the celebrities scheduled to appear.

Underwood, critically acclaimed R&B crooner Maxwell and three-time Grammy Award nominee Leona Lewis will each perform at the gala, which returns to the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood as the network celebrates its third year of honoring everyday people making a difference.

Kidman is scheduled to join celebrities Kate Hudson, Neil Patrick Harris, Pierce Brosnan, Dwayne Johnson, Eva Mendes, Randy Jackson, Greg Kinnear, George Lopez and Julia Louis-Dreyfus as presenters.

The show culminates with the announcement of the 2009 CNN Hero of the Year, who will receive an additional $100,000.