Balls Channel presents "Road To Rio," beginning this Saturday Feb 22

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The “Road to Rio” will take viewers through a history lesson of football’s biggest stage including the legendary players that have delighted the crowd and their greatest plays and moments of the quad-annual event.

Balls Channel, the official broadcaster of the 2014 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World CupTM will give fans a preview of the upcoming tournament in its new 30-minute program, “Road to Rio” beginning Saturday (Feb 22).

Brazil will host the 2014 FIFA World CupTM and the “Road to Rio” hosts, Philippine National football team captains Marielle Benitez and Aly Borromeo and football enthusiast and TV journalist Atom Araullo, will show what’s in store for football fans in this year’s FIFA World CupTM.

Benitez, Borromeo, and Araullo shift to this year’s tournament with the news and updates on the teams, their rosters and match-ups as they prepare for the FIFA World CupTM. They will also discuss the basic rules of football and the officials in charge of enforcing those rules on the field.

"Road to Rio” will explore the innovations in goal-line technology, the official mascot "Fuleco" and the official match ball “Brazuca".

Football fans are also invited to voice their opinions and reactions on social media regarding their take on their favorite squads and give their predictions on which team will lift the champion's trophy in Brazil

Catch the premiere of “Road to Rio” on Balls Channel beginning Saturday (Feb. 22) and on ABS-CBN Sports+Action channel 23, the network’s free-to-air sports channel.

2014 Eyewear Campaign : Neymar Jr is the New Face of Police

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Neymar Jr, the new hope of international football and budding style icon, is the new face of the Police S/S 2014 advertising campaign.

Shot by globally renowned fashion photographer, Rankin, the new Police campaign portrays Neymar Jr in a number of minimalist shots with an urban finish; enhancing the charismatic style of the talented Brazilian footballer. The result is a series of genuine and spontaneous portraits, each brimming with character and perfectly reflecting Neymar Jr’s personality.

The 2014 Police eyewear collection combines the brand's traditional hallmarks with modern finishes. The bold and contemporary design of the Sun and Optical ranges adhere to the brand’s strong identity and urban roots.

“Neymar expresses the various nuances of the brand’s style and interprets them with passion and personality,” enthusedMichele Aracri, CEO of the De Rigo Vision Spa.

The beautiful Mexican model Daniela De Jesus, is the female protagonist of the new campaign, portrayed alongside Neymar Jr showcasing the women’s offering from the brand.

The campaign will be launched globally on a variety of media channels, including the print and outdoor media and social platforms

ETC premieres its newest teen drama Star-Crossed this February 21

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This love month, ETC premieres its newest drama that follows a pair of high school students and their epic, out of this world romance. Airing within a week of the U.S., Star-Crossed, starting February 21, Fridays at 8PM, is a futuristic love story between an alien and a human.

Featuring young stars Matt Lanter (90210), Aimee Teegarden (Friday Night Lights) and Grey Damon (Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters), Star-Crossed looks at a relationship caught between two worlds, torn between two feuding sides.

After an alien spacecraft crash-lands in her small town, a 6-year old Emery Whitehill has an encounter with Roman, a 6-year old Atrian boy. Ten years later, Emery (Aimee Teegarden) and Roman (Matt Lanter) are reunited as the first group of Atrian teens enrolls in a human high school with the goal of testing the feasibility of human/alien integration. 

Emery and Roman’s newly rekindled bond is immediately threatened by the small-mindedness of their respective communities. Roman’s Atrian friends, Teri (Chelsea Gilligan, Big Time Rush) and Drake (Greg Finley, The Secret Life of the American Teenager), openly distrust all humans. The human students are equally wary of the aliens, especially the school’s social queen, Taylor (Natalie Hall, Pretty Little Liars), who looks down on all Atrians – and most humans. Even good-hearted Grayson (Grey Damon), who is drawn to Emery, feels caught between the human and Atrian factions. Only two of Emery’s friends – Julia (Malese Jow, The Vampire Diaries) and Lukas (Titus Makin, Jr., Glee), seem able to accept Roman and the rest of the Atrians.

Don’t miss the newest love story to join the prime time line-up of ETC, where star-crossed romance is either destined to live happily ever after, or be torn apart.

STAR-CROSSED is from Ole Productions, Isla de Babel and 360 Powwow in association with CBS Television Studios and Warner Bros. Television with executive producers Meredith Averill (The Good Wife, Life on Mars) & Adele Lim (Private Practice, Life on Mars), Josh Appelbaum (Life on Mars, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol), André Nemec (Life on Mars, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol) & Scott Rosenberg (Life on Mars, October Road), Richard Shepard (Golden Boy, Ringer), Bryan Furst (Daybreakers, Tough Trade) & Sean Furst (Daybreakers, Tough Trade) and Daniel Gutman (Dance!, 12 Corazones). The series is distributed internationally by CBS Studios International.

Star-Crossed premieres February 21, Friday at 8PM on ETC

Also check out ETC online at: www.facebook.com/etctv

www.twitter.com/etc_channel 

http://www.blink-now.com 

ETC is seen on UHF channel 21, Sky Cable and Destiny Digital Ch. 16, Global Destiny Ch. 28, Cignal Ch. 9, Cable Link Ch. 34 and various cable operators nationwide.

Auditions for the title role of Pinocchio, set on March 1

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Repertory Theater for Young Audiences is holding auditions for the title role of Pinocchio in the forthcoming production of the same name opening on August 16, 2014.

Auditions will be held on Saturday, March 1 at 10:00am at the Onstage theater 2nd floor Greenbelt One.

Auditions are open to boys and girls 10 to 15 years of age .Girls must be willing to play a boy. Boys older than 15 should be less then 5 ft.

Those who audition should be able to sing in a high or tenor voice, to move well and be able to take choreography, and to speak good English.

RYTA is specially searching for home schooled children who can perform on weekdays. Because of the number of performances, the role of Pinocchio will be alternately played by at least five actors.

Auditioners should fill out an application form available either at the REP office or on line and learn the audition song before the auditions. Lyrics and music can be picked up at the rep office (please bring a flash drive) or can be emailed. Contact Oliver Usison at 8433570 550882 0r olison14@yahoo.com.

Pinocchio will run from August to December. Rehearsals will start on June 9. Rehearsals will be from 6:00 to 9:00pm from Monday to Friday.

RTYA is in its 22nd year of providing professional theater for young audiences. It performs for schools, organizations, charity fund raisers and for families who want their children to experience enjoyment of live theater and to benefit from this experience.

DOTC: Brand new MRT coaches may help ease traffic by 2015

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With Metro Manila traffic expected to worsen further over the next few years due to the implementation of multiple infrastructure projects, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is hoping that it will finally be allowed to add 48 brand new Light Rail Vehicles (LRVs) to the Metro Rail Transit III (MRT-3) system at the soonest possible time.

“We hope that the order preventing us from adding brand new LRVs will be lifted immediately, for the public’s sake. The DOTC will be able to increase MRT-3’s capacity within 2 to 3 years starting from the time that the court allows us to proceed. Since more passengers will be able to take the train, EDSA traffic should be mitigated considerably,” said DOTC Spokesperson Michael Arthur Sagcal.

The transport agency’s MRT-3 Capacity Expansion Project involves the purchase of 48 brand new LRVs through an open and transparent bidding process conducted last year. After the contract was awarded to China’s Dalian Locomotive and Rolling Stock Company in January, however, the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Makati issued a Temporary Order of Protection (TOP) to halt the process.

The Project will increase MRT-3’s trips per hour from 20 to 24, which will translate to a 60% increase in the number of passengers per hour per direction (PPHPD). This means that, from the current 23,640 people who can avail of the rail service every hour heading towards one direction, the Project will make it possible for 37,824 passengers to enjoy this convenience.

Currently, the rail line’s average daily ridership is already over 560,000, and its highest single-day passenger count is 620,000. The Project will not only help ease the gridlock on EDSA, it will also make the MRT-3 experience much more bearable for its riders.

Sagcal clarified that “the Project will take 2 to 3 years to complete because the LRVs will still be manufactured. A prototype will be tested on the system within 12 to 18 months, followed by the delivery of 3-4 units per succeeding month. This means that traffic decongestion can already start by 2015. All we’re waiting for is the court’s go signal.”

On 30 January 2014, the Makati RTC issued the TOP in favor of MRT Holdings II, Inc., which claims to own and control 100% of the Metro Rail Transit Corporation (MRTC). MRTC owns the MRT facilities pursuant to its 1997 concession agreement with government.

MRTC’s Board of Directors has since confirmed that the filing of this injunctive suit was unauthorized, and the DOTC has pointed out that it has no contractual relationship with MRT Holdings II.

The transportation department believes that it has sufficient legal grounds to proceed with the addition of new LRVs in line with public interest. The Project is urgently needed after MRTC failed to add any LRVs to the rail system despite DOTC’s demands for it do so since 2007.

(From the Department of Transportation and Communications dotc.gov.ph)