Charice on NBC’s X’mas special in New York

Filipina singer Charice Pempengco has been chosen to join a superstar lineup performing in NBC’s 13th “Christmas in Rockefeller Center” special.

The annual tree-lighting extravaganza has become one of New York City’s most celebrated events for the past 76 years.

The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is 74 feet high, 40 feet in diameter, and weighs a whopping 12 tons.
Made out of Norwegian spruce wood, it will be lighted by 30,000 “environ-friendly LED lights,” according to the Rockefeller website, which are strung on no less than five miles of wire.

At its crown, the Christmas tree will have a star made out of Swarovski crystal.

Considered a must-see attraction in New York City, the tree will be lighted on November 30, in a grand ceremony from 7p.m. to 9p.m., and will stay illuminated until January 2, 2011.

Charice, all of 18 years old, will be part of that ceremony. This makes the diminutive girl the first Filipino artist invited to perform at the annual New York City event.

Josh Groban, Mariah Carey, Kylie Minogue, Jessica Simpson, and Sheryl Crow are among those expected to take part in the musical spectacle.

Other artists invited to the event are Welsh classical singer Katherine Jenkins, Scottish pop singer Annie Lennox, Britain’s Got Talent contestant Susan Boyle, and 10-year-old opera singer Jackie Evancho of America’s Got Talent fame.

The dance group, Radio City Rockettes, is expected to kick off the holiday special that will feature a mix of current hits and holiday classics.

Pinoy Ako!

Pinoys in NCAA Basketball

WITH Midnight Madness basketball or the start of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) basketball season upon us, there’ll be plenty of reasons for Pinoy basketball fans to tune in.

While there were only 25 Asians of the 5,100 NCAA college basketball players playing in major division I basketball, according to the NCAA Student-Athlete Ethnicity Report for the 2008-2009 year, there are a handful of players of Filipino descent to watch this upcoming college basketball year.

Basketball is among the more popular sports in the Philippines and many hardcore Filipino fans hope to see one of their own develop to either make it to the NBA or help be part of a revamped Philippine National team trying to make it to the Olympics.

Here are a few standout players of Filipino descent in the upcoming NCAA basketball season:

Christian Standhardinger, University of Nebraska

Christian Standhardinger, originally of Munich, Germany, is half-Filipino and German. His mother is Filipino.

The 6’9", 215 pound small forward is entering his second season at the University of Nebraska. In his first year for the Huskers, he averaged 8.1 points and 3.8 rebounds per game while hitting 40.9 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from long range despite missing half the season due to an NCAA ruling. He scored 25 points against Iowa State University.

Prior to joining the Huskers, Standhardinger earned a reputation of being a tough-nosed competitor with an ability to score from anywhere on the court in Germany, according to his University of Nebraska bio. His bio describes him as a player with "good size to play small forward and possesses a solid basketball IQ." He was a member of the German Junior National Team. ESPN scouts described him "a good athlete that runs the floor well and he finishes plays in transition and well as in the half court with his length and athletic ability."

Standhardinger plays in a very competitive division, the Big 12. He’ll be competing against perennially ranked schools like Kansas, Kansas St. and Texas.

Maverick Ahanmisi, University of Minnesota

Maverick (Rick) Ahanmisi from Tarzana, Ca. is half-Filipino and half-Nigerian. He speaks fluent Filipino.

Considered to be one the "premier guards" in Southern California he committed to play for the University of Minnesota, which is ranked 25th nationally.

In high school in Golden Valley and Stoneridge Prep in Tarzana, the 6’2", 175 pound point guard averaged 20 points a game. According to the Signal, he left Golden Valley High School as its all-time leading scorer and 3-point shooter. In his senior year at Golden Valley, he scored 41 points against Foothill High in what they considered one of the greatest playoff performances in Santa Clarita Valley history.

Upon signing him, Golden Gophers coachTubby Smith said, "Maverick is a very good shooter from the perimeter and will help us by stretching the defense."

Ahanmisi’s AAU coach Bob Gottlieb said of him, "He’s the best end-of-game scorer that I’ve had in 45 years of coaching. He’s great in the open court and in a half-court offense. He sees the court very well."

Stephen "Scuba" Holt, St. Mary’s

Holt is half-Filipino. The 6’ 4", 195-pounder is entering his first year at St. Mary’s after being considered one of the top point guard prospects in the West for the class of 2010, according to ESPN.

Holt from Portland, Oregon Jesuit High School, averaged 12.7 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists per game as a senior. He led his high school team to its second straight Oregon Division 6A state title, scoring 23 points in the title game. The team finished with a 25-2 record. He was named the 2010 Oregon Division 6A State Player of the Year for the second straight season.

Scout.com said Holt is a "quick young point with good vision and feel for the game. Capable shooter and solid decision-maker."

ESPN wrote Holt is a true point guard with ideal size, strength, speed, and quickness to play at the highest level and he’s fundamentally sound.

Other players of Filipino descent playing in either Division I, II or III include Jordan Sanvictores, a 6’6" center from the University of Redlands; Chris Newsome, a 6’2" point guard at the New Mexico Highlands University; Matt Rosser, a 6’4" combo guard/ small forward at Cal Poly Pomona; and Isiah Umipig, a 6’1" point guard at Cal State Fullerton. n
 

Joseph Pimentel | AJPress Los Angeles
( Published October 16, 2010 in Asian Journal Los Angeles p. A12 )

Pinoys win Golds in World Robot Olympiad

The Philippines won two gold medals and numerous other awards in the World Robot Olympiad at the SMX Convention Center in Manila.

In facing 22 foreign countries participating in the International Olympiad, the Philippines – represented by 10 teams comprising 56 members from different private and public schools proved to the world the Filipino is formidable in technological skills and expertise.

Grace Christian College in Quezon City and Dr. Yanga’s College in Bulacan each won a gold medal in the elementary and junior high school levels of the Open Category.

In the elementary open category, with students from the Grace Christian College (GCC) in Quezon City winning the top prize. Another Philippine team, the Spurgeon School Foundation, got a trophy and certificate for placing 6th in the same category.

In the open category for high school, apart from Dr. Yanga’s College in Bulacan bagging the team gold, two other Philippine teams got trophies for placing 3rd and 4th, and they were composed of students from the International School (IS) of Manila and the GCC, respectively.

In the regular category for elementary where competitors took control of their robots to play the game Tour of the Philippines, a Philippine team from West Rembo Elementary School bagged bronze, and another from Tibagan High School in Makati placed 5th.

Two Philippine teams, one of which is from Makati Science High School, placed 7th and 8th in the regular category for Junior High School where competitors controlled their robots in playing the traditional Filipino game “Tumbang Preso.”

In the senior high regular category, where competitors played the tradition Filipino game “Palo Sebo” through their robots, the Philippines sent no team to compete as Science and Technology Undersecretary Fortunato dela Peña said the country does not have a senior high school in the standard Philippine school curriculum.

Dr. Ester Ogena, director of the Department of Science and Technology’s Science Education Institution (SEI), said the fact that Philippines teams – even those from public schools which usually operate on a limited budget – won several awards in the international competition “simply implies that our students are getting better in programming robots which requires analysis, manipulation skills, problem solving and others.”

“this, establishes the pride of the Filipino people in the world community of nations,” she added.

The Philippines has won the right to host the competition having previously won two gold medals, two silvers, and a bronze over seven years of competing in the WRO.

posted from good news pilipinas

Pinoy kid is Holland’s rising singing star

Kim Regasa [ABS-CBN]

Even if he failed to win in Holland’s Got Talent, a Dutch-Pinoy is the new rising star in Holland.
Kim Regasa has been dubbed by the media as the “mini Michael Jackson” of Holland.

Making it among the 9 finalists from the 4,000 who auditioned in the British reality talent-search franchise owned by Simon Cowell, Regasa easily became a crowd favorite.

At the audition, the very popular Dutch judge named Gordon praised Regasa and suggested he sounded like the young Michael Jackson.

So, Regasa’s mother immediately changed his repertoire and searched for Jackson Five songs.

Come semi-finals, when he sang “Who’s Loving You” by the Jackson Five, the crowd and the 3 judges stood up and gave Regasa the longest standing ovation on the show.

The following day, Regasa was all over the news, and the media aptly dubbed him as the “mini Michael Jackson” of Holland.

But Regasa did not bag the title in the finals as tenor Martin Hurkens received the most text votes, winning the top prize in Holland’s Got Talent 2010.

Because he’s still very young, failure did not wreck Regasa’s night and the days ahead.

Pinoy singer conquers America's Got Talent stage

MANILA, Philippines -A part-time Filipino student and shipping worker from Mandaue City is quietly making a name for himself after wowing judges of the hit American reality search America's Got Talent.

Luigi Seno, 20, played guitar and sang a bluesy version of Maroon 5's "Sunday Morning", winning praise from the AGT judges and loud applause from the audience. 

Luigi Seno

"Luigi, you have a really cool, relaxed style. Fantastic," said judge Sharon Osbourne.
Judge Howie Mandel said Seno looked shy, "like a young kid", when he walked out on the AGT stage with his guitar.

"As soon as you started strumming on that guitar, you, like, opened up. You are truly a great entertainer. If you had an album right now, I'd be listening to you in my car. I would be," he said.

Third judge Piers Morgan, on the other hand, said it was not just Seno's talent that got his attention but his undeniable charm.

"I'll tell you what it is. It's not just that you're a good guitar player, or that you're a very comfortable singer and a good singer, it's the fact that you've got this charm about you, which I think is going to go a long way," he said.

All three judges voted Seno into the next round, with the chance to win the US$1 million grand prize.
In an interview before his performance, Seno said he was born and raised in the Philippines before his family moved to California 8 years ago.