Little evil monsters

“THE difference between rebels and nonconformists is that nonconformists don’t take action, [they just get] pissed off when things don’t go their way.”—Lady Gaga, May 22, 2012

I AM writing this piece still quite high from watching the concert of Lady Gaga.

Yes, I am a sinner. And my soul will probably burn in hell.

I am a follower of Beelzebub and will now commit murder, fornication, and all sorts of diabolic mayhem in his name.

But “I don’t give a f%#k!” to quote Gaga. See, that’s another thing I learned from her; I now cuss like a fishmonger’s wife. Such a bad, bad influence, this Gaga.

I am now an evil little monster. (Or considering my weight, an evil big monster!)

Lady Gaga arrives at a Makati hotel



Seriously, I have always been enthralled with Gaga’s music.

Sure, I am not exactly her ideal demographic, but I’ve always loved dance music. So from Gaga’s earliest tunes released in 2008 in her debut album The Fame, and watching her music videos, I became a certified fan. And I knew she was a great talent everyone should watch out for. (Her succeeding albums -The Fame Monster and Born this Way – have become smash hits as well.)

Yes, she reminds people in my age group of Madonna. And Gaga herself has acknowledged the earlier pop diva’s influence on her and her music. Although I must underscore that Madonna’s voice, when she was just starting out, wasn’t as powerful until she was further along in her career, after she had cut a few more albums. In contrast, Gaga’s vocal skills already set her apart from many young singers/musicians her age; she can hit those high notes without even breaking a sweat. And, man, can she dance in those friggin’ high heels! Ach!

(I just hope though that Gaga doesn't turn into an old bitter b**ch by the time she's Madonna's age right now, and a younger, more talented, and popular singer has "copied" her. I used to adore Madonna and still have her on my iTunes playlist, but seriously, what songs do we really love except those she put out in the '80s, at the height of her career?)

Now how could I and thousands of other Filipinos not like Gaga? We identify with her immediately: the daughter of middle-class, two-income parents who raised her Catholic, she studied in a private Catholic school. She has a lot of fabulous gay friends and rebels against perhaps all established norms that constrain our individuality.

Many Filipinos try to be true to themselves, despite the still-restrictive cultural traditions we have. So I think this is why Gaga appeals to us. Her outlandish costumes, semicontroversial lyrics and total, “I don’t give a sh%@” demeanor are what many of us hope for ourselves but our fear of being ostracized by the people we love and respect keeps us from reaching. So we lead loud and outcast lives through her music.

In fact, during the concert on Tuesday (May 22), this was exactly what happened. Even as Gaga performed quite brilliantly onstage, many people in the audience were still stuck to their seats, or merely stood in the mosh pit, capturing Gaga on video via their smartphones or tablet PCs.

I stood up and shimmied as soon as Gaga sang and played her second number, yet the people around me were seated, just singing, or screaming. But, but, but...no dancing?! Gaaak! This made me a tad heartbroken.

But that’s us, Pinoys. We are very reserved even in the face of so much fun and hilarity. We still like cloaking ourselves with some amount of respect or dignity, for fear of being laughed at by the people around us. And yet we shed all inhibitions once we start ridiculing or poking fun at the foibles of others. Reading my Twitter timeline for the afternoon of Chief Justice Renato Corona’s so-called pang-Famas performance on national TV more or less confirmed as much. Tsk, tsk, tsk.

(From WhenInManila.com. For more photos of Gaga's May 21 concert, click here.

Going back to Gaga and the controversy she engendered in Pasay City (where is that cool cat Peewee Trinidad when you need him?), I’m glad her concerts were allowed to push through.

Music can’t all be about lollipops and roses (here’s a nod to Jack Jones), or the Divine (hello, Fatima Soriano). Sometimes it is about flying in the face of accepted ways of life, traditions, and belief systems.

Perhaps, Pasay City Mayor Antonio Calixto and the ex-Manila Mayor Lito Atienza (whose floral shirts I find even more offensive than Gaga’s tight butt) should remember how Elvis Presley’s gyrations onstage in the late ’50s and ’60s were once condemned as “obscene.” Also too, Jerry Lee Lewis could very well be regarded as a pedophile considering that his wife Myla was only 13 at the the time he shacked up with her.

And what about the jazz and bebop stylings of many African-American musicians in the ’40s and ’50s? This kind of music was considered evil as well by a lot of American Bible-thumping believers and noisy prejudiced politicians?

Think about it: rock ‘n’ roll and jazz would never have developed and thrived had many of these so-called controversial musicians and artists been banned, or not given any airplay or stage time. (Jerry Lee Lewis did get blacklisted, but his music career was revived in the mid-’60s by the Europeans who loved him.)

Gaga’s music may not appeal to all, and her lyrics may be misunderstood, but that is no reason to ban her. (Or, as some idiot-plagiarizing-foreign-composers disguised as an “OPM artist” suggested, to change her lyrics.)

As what I argued in the case of the Kulo exhibit at the Cultural Center of the Philippines last year (see “Life and Art”, Something Like Life, August 19, 2011), artists have the right to freely express their thoughts, hopes, wishes, and dreams. No one puts a gun to your head to go see their artwork or, in the case of Gaga, listen to her music or watch her concert.

(Elvis Presley's wild pelvis gyrations were once considered obscene by Bible-thumpers. Photo from www.crazy-frankenstein.com)

I must admit there were some portions of her concert which may be considered, ahem, "adult", so parents really should accompany their kids if they're between the ages of 13 and 17, if the latter are watching her concerts. (This should be strictly enforced not only in concerts of this nature, but also in movie theaters showing PG-rated films as well.)

But what is clear is we can’t be stuck in the old notions of what “music” is. I love Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Barbra Streisand and all these “traditional” singers whose songs are such classics, but continue to be popular today. But Lady Gaga is Lady Gaga. She creates music. And she is as much an artist as those older singers. (Btw, one of Gaga's most ardent fans is Liza "with an Z" Minelli! And Tony Bennett even sings with her on his latest album, "Duets II". )

Music is dynamic and ever-changing with the tastes of people and the times. It is there to entertain and perhaps even inspire. For those reasons alone, we should accept it in all of its forms—Rebecca Black bad, or Gaga good.

* * * *
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(My column, Something Like Life, is published every Friday in the Life section of the BusinessMirror. This piece is an extended version of what was originally published on May 25, 2012.)

Amy the beautiful

She looked so well and happy, and gorgeous in this video no? Sayang ka talaga, Amy. Hay, what a waste of such immense talent! The video, btw, was officially released on Sept. 14, which would've been Amy's 28th birthday. As she starts singing, you kinda feel like she's channeling Shirley Bassey - who never sang the song in public, I believe – and Ella Fitzgerald a bit. But then Amy finds her own groove.

In a way, it was like she was kinda honoring her dad, Mitch, who is also a singer in the mold of Bennett, Frank Sinatra, and the old classical crooners. While I wasn't able to watch Anderson Cooper's new daytime show, I've read that Mitch and his wife (and ex-wife) were guests on the first episode. Mitch fought back his tears as he told Anderson how he missed his daughter - "We were best friends!" (Read the rest here.) He also claimed that Amy had died of a seizure, as she tried to withdraw from alcohol.

Meanwhile, Bennett said of the recording w/ Amy, which is one of the cuts in his Duets II CD out this month, "It was a thrill to record with Amy Winehouse and when you listen to the recording of 'Body and Soul,' it is a testament to her artistic genius and her brilliance as one of the most honest musicians I have ever known.” (Click here for the rest.)

RIP, Amy. Your music lives on.

* * *
Btw, other female music greats who have sung Body and Soul are:

Billie Holiday



Ella Fitzgerald



and, Anita O'Day. This last one, one of my favorite renditions, because of O'Day's playfulness.

Cuteness!

HIS name is Kellen Mirador Sarmiento. He's a little dude who channels The Warblers from GLEE w/ matching uniform.

Dontcha just love the way his little adorable face scrunches up, mimicking Darren Criss? who is also proudly Pinoy by the way.

Here he is singing Katy Perry's Teenage Dream:



And here is Kellen in the promo for the film, GLEE The 3D Concert Movie (can't wait to watch it!):



The toddler just might make it as a GLEE cast member. Hopefully the show lasts that long. ;p

Lady Gaga and Baby Gaga (Maria Aragon) in Toronto

THIS was really sweet. Moved me to tears.



Congratulations to our little Fil-Canadian Maria Aragon for a beautiful performance, and big love to Lady Gaga for making the little monster's dream come true.

"Maria represents what this song is all about," Lady Gaga told the excited crowd. "It's all about the next generation and the future." (Read the rest at MTV.com)

Also, check out Lady Gaga's twitpic of hersef and Maria here.

A little night of music

With musical director/ conductor Conrad Diez, the John Van De Steen Male Choir and Ave Maria Male Choir sing Broadway show tunes and popular songs in Encore!, a reunion concert at the UP Abelardo Hall in Diliman, Quezon City, on February 20. (Photo by Resty Maglalang)

LAST Sunday (Feb. 20, 2011), the entire family watched the reunion concert of the John Van de Steen Male Choir and the Ave Maria Male Choir USA at the Abelardo Hall of the University of the Philippines-Diliman. It seems the reputation of these choirs among music-loving Pinoys is far-reaching that the venue was packed to the rafters.

The Ave Maria Male Choir is no stranger to me as they had sung at my sister’s wedding some 30 years ago. As the story goes, they were a bunch of little boys who grew up in the poblacion of Makati, my then future brother-in-law included, and sang as “tiples” (sopranos) during Holy Week and Christmas at the St. Peter and Paul Parish Church. You could say they were Makati’s version of the Vienna Boys Choir, with their angelic voices lauding the Lord’s infinite blessings or beseeching His forgiveness for our sins.

As they boys grew up into young men, they became known as the Ave Maria Male Choir, and sometimes joined in the performances of the Manila Cathedral Choir founded by the late Rufino Cardinal Santos and trained under the Belgian priest Fr. John Van de Steen. One particularly memorable achievement for its members was when they collaborated and won the choral group contest of the then-popular noontime show Student Canteen.

But life eventually intervened, as it usually does, and the men went their separate ways, many concentrating on their respective careers and growing families. Only a handful actually continued to sing professionally.

Fate, though, has a funny way of bringing people back together, and some of these very same men found themselves singing for the Lord again. Many of them now make up the John Van de Steen Male Choir, which has helped revive the Latin Tridentine Mass, first at the St. Jerome Emiliani and Sta. Susanna Parish Church in Alabang, and, lately, at the Church of St. Therese in Newport City at the Villamor Airbase in Pasay City. JVS has since been touring around the country performing for different audiences and, recently, in Macau on the invitation of the Philippine Consulate.

Sunday’s concert began with various church hymns by the JVS, their divine voices transporting the audience into a state of grace. Particularly moving was their rendition of Franz Biebl’s “Ave Maria (Angelus Domini),” the best-known work of this German composer which recently regained prominence when it was made part of the repertoire of the Chanticleer, the world-famous male a cappella group.

In the second part of the program, now joined by the AVM’s foreign-based members who came home for this reunion, the men strutted their stuff singing pop songs and Broadway show tunes. Carl Antolin, an AVM alumnus now based in London and veteran of Miss Saigon at West End, particularly rocked the house with his witty rendition of Fiddler on the Roof’s “If I Were a Rich Man.” With his foot stomping and shoulders a-shaking, he out-Tevyed Topol’s Tevye. (Equally outstanding soloists were Doodz Policarpio and Oscar Palabyab, the former tourism undersecretary.)

The last part of the program was devoted to popular Filipino love songs like the swoon-worthy “Minsan Lang Kitang Iibigin,” ditties (“Talusaling/Ikaw ang Mahal Ko”), ending in the patriotic “Sa Mahal Kong Bayan” (Lucio San Pedro), a particular favorite of the late Fr. Van de Steen.

Despite the now-disparate lives of these men and the many oceans that separate them, it was wonderful to watch how their love for signing continues to bind them. It was certainly one of those rare lovely nights when we could just shut off all our worldly worries and relax, surrounding ourselves in delightful melodies.

(My column, Something Like Life, is published every Friday in the Life section of the BusinessMirror. This piece was published on Feb. 25, 2011.)

Meanwhile at the Grammy's

CAN anyone tell me who Arcade Fire is? Magaling ba sila talaga? They won Album of the Year for The Suburbs at last night's Grammy Awards and I'm shocked that 'with-it' gal me hasn't heard of them. (OA! ;p I'm so not with-it I actually thought the band's name was The Suburbs! haha.) Of course I was rooting for Lady Gaga's Fame Monster and Katy Perry's Teenage Dream. These two artists have been the brightest lights in the US pop scene, especially the former - a really fantastic and intelligent performer.

I was mildly taken aback by Katy's live performance though. I cringed as her singing went off-pitch several times; if it were an audition at the American Idol, Simon Cowell would've probably trashed her.

(Lady Gaga's Fame Monster wins Best Pop Vocal Album of the Year at the Grammys. Photo from www.glamourvanity.com".)

Anyway, I'm glad that Gaga won for Best Pop Vocal album, despite her rambling thoughts about Whitney Huston, hehe. Again, in this category, I was rooting for either her or Katy.

The most fun performance of the night, I thought was by Cee Lo Green, who looked like he plucked out all the feathers of the NBC Peacock and wore 'em (good for him, the Grammy's were on CBS), w/ a flashy headdress/skullcap(?) to boot. He and actress Gwyneth Paltrow sang his popular 'F*** you!' with some muppets as back-up singers and musicians.



As you know, Gwyneth sang the GP rated version of his song ('Forget You!') on a recent episode of Glee. She's got some pipes, mind you. But she was a bit stiff, unable to really shake her booty (unlike those muppets!) no doubt due to her killer heels from Christian Louboutin. Anyhoo, that Cee Lo performance appeared to be an homage (or a rip-off) of Elton John's gig on The Muppet Show in 1977, where the latter sang Crocodile Rock, feathers, glittery skullcap and all. (Of course, the joke was Lady Gaga's egg hatched and out popped Cee Lo. haha!)

(Btw, in case you were wondering, this is what Gwyneth Paltrow was wearing at her performance at the Grammys - Christian Louboutin retro colorblock booties from the Spring 2011. Kaya nahirapan sumayaw ang ale, hehe.)

Another favorite performance was by Mick Jagger who sang some soul, and looked really fashionable in his threads. He may be an old dude, but he still is Mr. Cool.



But the biggest upset of the night was in the Best New Artist category, which everyone thought would be won by Justin Bieber. But sorry, biebettes, the lovely artist Esperanza Spalding took home the award. This lady is one of the best jazz singers/bassists today, although I was a bit surprised that she's still considered "new" since she's been around since 2007-2008? She even visited Manila and performed at the Philippine Jazzfest in 2009. Dunno if this is true but there were some tweets that Spalding's web site crashed soon after she won, perhaps due to the number of people googling who she was. (UPDATE: Apparently what happened was some of the Bieb's cheap loser fans sabotaged Spalding's wikipedia page. Tsk tsk.)


(Esperanza Spalding performing at the White House in Feb., 2009. Watch this and you'll understand why she beat the Biebs.)

Jazz rules. Always.

Happy Valentine's Day to all!

Half-time at the Super Bowl

THIS has got to be one of the best half-time shows ever. Love Fergie! Woot-woot! ;p

Say goodbye to the old year!

...with this!

DJ Earworm's mashup of the Top 25 Billboard hits of 2010. Let's dance! ;p



Happy New Year to all! Hope you guys have a blast! Not literally of course. haha.

Darren Criss live in Manila! (oh and 'Puck' too!)

DARREN Criss (aka Blaine, Kurt's love interest in Glee) is in town for two days. Half-Pinoy who knows his lumpia, pancit, adobo and calamansi juice, he performed at Greenbelt last night, and will be in TriNoma tonight. (Rats. Was supposed to watch the TriNoma concert tonight but I'll have to miss it though. Familial duties call. Boo-hoo.)

Here's an interview by spot.ph where he talks about his 'bizarre kinship' w/ the Philippines and Pinoys:



Did you hear? His aunt owns Lemuria! Aba.

And here's one of the songs he played at his Greenbelt gig last night. Screaming teens at Darren have made me gone deaf, I think. haha ;p Thanks to OleanderJacob for uploading this vid on YouTube.

Enjoy!



Btw, another Glee star, Mark Salling (aka Puck) is also in town. PAL flight steward Dan Lira posted photos w/ the celebrity on his FB page two days ago, but the story was only picked up yesterday. Judging by the way he is smiling in the photos, Mark looks like a very nice and generous guy. Very accommodating to the photo requests.

(Mark Salling w/ the crew of PR103, Dec. 19, 2010. Photo via Dan Lira)
Mark, who flew in from Los Angeles via PR 103, is supposedly in Boracay now. Wow.

Treat him well, my Boracay friends. That way, he'll be able to spread the gospel of Boracay/Philippines to his friends and family back home. What a great way to promote the 'Pinas.

No musical instruments?

Use your iPhone!

This was the band featured by Jeanne Moss in CNN (subsequently picked up by ANC). Very creative group of guys. And very catchy song, actually.

I don't know what app they were using but if you've been a long-time Mac user like me, you know that each Macbook comes with a Garage Band app that enables you to create your own songs, and play musical instruments therein. You can also record the same after and turn your songs into mp3's.



According to Jeanne Moss, Apple has already been in touch w/ Atomic Tom's record label to discuss some future projects. Coolness. Oh yeah, that guy playing the "guitar" is unmistakeably Pinoy. Woo-hoo! ;p

Vinyl

The attic is usually the space where we store our memories—mementos of a great time gone by through old black-and-white photos; proof of one’s accomplishments in the form of trophies, diplomas and old report cards; in my case, books that I no longer have the space for in my present bedroom (I was quite the bookworm in my younger days), as well as old reporter’s notebooks and important documents which I keep as a sort of protection in case anyone decides that a story I wrote about him five or 10 years ago has irreparably injured his reputation or business. (Not that this has ever happened, but still….)

Among the stuff I found were my Papa’s old vinyl records. He had such a diverse collection, from the sappy Roger Williams piano recordings, to nice and easy Frank Sinatra and the romantic Jack Jones; from the intense Latin grooves of Cal Tjader and deep percussion from various artists, to the breezy stylings of Stanley Black and Tommy Dorsey. He also had soundtrack albums like the Broadway musicale Camelot—which always stood out among his record collection because of its vibrant red color—and the film hit From Russia with Love, with a young and handsome Sean Connery staring at me from the jacket cover. (From Something Like Life, BusinessMirror, June 25, 2010)

Madonna overload on GLEE

THIS was the best episode on GLEE, ever! It wasn't a surprise at all that Cheerios Coach Sue Sylvester was inspired by MADONNA. She attributes her take no prisoners attitude to the Material Girl. Haha.

This was Sylvester's own tribute to Madonna...hysterical!



Yay GLEE!

Get well soon Gob!

La lang. Happy Chinese New Year from the gang! ;p

The next big Pinoy star

WOOF! This mash-up made my hairs stand on hand. Manny Garcia is that good!

Even Cory Monteith, star of that wonderful TV show GLEE, was so impressed that via tweeting, he is trying to help Manny launch his career, according to several news reports. Many of Manny's newfound fans are now hoping he would guest-star on GLEE!

Betcha this guy's gonna perform on Ellen Degeneres' or Oprah's show soon enough. Catch more of the Chicago-based Manny's online perfomances on BlogTV. Ang galing nya!

Clap for him people! ;p

Because I'm still protesting Taylor Swift's Grammy win

Here's Christopher Walken doing Lady Gaga's Poker Face:

I protest!

TAYLOR Swift wins the Grammy's? WTF?! Are the judges all old futzballs with a crush on little girls who like to sing victim songs with a twang? Duh!

I was so rooting for Lady Gaga to win the Album of the Year of the award. With five no. 1 hits from The Fame CD, how could she lose out to that cutesy Taylor Swift? Lady Gaga is provocative, yes, but super-creative and such a brilliant performer. (I am so sorry I missed her show here in Manila.)


(Madonna and Lady Gaga at SNL. Sorry for the poor AV quality guys, but NBC had all the higher quality pulled out. Spoilsports!)

I may be treading on thin ice here and earn the ire of Madonna fans (I used to be one of them), but talbog na ang Lola nyo . Lady Gaga not only has a strong singing voice for her young age (w/c Madonna didn't have at that same age), but she is an accomplished pianist and dancer, prolific songwriter, and a genius in reinventing herself for each performance. Not to mention, she also is an intelligent girl, very articulate and doesn't take herself too seriously, except when working, as her interviews have shown. (Imagine, pati si Oprah and Barbra Walters naloka sa kanya? Haha!)

Anyhoo, Gaga performed beautifully at the opening of the Grammy's and got everyone all excited when she sang and played the piano w/ Sir Elton John, ang royal bading. Impressive!



I thought that was the best performance of the night already, until Pink took to the stage. I've always liked Pink's CDs bec. she always turns out strong songs w/c capture the spirit of independent women. Anyhoo, watch this. Pink sings, and twirls, and brings the house down.


(Clap for her!)

Ivylicious says she thinks Pink was lipsyncing bec. her voice didn't even break nor did she run out breath while twirling around. I think the lipsyncing could've been done when she was high up in the air, bec. the audience wouldn't notice it naman. Still it was a really standout performance, dontcha think? Hello Cirque de Soleil?

Going back to my original rant, I still don't like the fact that Taylor Swift won over Lady Gaga. Swift has the kind of voice and face that I want to stick a stoker to. Ick. Does this anything have to do w/ my disliking country music so much? You betcha! ;p

Natural woman

I WAS about six or seven years old when I first heard Carole King sing. It was via my older brother who owned her Tapestry album. Even if I probably didn't know the meaning of all her lyrics then, I just know her songs touched me in a way no other female singer did (aside from Barba Streisand, of course).

The album had great songs, which have since become standards like You've got a Friend, Natural Woman, I Feel the Earth Move, So Far Away, among others. As a woman, you can't help but feel connected to her lyrics, so simple, yet brilliantly written, capturing women in all stages of love and independence.

My brother is now long gone, but I think his Tapestry album is still somewhere around the attic. Some years back, I bought a CD reissue of Ms. King's Live at the Carnegie Hall concert (1971). Among all my CDs, this is probably my favorite as it features a surprise number from James Taylor.

Last night on David Letterman, I caught the tail end of Ms. King and JT's performance, as they're promoting their Troubadour reunion world concert. Carole may have lost some of the high notes, but she still looks and sounds amazing for a gal her age. (As for JT, he still sounds the same, but now even w/ less less hair hence the hat. Ach.)

I hope they can come over to Manila to perform as they have a huge number of fans out here. As per Ms. King's website, so far they only have Japan on their list, as far as Asian playdates are concerned. Rats! Maybe some concert producer here can bring them over.

Anyhoo, enjoy.

A lawyer who doesn't know the law (w/ 2nd update)

(Rico Blanco photo from TatayK.)

JUST read a blog about how PaLaKa presidential candidate Gilbert Teodoro used a song ("Posible") of former Rivermaya frontman Rico Blanco in his latest TV ad, without the latter's permission.

Blanco has been tweeting about this, and even gives Gibo, the benefit of the doubt, until he actually saw the ad and noticed that the singer had even tried to copy his (Blanco's) voice.

Not only have Gibo and his campaign staff broken the law by not asking permission from Blanco to use his song, they're even trying to mislead the public into believing that the artist was actually singing the song, thus, making the public think that Blanco is endorsing Gibo's presidential campaign! (Sorry, was trying to find the ad on the blogs or YouTube but it's not uploaded. Either that, or it's been removed already by the brainiacs in Gibo's campaign staff.)

(Gilbert Teodoro Jr. photo from Wowel.com.)

This reminds me of the lawsuit filed by singer Jackson Browne versus Sen. John McCain and the Republican Party after they failed to obtain the singer's permission for using his song "Running on Empty" in a McCain ad mocking Barack Obama's proposed energy policies, during the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign.

And all the while, Gibo has been boasting that he's a bar topnotcher? Yet he nor his staff can't even follow basic IPR regulations? Tsk, tsk. Galing and Talino this one.

Then again, this IPR violation is probably the least of Gibo's legal concerns, if the rumor mill is to be believed. I hear a relative has great shooting skills. Must be a fan of Dick Cheney.

* * * *
(Dennis Garcia, left, with brother Rene on the cover of Hotdog's greatest hits album. Photo from XPrezz.)

(UPDATE Jan. 8, 2010 at 1:25 a.m.) In the interest of fair play, I've published the message of Mr. Dennis Garcia, who produced the 'Posible' song for Gibo's ad, in the comments page. For those who are too young to know, Mr. Garcia, is co-founder of the Hotdog band in the 70s, and a songwriter who created such great hits like Annie Batungbakal, etc.

* * * *
(UPDATE Jan. 10, 2010 at 12:30 am) Here's the controversial Gibo 'Posible' ad:



Last night, Rico Blanco officially asked the Gibo camp to cease and desist using his Posible song in said ad bec. the artist never gave consent for its use.

Warner Music, which currently manages the artist quotes Section 178 of the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines, w/c says the copyright of an audiovisual work belongs “to the producer, the author of the scenario, the composer of the music, the film director, and the author of the work."

Btw, here's Posible, originally sung by Rivermaya:

This is it

IF you still haven't seen "This is It", the behind-the-scenes documentary of Michael Jackson's rehearsals for what would've been his last concert run to have been staged in London, then go see it quick. The film dispels the rumors that Michael was sick or worn-out before his tragic death on June 25, 2009 at the age of 50.

Spliced with a few interviews with his backup singers, his dancers, his band and the other members of the production, the film is really about Michael's dedication to his craft. He was a perfectionist to the core, but wasn't imposing or and was never a diva about it. Every request made of his musicians or dancers was punctuated with a sincere thank you or a "God bless you."

It showed how much his fans meant to him that he wanted to give them a really good show. So he had to personally shepherd every aspect of the production. He was in complete control from the very beginning. He was there choosing his back up dancers, getting the tunes of his songs right w/ the band leader, overseeing the filming of his new videos w/c would have been shown in the concerts, etc.

Even as he tried to conserve his voice for the actual concerts, or didn't bring out the big dance moves yet, his brilliance as a performer shone through. No matter if they danced the same choreographed steps, for instance, Michael just had his own groove w/c put him above his crew. One tiny pop of his elbow, a shuffling of his feet here, and a kick-turn in place, and he was amazing.

But he was always generous as a performer. He wanted his backups to have their moments onstage. Like he would coax the female guitarist performing w/ him to give it her all and say, "This is your time to shine." You could tell that the concerts would have really been fantastic.

True to the producers' words, the film is really for the fans. The music alone will want you to get up, sing along and dance. It shows Michael at probably his happiest, just performing onstage, even if these were just rehearsals. That was what made the film so poignant and touched me so that at some point, I couldn't hold back my tears much longer. It was just so great to see him smile again.

We love you Michael...always and forever.