Manny Pacquiao on the Cover of Esquire Philippines Maiden Issue

Boxing champ and Saranggani congressman Manny 'Pacman' Pacquiao is the cover boy of Esquire Philippines first-ever (October 2011) issue with the cover story "5 Rounds with Manny Pacquiao."

Ninong Manny, as he is called in his GMA-7 show Manny Many Prices, is currently busy preparing for his fight against Mexican boxer Juan Manuel Marquez. It is going to be held on November 12th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. In the said fight, Filipino-Canadian YouTube sensation Maria Aragon will sing the Philippine national anthem, while Filipino-American singer and American Idol 10 finalist Thia Megia will sing USA's Star-Spangled Banner.

Esquire Philippines maiden issue features "Wisdom and Damn Good Advice from Juan Ponce Enrile," "Lourd De Veyra on Making Love Out of Nothing at All," "How to Be a Man," "Deal or No Deal: The PLDT-Digitel Merger," and "A Woman We Love: Lovi Poe."

Esquire Philippines October 2011 is available in all leading magazine stands nationwide for only P195.00.

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American Idol Live in Manila is Extended!

American Idol Live Tour 2011's Manila leg will be extended for one more night. Aside from the September 20 Smart Araneta Coliseum concert, the Top 11 finalists will give another performance tomorrow night, September 21, on the same venue.

Get a chance to watch American Idol 10 finalists Scotty McCreery, Haley Reinhart, Lauren Alaina, James Durbin, Casey Abrams, Jacob Lusk, Pia Toscano, Paul McDonald, Stefano Langone, Naima Adedapo, and Filipino-American Thia Megia in another night of fun-filled concert.

Ticket prices:

VIP (Reserved Seating) – P12,675
PATRON A (Reserved Seating) – P12,145
PATRON B (Reserved Seating) – P10,560
PATRON /LOWER BOX VIP (Reserved Seating) – P7,920
LOWER BOX REG (Reserved Seating) – P5,810
UPPER BOX A – P3,700
UPPER BOX B – P1,585
GENERAL ADMISSION - P740

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Thia Megia to Sing US National Anthem in Pacquiao vs Marquez Fight in November

American Idol 10 finalist Thia Megia will be singing the US National Anthem, Star-Spangled Banner, in Manny Pacquiao's fight against the Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez  this coming November 12 in Las Vegas.

The Filipino-American singer, who is currently here in the country with fellow AI10 finalists for a concert, said Pacquiao told her about it when she met him last Saturday.

Meanwhile, Filipino-Canadian YouTube sensation Maria Aragon will be singing the Philippine National Anthem, Lupang Hinirang, in the same fight.

Seems like the Pacquiao-Marquez game will be full of talented, young Pinoys. I just wonder if the Mexican National Anthem will be sung by an equally young singer.

The last Pinoy who sang the Star-Spangled Banner in an American crowd was Charice. She sang the patriotic song, plus God Bless America, during the NFL's 9/11 Tribute Game two Sundays ago.

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photo: Thia's twitter

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Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina To Release Debut Albums on October

Now that the music videos for their debut singles have been released, American Idol 10's winner Scotty McCreery and runner-up Lauren Alaina are geared towards releasing their respective debut albums.

In an interview with Good Morning America (GMA) on August 12 (Friday), Scotty said he's so proud of his upcoming album because he has been working nonstop for it since the American Idol finale. And what are his plans following the album release? "I'm going back to school," he said. "It's my senior year!"

Aside from the interview, the very famous senior high school student sang I Love You This Big on the GMA stage to the delight of fans.

Lauren Alaina was also on GMA but didn't talk much due to bronchitis. She did perform Like My Mother Does well, though.

After AI's finale last May, Scotty and Lauren both signed contracts with Mercury Nashville last June. Scotty's album titled Clear As Day will be released October 4, 2011. Lauren's Wildflower will be out a week after on October 11, 2011.

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Pia Toscano's "This Time" – Music Video and Lyrics

And it's not only the winner and runner-up of American Idol 10 who released their music videos this week. Pia Toscano, who received an early boot last season, also released the video for her song This Time on August 9th, the same day the single was released as a free download on iTunes store.

Watch Pia Toscano's This Time music video below.

Pia Toscano – This Time (Lyrics)

Well I'm mad as hell
I ain't gon' take it no more
My bag is packed up at the back of your door
'Cause I don't know who I am no more
You won the battle but you lost the war
I've been in denial, now I'm living the truth
Been down for a while, now I'm standing up to you

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Scotty McCreery - "I Love You This Big" Music Video and Lyrics

After Lauren Alaina's music video debut, it's American Idol 10 winner Scotty McCreery's turn. The country crooner's winning song I Love You This Big's music video premiered a little earlier than announced.

In the video, Scotty sings in front of a small audience in an outdoor setting. The fireworks towards the end of the video is lovely, making one long for a summer chill with family and close friends.

Watch Scotty's I Love You This Big music video below.

Scotty McCreery – I Love You This Big (Lyrics)

I know I'm still young
But, I know how I feel
I might not have too much experience
But, I know when love is real.

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Lauren Alaina - "Like My Mother Does" (Music Video and Lyrics)

American Idol 10 runner-up Lauren Alaina debuted the music video of her first single, Like My Mother Does, on Country Music Television (CMT) with behind-the-scenes footage of the video shoot.

The music video features pictures and home videos from Lauren's childhood, with her mother doing a cameo towards the end.

Like My Mother Does was released almost three months ago when Lauren was declared runner-up of American Idol 10. It was one of the songs she sang at the show's finale and it debuted at No. 20 on Billboard's Hot 100 and No. 11 on the Billboard Digital Songs chart.

CMT will air a similar special for Scotty McCreery's I Love You This Big next Tuesday.

Watch Like My Mother Does music video below.

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American Idol 10 Finalists Live in Manila

The American Idol 10 finalists are having a concert here in Manila on September 20, 8 PM, at the Araneta Coliseum. This is the first time that the country is included in the American Idol Live Tour and I'm sure every Idol fan is excited.

There are 11 finalists in season ten because the judges used the "Judges Save" too early (before the Top 10) to save Casey Abrams.

The 11 finalists include the Filipino-American Thia Megia and I think that's reason enough for Pinoys to see the show.

Aside from Thia, other finalists include Scotty McCreery,  Haley Reinhart, Lauren Alaina, James Durbin, Casey Abrams, Jacob Lusk, Pia Toscano, Paul McDonald, Stefano Langone, and Naima Adedapo.

Ticket Prices:
VIP – P12,000
Patron A – P11,500
Patron B – 10,000
Lower Box VIP – P7,500
Lower Box Regular – P5,500
Upper Box A – P3,500
Upper Box B – P1,500
General Admission – P700

There's a 10% early bird discount from July 20-27 on Upper Box A & B only. For more info, call 9115555.

This concert is made possible by ETC, Jack TV, and Ovation Productions.

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Scotty McCreery is American Idol Season 10 Winner

Scotty McCreery has just been declared as the tenth American Idol! He battled it out yesterday with Lauren Alaina who ended up in second place.

With a total of 122 million votes majority of which going to the 17-year-old young man from Garner, North Carolina, host Ryan Seacrest announced the country singer as the new American Idol.

Watch the announcement in the video below.

Beyonce, TLC, Jack Black, Tim McGraw, Tom Jones, Carrie Underwood, Bono, The Edge, Lil Jon, Kirk Franklin, Tony Bennett, Marc Anthony, and Lady Gaga were among the stars that performed in the finale. Judge Jennifer Lopez also gave a dance number during husband Marc's performance, and Steven Tyler rocked the house with his high pitched voice, perhaps showing the new breed of singers how to really do it.

Amidst the talks that Charice is going to perform a duet with Pia Toscano, the Filipina singing sensation wasn't seen on the show. Too bad.

Watch Scotty McCreery sing Love You This Much after the jump.

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Scotty and Lauren Battle It Out on "American Idol 10" Finale

The last two remaining American Idol 10 contestants Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina battled it out with three rounds (or three songs) this evening. The first song being their favorite performance in the season, second was a song chosen for them, and third was the song that would also be their first single.

Scotty started off the show with Gone, which was his favorite performance. Check Yes or No, the song George Strait chose for him, was his next song. For his final performance, he sang Love You This Big, which therefore became his first official single.

Lauren, on the other hand, chose Flat on the Floor as her favorite performance. She followed it up by Maybe it was Memphis which Carrie Underwood chose for her. Like My Mother Does was her final performance (and first official single).

Check out videos of Scotty and Lauren's performances after the jump.

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Charice Performs at the "American Idol 10" Finale

This is good news for the Chasters. Our very own Charice will be performing live at the finale of the American hit reality show, American Idol 10. How cool is that? The Filipina international singing sensation will do a duet with Pia Toscano who placed 9th this season.

Talks on the internet about Charice performing on the show's finale had been mere speculations at first. But it was somehow confirmed when the performance was mentioned on air via Good Day NY on its May 23rd episode.

Watch the clip below.

WTG Charice!

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Lauren Alaina and Scotty McCreery - American Idol 10's Finalists

Ugh! After an impressive performance last night on American Idol 10, it seemed that America wasn't impressed much on Haley Reinhart's capabilities as a singer. Haley was eliminated tonight, leaving Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina to battle it out next week on the show's 2-part finale.


It can be recalled that the judges all voted for Haley's performance of Led Zeppelin's What Is and What Should Never Be during round one of last night's performances. Her song choices last night, in my opinion, were more interesting compared to Scotty and Lauren's.

But then America has voted, and who are we to question that? Let's just hope it wouldn't be a boring finale next week.

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Haley Reinhart Falls On Stage During Her Top 3 Performance

American Idol Season 10 is now down to its Top 3 contestants - Scotty McCreery, Lauren Alaina, and Haley Reinhart. The three performed three songs tonight. The first was their song of choice, second was Jimmy Iovine's choice, and third was the judges' choice.

Haley easily won Round 1, not because she slipped on the stage but because she really impressed everyone with her inner rockstar. She sang What Is and What Should Never Be by Led Zeppelin. Scotty did Lonestar's Amazed and Lauren sang Faith Hill's Wild One. Watch the video below. There's also a slow motion of the fall at the end of the clip.

Round 2 was won 2:1 by Scotty and Lauren. Jennifer Lopez and Randy Jackson voted for Scotty who did his rendition of Thompson Square's Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not, while Steven Tyler was for Lauren who sang Band Perry's If I Die Young. Sadly, none of the judges voted for Haley's interpretation of Fleetwood Mac's Rhiannon.

Round 3 was also 2:1 this time between Lauren and Haley. Steven voted for Haley with her quite angry You Oughta Know version of the Alanis Morissette-original, while Jennifer and Randy went for Lauren's I Hope You Dance by Lee Ann Womack. This time around, no one voted for Scotty's She Believes in Me by Kenny Rogers.

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Pia Toscano Gets Eliminated on American Idol 10

It was quite surprising that Pia Toscano was eliminated from American Idol 10 when most of us thought she's one of the strongest contestants of the season. Many Idol fans were disappointed and the judges could have had a better use of "Judges Save" had they not used it on Casey.

Another surprising thing on the episode was Jacob Lusk also being part of the Bottom 3. Pia and Jacob was joined by Stefano Langone who wasn't new to being in the bottom group anymore.

Jacob was the first one declared safe. Viewers thought it was Stefano who'd be going home, but to the surprise of the majority, Pia was the one sent packing.

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Paul McDonald Sings "Folsom Prison Blues" on AI 10 Top 9 Performance Night

My personal favorite American Idol 10 contestant, Paul McDonald, sang Folsom Prison Blues by Johnny Cash on this week's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame theme of the show.

As usual, Paul delivered the song in his signature voice and (weird) dancing that his fans love.

Randy Jackson: I got three words... I loved it!
Steven Tyler: You're such a crazy character, man. A perfectly imperfect boy... You rock the house.
Jennifer Lopez: A perfect way to end the show... Right in your lane. Good job!

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Scotty McCreery Sings "That's All Right" on AI 10's Top 9 Performance Night

Scotty McCreery sang Elvis Presley's That's All Right on American Idol 10's Top 9 Performance Night. The theme for the week was Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Randy Jackson: This is like a new Scotty, we'd never seen this side...
Steven Tyler: You brought Elvis into the house... You did it well.
Jennifer Lopez: You're having fun with it, you're funny... That's what entertainment is, it should be fun.

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Thia Megia and Naima Adedapo are Eliminated on "American Idol 10"

Thia Megia and Naima Adedapo has just been eliminated from American Idol 10. The show had to remove two contestants because no one was eliminated last week. The judges used "Idol Save" on Casey Abrams.

Paul McDonald joined Thia and Naima on the Bottom 3 but he was immediately saved.

In tonight's episode, the contestants were divided in several groups instead of the usual production number. Lauren Alaina and Scotty McCreery were the first to perform a duet, followed by Jacob Lusk and Naima. Thia, Haley Reinhart, and Pia Toscano did Teenage Dream, and the four remaining boys – James Durbin, Paul, Casey, and Stefano Langone - did a band performance with each of them playing an instrument.

It's just sad that Thia only get little singing parts in every production number. Tonight, she got the whole bridge, but with the other two girls singing along with her.

Oh, well, goodluck Thia. We hope you have more opportunities after AI.

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Thia Megia Sings "Daniel" on American Idol 10's Top 11 (Again) Performance Night

Thia Megia, the lovely Filipino-American contestant of American Idol 10, chose Elton John's Daniel for the second Top 11 Performance Night. There are still 11 contestants as Casey Abrams was saved from elimination by the judges last week.

Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler loved Thia's performance but Randy Jackson still finds it safe.

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American Idol 10: Judges Save Casey Abrams

It was quite a surprise that Casey Abrams became part of the Bottom 3, but what's more surprising was that he almost got eliminated if not for the Judges Save. The three judges – Jennifer Lopez, Randy Jackson, and Steven Tyler – had a unanimous decision to let Casey's journey on American Idol continue.

Filipino-American Thia Megia and Italian-American Stefano Langone were the other two in the Bottom 3. It's Thia's first time to be in danger of elimination while Stefano almost didn't make it after the Top 24. Thanks to the wildcard.

Thia was the first to be sent back to the couch, and the contestants and judges, as well as the audience, were so shocked when the 20-year-old Casey was announced to be the one in danger of facing elimination.

Casey was asked to sing but Randy Jackson stopped him by waving his hand. The judge said, "Listen, we know who you are, Casey. We don't need to hear you sing anymore."

And by that, the audience and the remaining contestants cheered for the judges' decision to save Casey Abrams.

Watch Casey Abrams near-elimination video after the jump.

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Pia Toscano Sings 'All in Love is Fair' on American Idol 10's Top 11 Performance Night

Pia Toscano has been on the top of the competition since the Top 13, belting out diva songs week after week. For the Motown Week, the Italian-American chose Stevie Wonder's 1973 hit, All in Love is Fair.

If there's a judge's comment about Pia that kinda stuck to my mind, it's Randy Jackson's "You can't live by ballads alone." Pia has a good vocal technique that makes reaching those big notes seem effortless. But just like what Randy said, she needs to do something else.

Aren't you getting tired of Pia's ballads this early in the game?

Watch Pia sing Stevie Wonder's All in Love is Fair after the jump.

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