Tessanne Chin is The Voice!!!

Tessanne Chin

The 5th season the The Voice culminated today.

I am so happy that one of my favorites for this season, Tessanne Chin, from Adam Levine’s team, won the whole thing.

I’ve been rooting for her since the first time I heard her during her blind auditions, singing Pink’s rock number, Try. Every other performance she did on the show was just great and miles apart from the rest of the other artists.

While I had other favorites that I also would have loved to see win, it is without a doubt that Tessanne is the one most deserving of the win.

I look forward to seeing and hearing more of her music from here on. She is just a talented singer, and the music industry needs someone like her.

On Overrated TV Shows

So I watched the finale episode of Walang Hanggan earlier.

 

I am bit disappointed, although it was expected because the story was based on the movie, Hihintayin Kita sa Langit. That’s why when Katerina died, it wasn’t s surprise when Daniel followed shortly after.

 

I wasn’t disappointed with the story and the ending, really. I was more disappointed with the dialog and some of the actors’ acting. The dialog leaves so much to be desired for. The narration at the end part was unnecessary. Some conversations were unnecessary. Unfortunately, that’s how TV works. The network and producers have fans to satisfy, so even if a lot of things could have been polished, there was no action done because, that’s what the fans prefer. If it was a movie, there’d be a lot of polishing and perfecting. If that approach happened in a movie, critics would probably fill the world-wide web bashing the production.

 

All in all, I think it’s just another typical and predictable Filipino teleserye finale where someone always dies, someone always goes to prison, the villain always dies at the end, and someone who used to be so evil changes ways. There has already been a lot of that on Philippine TV. The problem with Philippine TV is that they give everything away. The put too much stress on the love between Katerina and Daniel, instead of letting the people see that for themselves. They make sure Daniel’s every sentence has “Katerina” on it. They make sure he talks about her and how much he loves her every time he opens his mouth. Please! It’s just annoying and stubborn sometimes. They portray Katerina as this damsel who always needs to be rescued and taken care of. Really, what’s to love in a girl like that? Isn’t it so much believable to love someone who knows exactly where they fit in this world? Someone who knows what they want, get what they want, work and fight for what they want?

 

As much as I love Coco Martin, I have never been happier now that Walang Hanggan is finally over. I personally think the show is overrated and that there are so many other shows better than this. Actually, if this show had different actors, if this show did not have Dawn Zulueta, Richard Gomez, Coco Martin, JoEm Bascon, Noni Buencamino, and the others, this show would be a total train wreck. At long last, I no longer have to see the exaggeration and inconsistent characters that the writers have created. I no longer have to see their extended dialog that was corny and cheesy.

 

I can only hope that the next show the network has scheduled will be much better in characterization, plot, and acting than the one that just ended.

On TV and Quality Shows

Walang Hanggan is a Philippine TV Series shown on a primetime slot and rakes in a good percentage of national viewership. The show’s actors are some of the industry’s biggest names. I used to love this show. But not anymore.

Recently, I have to admit, there has been so many things on the show that were too unreal and stupid to happen in real life. They took a good love story and made it into an exaggerated soap opera where everything bad seems to be happening to the protagonists while the antagonists appear to always hold the upper hand.

In the course of the next blogs, I’ll be posting my opinions on the show. Forgive me if the next few posts will bore you. I really just have to react on this because this show has extremely disappointed me.

My first reaction has to be the inconsistency on the character of Manage Genia (Susan Roces). For those who aren’t familiar, Manage Genia is an old lady who took care of Daniel (Coco Martin) when he was kidnapped by Donya Margaret (Helen Gamboa) and left outside the gates of an orphanage. Manage Genia is known to be conscientious and always does what is right, even if it becomes the downfall of a beloved family member. She was the one who told everybody that Daniel is the son of Emily (Dawn Zulueta) and Marco (Richard Gomez) who was taken from them the day he was born. This caused a rift between the mother-son relationship of Marco and Donya Margaret.

When Manang Genia learned that Margaret helped Miguel in getting a loan and corrupting corporate money from Emily, she reprimanded her sister. She also did not support what Daniel what doing for Katerina (Julia Montes) because Katerina was already married to Nathan (Paolo Avelino) and she kept telling Daniel to move on and let the married couple be. No matter how important a family member is to her, if that person has done something wrong, Manang Genia always asks the person to do the right thing and she herself always tries to do the right thing everytime.

However, when she was kidnapped by Nathan, so he can blackmail Daniel to surrender, Manang Genia did not press charges. She saw that Daniel was badly beaten up by Nathan and his goons and was even turned over to the police even if Daniel really did not do anything to Nathan at all. When Manang Genia and Nathan had a confrontation, she said that she can press charges, but she chose not to. Nathan said she could not because she cannot do such a thing to out a relative behind bars.

Now, tell me, what happened to the ever righteous Manang Genia, who was always on the right side and always acted on conscience? Did she, all of a sudden, become an empty shell of a person who did not practice what she preached and was more concerned with family loyalty than in doing the right thing?

You see how inconsistent this character has become? That’s one reason why this show sucks big time.

A Dose of Vampires

Since I have been watching the Vampire Diaries lately, I feel like I should also try to share it to the people I know. Of course, I can’t share the links for the videos because I don’t have any video. What I do have are the books. Well, e-books, actually. But I want to share it to whoever wants to read it. Below are the links for the first six books of The Vampire Diaries. There is a seventh book, but it’s not due to come out until next year. I hope you guys enjoy!! 🙂

01 The Awakening

Link 1

Alternative link

02  The Struggle

Link 1

Alternative link

03 The Fury

Link 1

Alternative link

04 Dark Reunion

Link 1

Alternative link

05 The Return: Nightfall

Link 1

Alternative link

06 The Return: Shadow Souls

Link 1

Alternative link

Not Your Diary

I find myself addicted to The Vampire Diaries this weekend. I’m currently doing free video streaming in www.surfthechannel.com. It’s a little inconvenient because I can only watch for 74 minutes, and after that, I have to wait for another 54 minutes before I can watch again. Well, I’m still not in the position to complain because it’s free, right?

I’ve always bee a team Stefan person. I like him because he’s so humane. He’s a little too serious for my type, though, but at least he’s not like his brother, Damon. Sometimes, I sympathize with Damon, but I just don;t like scheming men. They are just so hard to trust.

I like it better than I like Twilight. At least, there’s no need for a love triangle between werewolves and vampires.I like Twilight, but it came too overrated for me. I feel like it’s too high school-ish. The Vampire Diaries is high school-ish too, but not that much. I’d spend the weekend relaxing this time. Next week calls for a bit of pressure at work, but it’s nothing that I can’t handle. *wink*

Reruns

I watched a rerun of Ally McBeal last night. It was the episode where Billy Thomas died. If you haven’t seen Ally McBeal at all, then you have missed a huge part of your life. I can remember the days when their episodes made me feel like I was going through Ally’s heartache myself. If you’ve never heard about Ally McBeal, well, let me give you a vague idea.

Ally McBeal is this quirky and smart lawyer who is still single. The love of her life is Billy Thomas. They separated when they went to different law schools. When they saw each other again, Billy was already married to Georgia. What’s more was that the three of them had to work in the same law firm. Together with their friends, Richard Fish, John Cage, Nel Porter, Elaine, and Ling, Ally, Georgia, and Billy faced the ups and downs, the loves and hates of their lives. Unfortunately, Billy was suddenly diagnosed with brain tumor. The tumor was so progressive that he lost his life while he was doing his closing in the courtroom.

There was just so much sadness with the series. Yes, they had comedic moments, but underneath all that comic and laughter, the show was generally a sad one. It was the kind of show that did not leave you with a good feeling at the end of every episode. Before there was Grey’s Anatomy, Ally McBeal reigned over heartbreaks and weird circumstances. I still wish Ally and Billy had a better ending. But, like any other thing in life, we don’t always get the happy ending we all hope for.

Wrongful Suspension of “Showtime”

Whenever I chance upon it, I always watch the TV show called It’s Showtime. Ever since its pilot last November, the show has attracted a large number of avid fans and supporters. Now that the show has been suspended by the MTRCB, I feel like the momentum is lost, and even if the show airs again, it won’t be the same anymore.

If you’re not familiar with what I’m talking about, let me give you the facts. TV giant, ABS CBN, came up with a show that would promote talent and showmanship. Everyday, they would have around 3-4 groups of contestants who showcase their talents and skills, all hoping to win the 50000 PHP prize. On Saturdays, they air weekly finals wherein all winners from Monday – Friday compete with each other. Again, another 50000 PHP goes to the Saturday winner. After four weeks, they have a monthly finals wherein all winners from the weekly finals compete, still trying to win another 5000 PHP.

A lot of people joined the show because they want to show the whole country that they have untapped talents, and they deserve to be given a chance. There have been many inspirational stories that were discovered through the show. Many talented children and youth were discovered because of the show.

Unfortunately, last week, a guest judge, Ms. Rosanna Roces, offended the teachers because of her remarks and comments that were derogatory. To be honest, it wasn’t just her comments for the teachers that were rude,  most of her other comments were. Because of this, the MTRCB called for a 20-day suspension of the show.

I personally think that this is not a fair decision. The thing is, there was some truth behind Roces’ comments. Some teachers are indeed not worthy of the pedestal they put themselves in. While I have utmost respect for all my teachers, I will not deny the fact that others may have had traumatic experiences with their teachers. There is a fair number of reports about that. Our problem is that we are still narrow minded people.

Our country has tried to be as open and liberated as it can be. But we are obviously still left in the dark. We are still not mature enough to accept the truth and to digest insult. We are still vulnerable people who run around blaming everybody else whenever we get hurt. When somebody says something bad about us, we always attack back. We are still not wise enough to know how to empathize and dig through the reason why that person feels that way.

Roces was wrong because she said it on national TV, at a show where a lot of young people are watching. Yes, there is some truth with what she said, but it was just not the right channel to air her thoughts and opinions regarding teachers. We are still trying to promote education to young people. We still need for them to respect a social institution, and making those remarks about teachers can possibly affect the way that children think.

I totally empathize for all the teachers who have given so much of themselves to their students. I have learned so much from my teachers, and I am very lucky to have been educated by them. However, the teachers who reacted to Roces’ comments also need to accept that fact that not all teachers are so noble to deserve such high regard. The truth hurts, but there really are some teachers whose minds are very corrupted. Calling for a suspension of the show just shows that teachers sometimes can be selfish people. Did they think that when the show gets suspended, people can benefit from it? What happens to those contestants who have tried so hard to practice and to enter the show? What will happen to the talent that the youth are trying to promote? Aren’t teachers supposed to support that? Aren’t teachers supposed to be the ones to encourage their students to shine? I guess not.

MTRCB was right to take action against the offense made by the guest judge. The people need to be assured that they are still vigilant in guarding the quality of the shows that are aired on TV. But they were wrong to suspend and drag the entire show along with the rest of the issue. The issue is between Ms. Rosanna Roces and the teachers group that she offended. The show must go on for all the peole who want to showcase their talents and win. The show must go on for the hosts, the judges, and the staff who have worked their asses off just to give the public pure entertainment.

I hope that even with this obstacle, Showtime will still end up getting rave reviews and massive viewership when it returns. Until then, we just have to content ourselves with watching celebrities battle it out against each other.