Conciliation

TONIGHT, I CAN SAY THAT I FINALLY HEARD what I can genuinely call music to my ears.

Earlier, a little past 10 p.m. I'd say, in the middle of a late-night, weekend project discussion, came a few bars of the chorus of "Pyramid" coming from the living room. Curious as to what channel the TV set was on, I stood up from where I sat to check.

To my surprise, it was a promotional clip of mostly GMA-7's prime time shows. For a split second there I thought my mother had shifted channels. Throughout what looked like a 30-second video was the chorus of "Pyramid" as sound bed.

An OTA War
You might be wondering why this 30-second experience is a most welcome breath of fresh over-the-air air.

The Filipino public has been subject to a war waged OTA for a couple of decades now, considering that the television industry is dominated by just two—TWO—networks vying for the viewership of 13 million or so households.

Like any war, the broadcast version is not at all pretty. The Filipinos' obsession with watching television average about 200 minutes daily, second only to the Japanese*. This results in a live spectacle of nasty word wars, say, between program hosts on television, which can be ugly especially on each network's other talents who, by choice or circumstance, simply report for work to do their job properly and without prejudice, yet get caught in the middle of the crossfire, later to discover their reputations besmirched in public without their knowing it.

Otherwise, when talents are identified with one network, the other network will simply refuse to give (or choose to ignore) any sort of recognition due that talent no matter the achievement he or she may have brought not just to their persons but to society.

There are exceptions, of course, like the boxer Manny Pacquiao who once allowed himself to get caught in the middle of the conflict between the top two networks (with regards to contract and airtime), nearly disrupting his preparations for a major fight; or Kris Aquino who, anyway, seems to be untouchable and "un"-criticizable despite her erratic public behavior and presumptuous ways.

The other exception is when talents, in general, are the meat of scandals, thereby making them open to unwanted airtime and unnecessary babble on both networks.

That 30-second audio clip

Why, then, does this 30-second clip smell like some kind of victory?

Charice (Charice Pempengco), the talent behind the current pop and catchy song "Pyramid", has been so synonymous with ABS-CBN particularly in the past 3 years—the equivalent amount of time she has since logged in flying from time zone to time zone to sing in venues no Filipino artist has gone to before—that the rival network, GMA-7 has chosen to simply squeak news about her. Rare is a better term for it, and in those rare moments, she merits about 30 seconds of mention (perhaps even lesser) that when you blink, you miss the story altogether.

I guess the fault does not always lie with the announcer but with management.

Anyhow, I've always wondered why that was when either networks easily stretch time in the form of entertainment news (good and bad), gossip, or both—all in the guise of some kind of enlightened talk—about other talents from both sides anyway.

Not to sound naive about how networks engage in a war over ratings and viewership, but when it comes to Charice, I have so far observed that one network drumbeats, the other almost zips its mouth shut.

I guess because the purported "mother network," ABS-CBN, drumbeats, the other is inclined to simply ignore good news only to be chatty when it comes to unfounded negative topics, like alleged issues about Charice's mother or family and such.

Her triumphs as a Filipino talent invited to grace international venues, sing and collaborate with distinguished artists abroad and bestowed with support she never really had to pull strings for, all within a short period of time, is a feat never been accomplished by anyone at her age. (She just turned 18.)

Haven't we been all looking for the next Lea Salonga or similar other artists of calibre before her like the jazz singer Marlene de la Peña, she of superstar status in Japan since the late 70's with about 30 albums to her name, and Pilita Corrales, "Asia's Queen of Songs" and first Filipino artist to sing at the Ceasar's Palace in Las Vegas Nevada?

We've heard about how Filipinos through the years have tried, with a lot of heartbreak and misfortunes, to break into the western music industry, and not many of them making it quite successfully as the names above have. There have been sad stories of how fellow Filipinos in the US have taken advantage of homegrown talents, thereafter crushing their hopes of even opening a show as a result of deceit or mismanagement.

What's admirable about Charice is how she, at pre-legal age, has maintained composure and propriety throughout what can be considered more than a big deal: she has kept the trust and confidence of the very influential Oprah Winfrey who, just by her guts, gambled on a talent—at that time unknown and, more seriously, foreign and not very articulate in English—and helped open up opportunities only dreamt of by any other artist, both established and unknown.

Contrast this to what may have been an earlier manifestation of a Charice in the person of Jocelyn "Banig" Roberto, so far the only homegrown singer to have ever won the International Star Search contest in the US and got the whole local industry excited in the 80s when her talent was recognized in the US and actually made several appearances on American television, sang the American anthem in the NBA and recorded an album.

While their early career paths are strikingly similar, their personal lives are lived differently. For one, "Banig" has stayed in the US for good (she now writes songs for other artists), while Charice has chosen to keep her Philippine passport and call her country of origin her home and instead travel abroad for commitments. She is not any different from other overseas Filipino workers in that sense except that she is, so far, the youngest of them.

Handling "luck" in a tug-of-war
Charice has handled her "luck" very well so far despite what is an apparent wait-and-see attitude among her own fellowmen back home, particularly in the industry she's from: "wait" for what comes next, and "see" how well she handles her rising fame, perhaps even to the point of wishing her some degree of failure. It is an unpleasant thought, but it's a fact.

Even Charice's most loyal followers, those who have supported her from her contest days as a child, are of the opinion that she gets the raw deal even from the very network she is attached with, ABS-CBN: bad make-up, bad wardrobe, bad audio, or that she simply gets cut off in the middle of a phrase or line while singing. She was also once labeled bratty for coming in late to the very noontime show she comes home to after arriving from abroad just hours before, and in the process attracting all kinds of unsolicited advise from talents across networks, on radio and in the papers about being "professional" and "staying humble".

Probably the worse accusation this young singer got, along with another artist who has had an international break, Arnel Pineda, is being labeled nothing but copycats and likened to monkeys (perhaps a circus monkey is what was meant) by no less than Freddie Aguilar on television. Another is when Charice was insinuated to have lied through her teeth in a newspaper column by a noontime host on GMA-7 when she said in a taped interview aired on ABS-CBN that she would have been part of the Michael Jackson UK tour had it not been for his untimely death. Both these incidents happened in 2009 just weeks from each other.

Still, Charice has taken these negative comments and prejudgment all in stride. Surely she must have hurt but never once did show it publicly. I suppose there is never a bigger ball thrown around the network gossip mills than the diminutive Charice particularly in the past 3 years.

Conciliation is music to the ears
Sometime in the last quarter of 2009, I thought heard the strains of Charice's earlier US-release single, "Note To God", played briefly on GMA-7's Eat Bulaga just before commercial break. A singing contest for kids in said the program was being held at that time, and surely my ears were not mistaken about getting the somg right. Perhaps the show's spinner got the chance to sneak in the audio in the hope of getting away with it. After all, the single had just been released in the US and merited Charice a slot at the top 10 on the iTunes store, a first for a Filipino artist. Had the spinner gotten the green light from management to play the song, however, would have been a sign of a good sport.

Therefore, when I heard the chorus of "Pyramid" played on GMA-7's program promo clip last night, I thought it was, at last, an extended hand of conciliation. It did not matter that it was but a snippet of the song. What matters is that petty rivalries are set aside, even for brief moments.

Thing is, I do not expect Charice to even be allowed (by her network) or be invited to promote her first international album live on other networks other than that which she calls her home (ABS-CBN may just be too possessive to share the talent it once wrote off as "not having enough star power". Her consolation is that she happens to have very sincere supporters in her home network, even in the times when her star power was still dormant), though to be proven wrong would be the best sign of "unity" the broadcast industry would ever show publicly. That would be such sweet music to the ears.

Postscript: Grateful and a wild album launch grind
Charice had just turned 18 on May 10. In the 3 years she's been flying in and out of the Philippines, she has worked her lungs out in engagements and schedules that do not even come close to a diplomat's. She'll sing and give it her all in spite of a bad cold; she'll dance to please despite fatigue. She deserves to be recognized for her hard work at her age and, more importantly, congratulated for standing in as the other parent-provider of her family while maintaining the time to savor teenage life and just be herself.

Filipinos are wont to handle rags-to-riches situations badly. Charice is the type of singer whom many will love AND hate, yet how many can lay claim to the achievements she has had so far? How many can genuinely say that they have taken care of their good luck and fame to not let these slip away too soon? How many can really handle their dreams coming true in such a short time?

Charice celebrating her 18th with kids from World Vision in lieu of a debut party.
[IMAGE: Michael Varcas from manila_bulletin account/twitpic]

Charice's self-titled album was released worldwide a few days ago, and has since established records that put the Philippines on the international music map: landing at no. 8 on Billboard's top 200 in the week ending May 16, 2010. Before that, the carrier single's "Pyramid" remixed versions have topped the UK dance charts in late April and scored high rankings in Europe as well.

Prior to coming home to celebrate her birthday with underprivileged children belatedly on May 22nd, she was in about 5 key US states to promote her album, opening with a 5th appearance on the Oprah show in Chicago on May 11, a day after her birthday, and ending on a high, profound note with performances for the annual Power Of A Dream gala in Washington D.C., where influential members of the entertainment, civic and political arenas in America were in attendance.

In Manila, she launches her album tomorrow, May 23rd, then flies to Japan to record for Warner (Japan), after which she goes back to the US and Canada to do more promotions and fulfill commitments in June and July.

Charice is fortunate to have all of these coming at a young age when her active body can hack upside-down weather conditions and killer schedules and still get to experience being celebrated by fellow Asians in Asia, Filipinos abroad and by foreign audience for her successes.

We were given one chance at giving Charice a break when she sought for it but we missed, and I guess all we can do to give back is wish her all the best, as we should do each other every time.

I see her always being grateful for our support and doesn't seem to demand for much more.

It's not too much to ask, is it?

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"CHARICE" the album is now available in music Philippine stores (CDs) and online.
The "Pyramid" remixes are available from iTunes as downloads

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*data from the Nationwide Urban Television Audience Measurement (NUTAM) and the Asia Television Advertising Coalition (ATAC)

Chips on their shoulders

COMING ON THE HEELS of an extravagant celebration in the Philippine internet-age — aptly, of Imeldific proportions replete with the illusions of past grandeur, of heaps of greetings and hallow wishes by friends-turned-foes-turned-friends again, and of fireworks that accompanied Manila's lifestyle headliners at Imelda Marcos' 80th birthday party — were reminders that she cannot be faulted for one time supporting, quote, The Arts, unquote, in the midst of corruption and third-world poverty, among others.

That Imelda bragged about her unstoppable court cases at the party — around 900 as of last public account since 1991 — and seemed to relish just that kind of achievement tells me that, while she wants to remain controversial, she seems to have made some kind of peace with the past. She does not take herself too seriously, too, and, conversely, cannot be taken so.

For good or bad, she always makes news of herself in an amusing way, and in my observation, never much faulted others for her or their family's [mis]fortunes but solely unto herself. Rather, she always says that she is either misunderstood and easily judged or is a fighter with a cause that never gets acknowledged; or that she simply is who she is, ad infinitum.

If she has any grievance of the past, at 80 years old, she certainly is carrying it out in style.

Twin quinquagenarians speak

This cannot be said of two men in the local entertainment scene also making some buzz recently. Although not as obscure as the word "quinquagenarian," these two men, Joey de Leon and Freddie Aguilar, have chosen to come out and reveal the biggest chips on their shoulders to the public. And my, are they big, burdensome and ugly.

Joey

Joey de Leon, a self-proclaimed comic whose sense of humor is scathing at best, and seems to delight in making fun of others' physical appearance, resorts to name-calling and can let loose remarks bordering on chauvinism, was one-third of the Tito, Vic and Joey comedy trio. I can say as much that I did enjoy some of their recorded humor from their "Tough Hits" days in the late 70s. Who doesn't like some moments of amusement anyway?

Joey, I think, was a good choice to host a late-afternoon weekend gossip show because he could provide a balance to some highly charged and controversial segments. I've seen him do this several times and this is where he can call upon his being a comic at best.

In most cases, however, he comes off as a know-it-all and intolerant host on his noontime show, sometimes even unforgiving, like when contestants fail to give an answer to common trivial questions and he allows his disappointments to come through.

Has he forgotten that he constantly deals with a sector of society that grew up with their shallow antics and foolery day after day for the past 30 years? Was he expecting that all of their audience picked up useful insights to add to their knowledge, quality of life or skills every lunch time? They may have picked up dated phrases of insults or rehashed jokes once in a while, and I can't take credit away from him for that.

Yeah he can be funny. He actually is, sometimes, and can be quick on the draw and witty. But a genius he is not, although I've read comments in the past about his being a misunderstood artiste, especially in personal pursuits like painting and song writing that are a little out of place in the traditional sense, especially in the norms of the entertainment world which he's been part of for decades.

Joey also likes sarcasm. A lot. And he particularly likes throwing a comment or two at competitors because he relishes being part of the network wars than being above it. Too bad, I may have been expecting much more from him.

One day in August 2008, Joey de Leon, who I wasn't aware was also columnist of a broadsheet, waged a word war against his paper because of a published report in the paper's tabloid that said their show was a flop in a US tour.

The next thing I knew he was a regular at another paper, the Philippine Star, one of the papers I subscribe to. I never did read his columns except one, I think: a year-end recap.

Unfair competition
My attention was called again to his column recently. Written in some kind of verse like that recap article, it was his Michael Jackson tribute that alluded strongly to Charice Pempengco (a "nuno na sinugaling," he wrote: a lying dwarf) as lying about being approached to guest in Michael Jackson's London shows and that she would have been rehearsing with him after her Manila concert.

While this is largely unconfirmed from Charice's US management but by her alone from a news segment, the meat of the matter is Charice is identified with the network that is in fierce competition with Joey's. And while Joey is entitled to his opinion on the recent recognition Charice has been getting abroad, I think picking on a minor like Charice is one big low blow.

Joey has already made a name for himself in entertainment. The once bad and taunting young man is now father to children much older than Charice. He, too, is a grandfather now; someone who refuses to grow up and grow old. The grandfather, therefore, picked on a young woman obviously extremely talented, lucky and barely of legal age. This is a one-sided confrontation and a much more revealing affirmation of the kind of person Joey de Leon may additionally be perceived as: a coward in using allusion, and a bully.

From what he just wrote, he looks like he is going to age green with envy, bowed and bended by his anger and vindictiveness, without once thinking that by adding fuel to the network fire fight at every opportunity, he is not at all helping the industry's redemption from mediocrity but will drag it to the level of cheap thrills and trash, an environment he seems to never want to get out of.

And Freddie....

He needs no introduction.

Freddie's recent comments on Charice, Arnel Pineda and just about every overseas Filipino entertainer abroad who sing cover songs are words of an angry man growling his way to senescence.

Does he not understand that the world turns, much like how day turns into night as he may have experienced working towards the opening of his new bar from where he made his statements?

Does he not agree that Charice, Arnel, Leah Salonga, Apl de Ap and many unnamed Filipinos abroad who have the gift of singing and are appreciated for it are in a much better position to bring a good name to the Philippines than fugitives and money launderers, self-centered politicians and citizens who filth the air?

Is it their fault, these singers, that they don't share his writing talents but make the most of what they have — plus a little luck — anyhow? Or that foreigners recognize their talents in spite of the kind of songs they sing because the local handlers and music industry moguls are too busy building up non-talents, the networks are putting all their resources to their stupid rivalry and the record labels are barely surviving?

Or was Freddie not paid royalty by Charice's producers for "Anak" when she and Kuh Ledesma sang it so well at Charice's concert two Saturdays ago?

Has "Anak"'s accomplishments been ever taken away from him at any point? No. No one has taken away the stature of "Anak" in the local Filipino music scene. It may have, however, faded from the memory of record producers, radio station owners and a generation that listened to newer sound and responded to messages that speak to it.

Has he done much, to the public's knowledge, about curbing or denouncing local music piracy? And I mean launched something so massive, given his legendary status, to call upon all music loving Filipinos across all ages and genres — including the YouTube savvy, hip-hopping, iPod-carrying youth — to strongly rally behind his name to such a cause?

What is going on with him and Joey? We're already choking from all the crabiness, engulfed in political mire that exist in all corners of our archipelago that a whiff of fresh air is enough to get us through sometimes. No one has monopoly over nationalism, especially in the age of information.

And what do they know about the shared pride these talents give our laborers in the Middle East, the domestic helpers, engineers and nurses elsewhere in the world, they who have been bestowed some kind of dignity and respect by the new crop of "international singing sensations," no matter how trivial, how occasional? A sort of recognition that Filipinos are much more than just being worthy of domestic chores or being all greased up and grimy in the deserts.

Has he overlooked the fact that they, too, Charice, Arnel, Leah Salonga (although unmentioned by Freddie), et al. have remained Filipinos not just by citizenship but by choice, and are, like any "OFW," overseas Filipino workers themselves who seized the opportunities that came knocking at their doors and continue to do their best to put food on their tables, send relatives to school, at the same time inspiring others, one way or other, with honor?

If any of them, famous or unnamed singers, bring shame to our country in any way like how dictators and opportunists once did and continue to do, by all means, these men can throw everything at them including the sink, the toilet humor and their burdens.

Freddie and Joey should get real and wake up to a different time. Freddie Aguilar has had his and no one can take that away from him. Let the others shine in theirs.

............................

REF:
Freddie's statements on PEP.ph
Joey's article