Kpop in Philippines

the very first time that the Korean Wave set foot here in the Philippines is when GMA7 aired "Bright Girl" starring Jang Nara in their afternoon slot. this was followed by "Endless Love: Autumn Tale" starring Song Seunghun and Song Hyegyo in their primetime. in my opinion, GMA7 have mastered the "art" of picking Korean dramas because most of the Korean dramas they have shown have become a phenomenal hit here in the Philippines. after "Endless Love: Autumn Tale", some of GMA7's unforgettable Korean dramas are "Endless Love: Winter Sonata", "Full House", "Jewel in the Palace (Dae Jangeum)", "Kim Samsoon", "Jumong", and "Coffee Prince". but ABSCBN2 has also their own hits like "Lovers in Paris" and "Princess Hours" (sorry, i don't think i can consider "Boys Over Flowers" as a huge hit here in the Philippines).

as for Kpop songs, the first Kpop songs that were played here is Unee's "Answer the Phone" and Kiss' "Because I'm a Girl". that coincides with Sandara Park's rise to fame in the Philippine showbiz industry. if i remember it right, the next song that was aired was a song by Lee Jaejin - he even went here and performed with Sandara at ASAP Fanatic. then Roxanne Barcelo, i think, sang the first to songs in Filipino as her debut singles back then.

i don't bother myself up about the dramas, in fact i always wait what Korean dramas GMA7 will air next. in that way, i won't have to spend my time reading subtitles. however, as for Kpop songs, it's a different matter. truth be told, i'm against the releasing of Kpop songs here in the Philippines (especially those from the artists that i like...well, even those who i don't like) and i know that i'm not the only one who feels this way.

just this year, i was surprised that the song "Nobody" by Wonder Girls began playing in various radio stations and it was being sang by different actors, actresses and singers every week in variety shows. the first time i saw that is when Moymoy Palaboy and some others performed it in an opening number in SOP. it was fun then, why? because it was Moymoy Palaboy - the duo that are well-known of their funny lipsyncing of various songs in Youtube. but when the It Girls performed it in ASAP the following week, i start to realize there is something not right. then i finally hear it on various radio stations everywhere i go - while i walk in the streets, the malls, while i'm riding a tricycle, jeepney, taxi or an FX. i even hear three versions - the original, the English and the slow one.

i start to imagine what's going on with my friend who is a die-hard Wonder Girls fan. she told people before that she don't want them to get famous here in the Philippines. i understand what she feels (i'm sorry but i don't want TVXQ songs to start playing in radio stations and music channels, and i totally don't want local celebrities performing their songs). then i start to hear 2NE1, well, i already expected it since Sandara Park's part of the said group. i know that MYX (a part of ABSCBN) would really do everything to get a hand on 2NE1's MVs and songs. so, as for the 2NE1's case, i would let it pass since it is definitely inevitable that they won't get a hype here in the Philippines.

then Super Junior songs began to play in radio stations and music channels (even the Cebu inmates made a dance number of the group's "Sorry Sorry"!). i'm not a Super Junior fan so feeling their presence here is a horror for me. then i was told yesterday that Big Bang's songs are making their presence on the local airwaves felt but i haven't confirmed this yet (i've been avoiding listening to the local FM radio nowadays - i only listen to stations that are for the high class people, i'm not discriminating but there are radio stations that are only meant to play Western songs and OPM bands!).

the feeling of not wanting them here in the Philippines grew. when i was asked why, i don't know what to answer. i just can't say "i just don't like it" because that will appear that i - and other people who have known the Kpop industry way before their songs arrived here - am just selfish that i just want to keep them to myself (but there is also a great feeling when you're the only one or some few others who knew about it). but after analyzing the reception of the Kpop songs by the Filipinos by mere observation, i finally realize why there are people like me who don't want Kpop songs to be played here despite being a huge fan of it.

while it is true that if these Kpop songs are played locally, it can be easily accessible to all of us that are Kpop addict. after all, they're the songs that we listen in the Internet, the MVs that we watch in Youtube, and the artists we search over Wikipedia. but the way we treat Kpop is not the same compared to most of the Filipinos.

i have become a fan of Kpop since 2003 (that was months before "Meteor Garden" was aired in ABSCBN2). how? when i first watched "New Nonstop 3" in ArirangTV. where's the music there? well, i got addicted to the show the first time i saw it that i forgot to switch channels when it was over. it was followed by "Pops in Seoul" then i saw an MV by this beautiful guy with an amazing voice - "Confessions" by Kangta. since then, i went to the ArirangTV website to see the schedules of "Pops in Seoul" and music variety shows namely "Showking M" and "Music Tank". i also searched more about Kangta, that's when i learned about H.O.T, S.E.S and Shinhwa. and by searching the profiles of the "New Nonstop 3" cast, i learned that DANA is a solo artist and Lee Jin is part of Fin.K.L.

Kpop has something different compared to our own OPM and the Western music (even though it is patterned on Western music). i learned how the artists auditioned and trained. i learned the role of the talent agencies like the so-called Kpop's "Holy Trinity" formed by SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment and JYP Entertainment (because of this, i start to pity DSP Entertainment since back in the 1990s, they were the one who's up against SM). i learned that Kpop is a VERY serious industry in South Korea. through the variety shows, i learned about Baby V.O.X, Jewelry, BoA, NRG, Fly to the Sky, etc. the Internet also introduced me to disbanded groups like Click-B and Seckskies. before i know it, i seem to know everything about the basics of the Kpop industry. also, i learned about the Korean Wave.

then in my last two years of my college, when i made a thesis about Korean dramas, i learned how the Korean Wave came to be. i learned that the Korean entertainment industry is not always the way it used to be. i learned that it was only in 1990s when their entertainment industry began to revolutionalize. since that was the case, there's no doubt that the Kpop industry is the fastest growing and the most innovative music industry there is. foreign artists seldomly get the number one spot in South Korea because they have tight competitions against the local artists. they use the Kpop industry and the whole of their entertainment industry to protect their local culture.

however, when Kpop songs are being played here in the Philippines, it is not treated with the same respect as it is in South Korea. Kpop songs are treated the way like Filipinos treat the songs "Asereje", "Macarena", etc. and the OPM novelty songs by Sexbomb Girls. in Filipino slang, Kpop songs becomes "jologs" and low class. fans like me here in the Philippines are against this way of treatment. but we can't do anything about it, it's just that the Filipinos does not understand what Kpop is all about - the way the talent agencies spend tons of money to train their artists in singing, dancing, modeling and other languages like Japanese, Chinese and English; to produce songs that can go against Western songs; and to make videos with the newest technology possible (c'mon, compare OPM MVs with Kpop MVs, tsk). it irritates fans like me everytime the radio DJs and music channel VJs talk about these Kpop songs as if they know everything about it but in truth is that they do not.

"Nobody" is not just a "dance craze" that swept all over South Korea. i may be exagerating but after a decade it can be regarded as one of the Kpop classics along with H.O.T's "Candy" and S.E.S' "I'm Your Girl". take Sandara Park as an example, her songs here in the Philippines are novelty songs - "In or Out", "Walang Sabit" and "Ang Ganda Ko" - songs that are forgetable as time passes and songs that are laughed at (but it's just that novelty songs are the big thing back those years), but when she returned to Korea, she have a number one REAL pop songs - "Fire" and "I Don't Care" - with 2NE1 and just recently, she released a solo "Kiss" that is a technopop dance tune. but what can i do? the Filipino definition of classic songs are those jukebox songs that were in rage during the 1970s and, unfortunately, they are still being done today in the form of modern ballads (so thank goodness there is Eraserheads, Francis Magalona and Gary Valenciano).

comparing OPM to Kpop, it is obvious that the OPM industry is totally backward compared to Kpop's modern appeal. the only thing that OPM can brag to Kpop is that we have awesome rock and alternative bands like Eraserheads, Rivermaya, Parokya ni Edgar and Kamikazee (unfortunately, they have their own Gary V. and Francis M.). maybe the only downside of Kpop is that the artists are not good English speakers like the Filipinos but slowly but surely, the Koreans are going there. when i watched Jessica Soho's report on Kpop a month ago, a local music producer is against the way Filipinos embrace the Kpop songs. why? because, according to him, we have our own music which is the OPM. unfortunately, it seems that he doesn't seem to notice that our OPM industry does not have pop boybands and girl bands that are good-looking, amazing singers and awesome dancers. maybe if Gary V. decided to produce a boyband back then, things would've been different.

the reason why Filipinos listen to Kpop is that Kpop has something that OPM cannot offer. i don want Kpop artists to gain international recognition the way they are recognized in Japan, China, and the rest of Southeast Asia. but, as of now, in my opinion, Kpop should just remain off-limits here in the Philippines not until people here can understand or at least realize that Kpop is not some cheap novelty songs.

2009: Kpop girl band's up, boy band's down

i reentered the Kpop realm on August 2009. well, not really. i mean, ever since we lost our cable connection - the only tie that binds me to Kpop - in around 2005 to 2006, i had a very hard time keeping up with the Kpop industry. during that time, looking for Kpop news and downloads are really hard. thanks to the Youtube, i was still able to watch Kpop mvs but apart from that, i have nothing else to find out what's happening to the Kpop industry or the whole Korean showbiz itself. it was only in August 2009 when my friend showed me the webside Allkpop.com when i finally reestablished myself a connection to the world of Kpop. unfortunately, whatever happened from January-July 2009 was unknown to me so i went back to the archives.

anyway, from what i have noticed, Kpop girl bands are in rage! there are girl groups everywhere! well, there are already the groups who debuted before 2009, namely, So Nyeo Shi Dae/SNSD/Girls' Generation (SM Entertainment), Wonder Girls (JYP Entertainment), KARA (DSP Entertainment), Jewelry (Star Empire Entertainment), The Grace (SM), and Brown Eyed Girls (Nega-Network). then came 2009, when After School (Sony BMG), 2NE1 (YG Entertainment), T-ara (Core Contents Media), 4Minute (Cube Entertainment), and f(x) (SM) debuted [there are still others like 7size, Pink Hearts(?) and some others but they didn't made a very huge impact] and there are still others that are set to be launch - the most recent girl group that was launched was HAM (LeeYeon Entertainmen) and there are still others like Secret (YG) and Rainbow (DSP) who are waiting in line.

so, in my opinion, the "girl band invasion" has now turned into "girl band overdose." for me, after f(x), i think South Korea already has all the girl bands it needs. but the companies are unstoppable and i was surprised the YG will launch another (Secret) to think that 2NE1 has just debuted months ago. if i were to be asked, the company that needs a new girl band is JYP since Wonder Girls are kind of old already (i don't mean it in a bad way, it's just they could offer something new, right?). as for DSP, they have only relaunched KARA so they need to focus on them only.

however, it seems that the success and the shower of various girl bands are recieving comes with a price: the unfortunate events that are plauging the Kpop boy bands. as i went back to the old Kpop news, 2009 didn't seem to be a bad year:

- Super Junior (SM) dominated the first half of the year

- TVXQ (SM) gained more popularity in Japan that was certified by their Tokyo Dome concert

- SS501 (DSP) was able to step up their game when their leader, Kim Hyun Joong, played Yoo Ji Hoo in a hit Korean drama, Boys Over Flowers (a remake of Hana Yori Dango)

but since this summer, a lot of unfortunate things start to happen starting from common accidents like SHINee's (SM) leader, Onew, accident in KBS Music Bank and Big Bang's (YG) Daesung's car accident. Back in June, Onew was hit by one of the light fixtures that got loose during the closing of the show. Then in August, Daesung got into a car accident near Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province after taping for Family Outing. they may be unfortunate but it was in August when the biggest disasters began for South Korea's beloved boybands.

July 2009 ended and August 2009 began with the news that three members of the country's - also of the Asia's - biggest boyband TVXQ filed a lawsuit against SM. it began as rumors in July but unfortunately, it was not. Kim JaeJoong, Park YooChun, and Kim JunSu shocked the whole world (not an exaggeration!) with what they did. many speculations start to arise about what will be the outcome of the lawsuit and among them is the plaguing disbandment of TVXQ which is begin feared my their over 800,000 fans all over the world. the last hearing of the case was held in Sept 11 and up until now, the court hasn't released their decision.

however, before TVXQ's last hearing occurred, the biggest issue in South Korea was the Myspace scandal of 2PM's leader Park Jaebum. comments of Jaebum saying Koreans are gay was dug up by netizens and anti-fans alike. due to the nonstop harsh comments, Jaebum decided to leave 2PM and South Korea to go back to Seattle, USA. after that, Hottests, 2PM's fans' club, began various petitions and rallies to bring him back. they have began boycotting the band's activities and products - Korean fans even gave back their CDs to the JYP Entertainment. unfortunately, JYP still stressed that 2PM will still continue as a six-member boyband.

the same day that Jaebum left Korea came the news that Kim Hyun Joong was diagnosed with A(H1N1) while in Japan causing him to stay longer in the said country. fortunately, as of now, he has finally got back in Korea. however, came another news, Super Junior's Kangin was charged with assault causing him not to be able to join Super Junior activities. in addition, in amidst of those issues, G-Dragon, the leader of Big Bang, who had just released his solo album has been criticized of plagiarism nonstop.

so...everybody's calling it the "September curse" or the "2009 curse" and everybody's hoping that it'll soon be over (i do too).

the departure of 2PM's Jaebum

i haven't heard a single song of 2PM (Korean boyband) yet but i know that their music is good - i mean, they are from JYP Entertainment (JYPE) (Wonder Girls) and they are one of the top Korena boybands along with DBSK, Super Junior, Big Bang, SS501 and SHINee. i'm planning to listen to their songs and watch their performances this coming weekend and all then the news came: 2PM's leader Park Jaebum (Jay Park) left the group and South Korea.

the whole quitting thing began just a week ago when netizens and anti-fans have dig onto Jaebum's Myspace and saw various comments in which he said that Koreans are gay. the said comments are exchanges between him and his friend from the US and they were posted in 2007. as a result, various haters have posted harsh comments about him on the net and a petition stating that Jaebum should just commit suicide surfaced. Jaebum was pulled off the variety show he's in and the activities of 2PM were cancelled. Jaebum even posted a public apology on the net. all things seem to be going nice until yesterday when JYP announced and confirmed that Jaebum has quit 2PM and that he will be going back to Seattles, US the same day.

even though i'm not yet a fan, i was deeply affected by the news. Jaebum became a trending topic in Twitter in the form of Jay, Jaebum, #jaebum, and Please Retweet. hundreds of 2PM fans, which are called Hottests, went to Incheon Airport to beg Jaebum not to go. various petitions were also circulated to make him stay. by the time that he was already at the airport, even Woohyung, his fellow 2PM member, become a trending topic in Twitter. on his last interview, Jaebum stated that he'll be studying music in the US. he didn't say anything about returning to South Korea and 2PM. moreover, all he constantly did was to bow down and apologize.

i realized that Korean fans and Korean detractors are really strong and dedicated. the fate of the Korean celebrities are in their hands. go against one Korean idol and hundred thousands are ready to go against you. however, this time, the detractors won against the fans, they were able to pull down a rising idol just like that. there are number of fans who are disappointed at JYP (the head of the JYPE) for letting all this happen, after all, Jaebum does deserve to be forgiven. fans posted various post-its on the entrance of JYPE after Jaebum's departure.

but my take on this is...Jaebum, though he is the leader of a boyband with seven members, is still a 22-year-old boy. going against such controversy at such a young age is really difficult and with his family living in the US, he can only do so much. the comments he made on his Myspace was also an expression on how much he has been missing his family, after all, he was just a teenage boy who is living in a country he is not yet familiar with even though it's his real roots. right now, he does need his family more than ever.

as of now, there are netizens, who caused this whole controversy, who are apologizing for what happened. there's also one who wanted to commit suicide (from an article i read at omgkpop). honestly? don't start something like this if you'll feel sorry afterwards. you should feel responsible of what you are doing, you should be aware of the consequences your actions might result to.

as for 2PM...let's just hope for the best. i may not yet know how's 2PM with Jaebum but i know that it will never be the same. that's always been the case...

[pictures from allkpop.com & omgkpop.com]

SM Entertainment's new girl band: f(x)

since the 1st of August 2009, when the news about three members of DBSK filing a lawsuit against SM Entertainment, i didn't give a damn about other Kpop bands and artists. i didn't care whether 2ne1 had taken a vacation and Sandara Park visited the Philippines, i didn't care whether G-Dragon has launched his solo album, i didn't care whether 4Minute has already released their full album and that they got banned from KBS just because of a particular song...so, okay, maybe i'm still pretty updated on the major events that are occurring at the Kpop music scene but, like i said, i don't care.

why? i'm totally waiting for the outcome of the lawsuit. i'm waiting to find out how SM and Kim Jae-joong, Park Yoo-chun and Kim Jun-su will be able to resolve the whole issue. i don't even give a damn about Jung Yun-ho's drama "Heading to the Ground", Shim Chang-min's "Paradise Meadow", and Jae-joong and Yoo-chun's "Color's - Melody and Harmony".

however, when the news about SM releasing a new girl band came out in August 23, i was totally curious. i mean, come on! you're in a middle of huge issue with your biggest talents and you still have time to launch a new girl band?! but i think this just shows that SM is a very strong company (well...if not, they should've gone down the moment H.O.T decided to break up, right? and since DBSK assures everyone that they're not splitting up, what's there to worry?) and that it does not entirely rely on DBSK (but of course, we cannot deny that the moment they lose their hold on the five boys, they will lose a lot!)

anyway, SM's new darlings are Krystal, Sulli, Victoria, Amber and Luna (based on their order on the picture below) - these five girls form the group called f(x). i don't want to talk about why they were called that because the whole thing doesn't make sense to me but i like their name which is pronounced as "effects".

but the real reason why f(x) got my attention is Amber who isn't anyone's typical girl band member. why? well, it's probably a first that a girl band has a tomboyish member (i mean, other people think that there's already 2ne1's CL and Mingzi but in my opinion the said two are not tomboyish but they are just not as sweet-looking compared to other girls in any girl bands) and f(x) knows that. so right now, because she appears to be one-of-a-kind, it seems that among the five girls, she has the most following (lot of female Korean fans are going lesbian over her already, i think). and she's a good rapper and she has a good voice (i mean, i know she only sang a very small line from their debut single but it's already enough gist to know that she can sing). i'm not impress on her English rapping skill, though, since she's a Chinese-American who grew up at LA, USA, therefore, it is expected that she can really use English properly.

but if i would be asked if who among the four other girls got my vote as the prettiest, i'll say it's gotta be Luna. i like her face and her voice too, really full and powerful. next will be Krystal (sister of Girls Generation's Jessica).

as for their carrier single, "La Cha Ta", i must say i do love it. other people doesn't though - they say it's not catchy enough, it's weak compared to "Mr. Boogie"(the group's unreleased single), etc. but for me, it's good enough - it does have a catchy tune and the girls' voices can really heard. people constantly compare to 4minute's "Hot Issue" and "Muzik" which are way overtuned, same goes to 2ne1's "Fire" specifically on Sandara Park's voice (oh yes, i can't be fooled. though i'm not a huge fan of hers, i've been watching her ever since she auditioned for Star Circle Quest and cried her way through the competition - she did sing during those times and she ever released a novelty album and some songs for a commercial and a movie). as for the video, i also do like it - i love the chereography, honestly, i love SM's choreography starting way back to H.O.T. and just awhile ago, i got to see their debut performance at Music Core and i must say that they are really good performers.

so, yes...i'm a fan=)

[pictures from allkpop.com]

DBSK vs. SM Entertainment

last Saturday, after i found out that Pres. Aquino has already died, i found out that my favorite South Korean boyband is in trouble with their talent agency last July 31, 2009.

oh yes, Dong Bang Shin Ki (also known as DBSK, DBSG, Tong Vang Xin Qi, TVXQ, Tohoshinki, etc.) filed a case against SM Entertainment - well, it wasn't exactly the whole boyband, it was just Kim Jun-su (Xiah), Kim Jae-joong (Hero) and Park Yoo-chun (Mickey) who filed the case, Jung Yun-ho (U-Know) and Shim Chang-min (Max) does not have anything to do with all of it. the case the three guys filed is to suspend their 13-year contract with SM Entertainment. some of the speculations also think that it has something to do with the company's objection of the three managing a branch of a certain cosmetic company called CreBeau to where the three have invested in. for this, the three guys wanted to remove the "non-exclusivity clause" in their contract.

other issues that have risen are the unequal distribution of money between the group and the company. according to the rumors, SM is receiving 80% of the album sales while the remaining 20% is given to the five boys to divide among themselves.

oh well, my first reaction for this "H.O.T.????"

i was referring to boyband, High-five Of Teenagers. a boyband also created by SM Entertainment back in mid-1990s. they were launched in 1996 and by 2001 the group was disbanded. after the disbandment, three members of H.O.T. - Jang Woo-Hyuk, Tony An and Lee Jae-Won - left SM while the other two - KangTa and Moon Hee-Jun stayed. according to the news and the rumors, the split was due to financial issues - KangTa and Moon Hee-Jun are being paid more compared to the other three. the group separated and it took several years for all the members to talk to each other once again (oh yes, i remember when JTL - a group formed by the three members who left SM - debuted and guested in a variety show hosted by KangTa, the fans were so excited of the somewhat reunion - yes, Moon Hee-Jun also guested in the show to promote his new album - and KangTa was so uncomfortable).

so, yes, basically i see this whole issue as a lame one. maybe history does repeat itself. but according to DBSK, they are not splitting up - the statement is definitely reassuring but what if the issue between SM and the three boys were not resolved? how will stay together? but i do hope this will end soon, i may have not followed their whole career but i saw them start and i know at that time that they're going to be HUGE. come on, they're in the Guinness Book of Records as the boyband with the biggest fanbase consisting of more than 500,000 people (i myself included) so they better not disappoint us.

as for SM, well they said that even though they do not give the whole money from album sales, endorsements, etc. to the boys, they do not let the five of them spend huge amount of money as they have already provided them with cars, houses, etc. if that is true, then that's good but maybe they should also look back to what is wrong with their system - maybe they should give the boys some little freedom? but anyway, i don't blame SM with everything of this, i'm sure that the boys also have their faults in this issue...(okay, kill me now! haha).

i just hope that things will be all okay...hope they should put an end to this and just go back to making music and performing.

[picture from Allkpop.com]

RIP: Michael Jackson

this is entry is soooo late. well, it was a normal Friday morning for me, the only difference is that the laptop is not at home so i don't have any capacity to connect to the internet. i just shut myself inside me bedroom thinking that nothing out of the ordinary is happening outside my house...that was when until i met up with my friends that afternoon and one of them told me that Michael Jackson is already dead. of course i was shocked and i couldn't believe it and i totally felt how disconnected i was without the internet. then the mall we're in began playing Michael Jackson songs and restaurants with cable tvs are all tuned in to CNN.



i was born in 1988 and i began loving music when i was in 3rd grade and was still 9 years old of age. the first songs that i began singing with during that time are the songs of Backstreet Boys and Spice Girls, however, even before that i've already been hearing the name "Michael Jackson". i don't know who he is during that time, all i know is that he is the "King of Pop". but since Michael Jackson has no new songs or albums during that time, the only way that i got to know him is through MTV. there was a time when MTV showed a lot of his videos and i realized that i've known some of his songs all along.

i don't know how to use the internet yet back then, besides, there's still no such thing as internet cards, internet cafes and internet broadbands/DSL that time. so, the only way that i can get to know more about him is through my older sister and older brother who are 14 years and 12 years older than me, respectively. i learned what are his greatest songs, his trademark outfits and dance moves, why he became a white-skinned guy, etc. i may not have experienced the "Michael Jackson phenomenon" that have invaded the 80s but i can visualize how awesome and great he is just on that stories and his music videos.

when Michael Jackson made a comeback with "You Rock My World" in 2001, i got really hyped-up. it's my first time to the "current" him. i got to see him in a new music video not from MTV Classics or such. it was brief but it was already enough for me. i no longer expect to watch him live onstage because that would be a very farfetched dream to have. it was already enough for me to see how everything in the music industry seems to revolved around him when he makes appearances everywhere. it was already enough for me to see how every artist in the music industry refers him as their greatest influence even though they are rock artists, pop artists, hip hop artists, etc. they always say that they are what they are all because of him.

when American Idol Season 8 had a Michael Jackson Week for the Top 13, my attention was really caught. i mean, these are 13 amateur artists and they're going to try and take legendary songs. maybe Kris Allen have already sang "Man in the Mirror" two weeks before that and he did really well but that is not yet enough to see if they can really control the songs of Michael Jackson which seems to have a life of its own.

a comeback concert was announced and everyone in the world was waiting for that. but due to his death, the said comeback will be nothing but just a subject of everybody's wildest dream. despite the scandals and trials that revolved around the King of Pop for almost the whole decade of the first ten years of the new millenium, everyone are still ecstatic to him onstage and do what he's best on doing. just like what one of the person interviewed about his death, the new generation is very unfortunate because they will never witness what Michael Jackson is all about.

as for me, i'm still in disbelief. i admit i've been wondering things like "what if Michael Jackson/Madonna/etc. died?" i know it's not a very good thing to think about but i am just curious of what will be the events that will transpired to it because these are people who have always been there even though they do not have any new songs or albums. the music industry is the way it is because of Michael Jackson, hence, despite being absent for a long time, he has always been there. now that he's gone...it's hard to think about what the music industry will sound like without him...

[picture from Yahoo! Images]

taylor swift

yesterday, i luckily watched "MYX Presents: Taylor Swift". the special showed Taylor Swift performing her songs in acoustic in an acoustic show called "Stripped", the second half, on the other hand, was the making of the "White Horse" video (i didn't even know that it was finally released here!).

it was year 2008 when i first heard "Teardrops on My Guitar", i was listening to my radio and i totally started to love the said song. i didn't know who the singer was at first, i have to memorize a line or two from the said song in order for me to find the whole lyrics in the internet. when i found the lyrics and the name of the artist, i quickly went to Youtube hoping that there might be a music video. fortunately, there was and that was the first time i saw Taylor Swift, i also went to watch her other music videos like "Our Song" and "Picture to Burn".

while watching her videos, i intently look at her and listen to the melodies of her music and then that's when i realized that she was a country artist but not quite. yeah, there was the country vibe but there is something different. i quickly went to Wikipedia to search for her biography and stuff (back then, there was nothing much about her) and i learned that she was from Pennsylvania and its not definitely a state where country music is at large.

i, then, downloaded her songs - not only those that were released as singles but also songs like "Should've Said No", "I'd Lie" and "I'm Only Me When I'm With You". back then, there aren't enough people in the Philippines who knows her (her songs were not even being sung by actors and actresses in the variety shows) until she released "Love Story" and the news that Joe Jonas broke up with her surfaced. well, Filipinos are more about the Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus during that time.

fortunately, "Love Story" is a bigger noise than the said breakup. MYX began airing the song's music video and local artists and actresses began singing her songs. as one of her early fans here in the Philippines, i'm happy that people here are starting to listen to her (because, for me, she's more worth listening to than Miley Cyrus).

i admire the way she writes her songs like "Love Story" - it was completely a story, i love the words and the lines she used. her songs may be simple in terms of the way they were sang, well, i have to admit that she does not have the best vocals but it doesn't really matter. her sign as a true artist is seen on how she wrote her songs. they may not be written with very 'flowery' words, they were so simple and straight to the point but it still forms something beautiful. her style of writing reminds me of the kind of writing my Literature professor taught us - she always tell us to clearly put picture in our poems and avoid using symbolisms that can cause to blur the image that we want to show.

i can't wait for her next album and i hope that it will do well just how "Fearless" did. honestly, the sophomore album success (which was very rare) may have added pressure on the third album whatever it might sound. i mean, "Fearless" is a multi-platinum album, hence, a very huge success. it might take a lot in order to surpass it or to even reach its level. but who knows, Taylor Swift have demonstrated the impossible - she was able to make country music despite not being a country girl, she was able to capture a lot of music listeners despite being young and that second album was definitely not something everyone expected.

[picture from Yahoo! Images]