Filipina singer Maria Laroco impresses The X Factor UK judges, gets a standing ovation from Simon Cowell, Louis Tomlinson, Ayda and Robbie Williams

Tweet

Maria Laroco, 17, from the Philippines, wowed all four judges of The X Factor UK with her rendition of Purple Rain sung by Prince on the second week of the competition. Maria flew to UK all the way from the Philippines, sharing it was just her third time to get on a plane.

Before her performance, Judge Simon Cowell asked Maria what gives her the strength to come all the way from where she lives to perform in front of them. The young lady immediately answered “Since I was a little girl, I’ve always wanted to be an international superstar and I want to be big! That’s why I’m doing this because I love to do this, and this is my dream!”

Deep into Maria’s performance, as she hit on the high notes, the crowd started cheering loudly and were on their feet, the judges then followed one by one started by Robbie Williams, Ayda Williams and Louis Tomlinson. Simon Cowell was also on his feet at the end of her song.

Host Dermot O’leary expressed his awe by asking Maria’s companions “Is there anyone in the Philippines who can’t sing?”

“That was absolutely incredible, incredible.” Former One Direction member and Judge Louis said. “To do what you’ve just done at 17, vocally, you absolutely, blew me away! Well done!” He added.

Judge Ayda gushed “O.M.G! You just bossed that stage, well done!”

Judge Simon asked “Was there ever one moment where you doubted this?”

Teary eyed Maria responded “No, I never gave up on my dreams, a lot of times people tell me that I can’t do it, that I’m not good enough.”

“Look what you did to the audience, that hasn’t happened a lot!” said Judge Robbie. “You’re amazing! I’m going to kick this off, and I’m going to give you a massive yes!” He added.

Judge Ayda followed saying “I’m gonna give you all the yeses I can possibly give you, Yes!”

“Maria, thank you so much for auditioning for this show, it’s a yes!” said Judge Louis.

“So you are 17 years old, and you’ve flown all the way [from the Philippines], which is a long trip, you’ve taken on probably one of the biggest songs in the world, I’m gonna go beyond the billion yeses, I’m gonna give you infinity yeses!” Judge Simon expressed.

Maria Laroco now moves on to the next round of The X Factor UK. 

The X Factor UK airs first and exclusive, same day as the UK on Blue Ant Entertainment every Sundays and Mondays at 7:55 PM. Blue Ant Entertainment is available on SKYcable channels 53(SD) and 196(HD), SKYdirect channel 35, Destiny Cable channel 53, and Cablelink channels 37(SD) and 313(HD).

Cebu Pacific encourages Filipinos to enjoy life’s first experiences with new campaign

Tweet

Experiencing first moments always leave a big impact in everyone’s lives. From something as simple as meeting a new friend, to thrilling new adventures such as driving your own car or travelling out of the country—these unforgettable moments turn into wonderful memories that are worth treasuring for a lifetime.

Among these cherished moments is that exciting feeling one can get from traveling for the very first time. For today’s young Filipinos, flying off to a destination is a realization of their long-time hopes and dreams. Accompanying them in their journeys, the country’s leading local carrier, Cebu Pacific, opens a world of possibilities where everyJuan can create their life’s most memorable moments. 

“It has always been our goal to support everyJuan to fly to their dream destinations. Now, we want to take things to greater heights, and share and celebrate exciting first memories and experiences with our loyal patrons,” said Cebu Pacific Director for Corporate Communications Charo Logarta Lagamon.

Cebu Pacific inspires more Filipinos to travel and gain more experiences with its Make Moments Happen campaign. The airline is touching on relatable stories that perfectly capture the interests of the viewers, especially the frequent and first-time fliers.

In support of its campaign, Cebu Pacific is releasing a series of digital videos that showcase real-life situations which are worth capturing as it happens. It focuses on first time moments that define everyone’s lives and shows how the airline plays a role in elevating the experience.

The first episode, Leah (First Break), follows a hardworking Manileña who is looking for a break from her busy reality. As her birthday comes near, she decides to take a leap and book that much-awaited vacation to a local destination, alone for the first time in her life.

Following Leah’s story, Cebu Pacific will also share an uplifting narrative of first achievement and a heartfelt tale of first welcome. Watch and share the videos on Cebu Pacific’s official Facebook page or YouTube channel. 

‘The Hopeful Romantic’, insanely, shamelessly hilarious, sexy romance movie

Tweet

A unique and quirky pairing, Pepe Herrera and Ritz Azul together in ‘The Hopeful Romantic’ are dynamic, unpredictable, and “combustible” pairing as they did great in the comedy, hilarity, and guilty laugh-out-loud moments.

Pepe Herrera fits this role so well as the ambitious, unsophisticated, and goofy guy who is totally clueless of the world’s ways yet aspires to still find his “dream girl”.

Ritz is one of the prettiest and classiest looking young actresses around today in Philippine Cinema. Ritz portrays the role of Veronica, a gold-digger and devirginized a virgin.

Their comical pairing alone is a precursor of all the funny mishaps, misfortunes, and misadventures at ‘The Hopeful Romantic’ movie from Regal Entertainment, Inc., directed by Topel Lee, an acclaimed Filipino film director, TV director and music video director and cinematographer.

With Pepe and Ritz and full cast , this is a very interesting and connected to real life, ‘The Hopeful Romantic’ has been proven that comedians or funny guys–never mind their looks, though–make great partners for women looking to be with someone who can make them laugh.

Here's a romcom movie with a super valuable life lesson.

As Veronica, Ritz portrays a kept woman in the high society world and a woman who tries to survive despite being difficult life she has gone through.  

Then one day, he meets Jess (Pepe Herrera), a valet parking assistant at a posh hotel, who is also honest and most of all, a virgin. He promised himself that he will only give himself when he already found his true love. 

Jess meets Veronica gets mesmerized by her presence. One thing lead to another, and Veronica gave Jess the “first time”. Jess, believing in the magic of what happened between them, decides that Veronica is his one true love. 

However, there is one problem; Veronica has no idea that he is not rich. Afraid that revealing himself will make him lose Veronica, Jess starts to pretend the part. He kept on doing this until his resources spill away. The inevitable happens, and Veronica learns the truth about Jess.

The Hopeful Romantic opens September 12, 2010. The funniest romantic film of the season is directed by Topel Lee. 

For more updates, follow Regal Entertainment Inc on Facebook, @RegalFilms on Twitter, @RegalFilms50 on IG and Regal Cinema channel on YouTube.

Congratulations and best wishes to the whole cast, direk Topel Lee and production team!

freenet brings Freeniversaya: A FREEnet Concert

Tweet

Are you ready for the most awesome free concert in the universe? Freenet, the top free lifestyle app in Google Play engaging online Filipinos nationwide through gamified rewards, celebrates its 3rd anniversary by giving freenetizens an exclusive access to the most requested artists of today with the Freeniversaya: A FREEnet concert. 

Freenetizens joining the saya on September 20, 2018, will be jamming and grooving to the beats and tunes of some of the hottest OPM acts of today, including Bamboo, KZ Tandingan, Moira Dela Torre, Shanti Dope, Gloc 9, Ben & Ben, and Hashtags at the SM MOA Arena in Pasay City. 

Scoring a concert ticket to this exclusive musical event is easy. All you have to do is download the freenet app, register, and complete missions inside the app to earn freenet points. The more freenet points you earn, the better seats you get at the concert, as you will use these points to redeem tickets in the in-app freenet shop.Check out http://frnt.ph/gettix to know more. 

With 100 freenet points, you can already fangirl over the hashtags with your besties all the way from the general admission area. Get in the feels with Ben&Ben and redeem upper box tickets with your 200 freenet points or lower box tickets with 500 freenet points. For 900 freenet points, you can already dance to the beats of Gloc 9 and Shanti Dope closer to the stage at the VIP 2 area. You’ll sure be singing with KZ and Moira all night especially if you get VIP 1 tickets with 1,000 freenet points, so be sure to memorize their songs. And with 10,000 freenet points, you can get the best seat and view at the house with your VVIP ticket and even get a chance to hang out backstage during the concert! 

Once you’ve redeemed your ticket, you will receive an SMS confirmation from freenet containing your reference number. All that’s left to do is to go to an SM Ticket outlet near you, present this SMS confirmation, and claim the print-out version of your ticket. You will need to present this along with your freenet app before you enter SM MOA Arena on the day of the concert. 

“We're definitely leveling up the fun and excitement as we celebrate our third year with the Freeniversaya concert! We're excited to bring this one-of-a-kind musical extravaganza to all the loyal freenetizens out there, because life has definitely become more rewarding with freenet. But that's not all, because Filipinos all around the country can definitely expect a more rewarding experience from freenet–within the app and out of it–in the coming months, so stay tuned!" said Heidi Garayblas, Associate Director for Marketing at Voyager Innovations.

More freebies? We got you, freenet fam!

Of course, this isn't a freenet event without amazing rewards! To bring the saya to the next level at the Freeniversaya: a Freenet concert, freenet will be giving away very special prizes exclusive to the concert goers. 

Freenetizens from other parts of the Philippines can also join in on the saya and get their hands on these rewards at this awesome concert. On September 19, freenet is flying in three lucky freenetizens and their plus 1, from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, for the ultimate Freeniversaya experience complete with a roundtrip ticket, hotel accommodation, and VIP Freeniversaya concert ticket to boot. 

The Freeniversaya concert ticket is just one of the many rewards that you can redeem inside the freenet app. By completing in-app missions such as visiting selected sites on freenet, or downloading useful apps, you earn freenet points which you can use to redeem rewards like airtime load, data packages, gaming pins, and even vouchers such as the Freeniversaya concert ticket. 

By using the freenet app, you also get a chance to win prizes everyday for your daily dose of happiness with Dailygaya Raffle Promo. Every day, until September 29, a lucky freenetizen will take home awesome prizes from freenet - from PayMaya credits, Sodexo GCs, to brand new smartphones and motorcycles. 

But that’s not the only way you can get a rewarding experience in freenet. With this app in hand, shopping at Lazada or paying bills via PayMaya has just gotten more convenient as freenet allows Smart, TNT and Sun subscribers to access these go-to apps and sites without data charges. 

With freenet’s Netzee Hours, posting photos on Facebook in the morning (from 7AM to 8AM) reading tweets on Twitter at lunchtime (from 12NN to 1PM) or playing Mobile Legends in the evening (from 8PM to 10PM) without having to subscribe to a data package is now possible. How cool is that? 

Check out all the rewards and freebies you can access on freenet now by downloading the app for free at Google PlayStore for Android, and Apple AppStore for iOS. 

For more information, follow freenet on Facebook and Twitter or visit www.thefreenet.com. 

Take Juan step at a time, here are some simple steps to become a Juan Earth Hero

Tweet

Philippines is considered rich in natural resources for we have fertile arable lands, high diversity of plants and animals, extensive coastlines, and rich mineral deposits. We must help in keeping the environment to become more clean and green, preserves the generation as the inspiration of mother nature. 

It takes only a few simple steps, the involvement and commitment of the people concerned, and a few adjustments in existing working and management systems to make environmental awareness a habit. 

Be part of the solution not part of the pollution. Start with a single step and make a giant leap in saving Mother Earth. 

Here are the simple steps to become a Juan Earth  eco-warrior: 

Carry your own mug, straw, and spoon and fork everywhere 

Did you know that in the Philippines 6,237,653 kg of plastic are being wasted per day? If plastic production, use, and mismanagement continue, there is a huge possibility that there will be more plastics swimming in the ocean than fish by 2050. So, small actions like bringing your own eco bag, mug, cutlery, and straws can make a widespread global advocacy to reduce plastic waste and save our water resources. 

Be eco-friendly beautiful 

When buying your makeup, perfume, lotion, or other beauty essentials, always choose the products which ingredients are organic rather than those loaded with harmful chemicals. With that, you’ll be more confident that the creams you are applying to your skin are as friendly as to the environment. 

Bring out your DIY skills and get crafty 

Old magazines are stripped to make picture frames, tansan or crown cork are crafted into necklaces, juice tetrapacks are recycled into stylish wallets and bags you can sell, and pet bottles are transformed into ecobricks to build chairs, tables, stairs, or even a house. See? You have not just avoided throwing them in the garbage, but you have converted trash into cash. 

Think twice before buying or using animal products 

Those charming animal keychains from souvenir shops or that luxurious fur coat you wear may look fascinating but take note that these animals are being poached for their skin or being used for scientific research. Aside from the destruction of their natural habitat, killing them in large numbers for commercial use makes these species under the threat of extinction. The question is: would you really want to wear that glamorous couture or hang those mummified keychains behind its bloody and gruesome history? Think twice. 

Take Juan step to make an advocacy 

Philippines is not just rich in natural resources but with eco-warriors too. Non-government organizations are doing their Pinoy duties towards environment and animal protection. Some of these NGOs initiate projects such as seedling adoption for reforestation, pawikan and giant clam adoption to retrieve these species, and cats and dogs adoption to save these abused home pets. 

Good news is, volunteering to these environmental efforts is just one step at Juan Earth on September 29, 2018 at Bonifacio High Street Activity Center, 9th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City. Juan Earth is a grassroots effort produced by Write On Track and its dedicated team of community volunteers wanting to educate and empower people to create a healthier and more sustainable world. 

To take that Juan step,  visit Juan Earth’s website at http://www.juanearth.com; LIKE its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/JuanEarthPH; or check their updates on Instagram at www.instagram.com/juanearthph. 

It's a habit that is good for the soul, good for the community, good for Mother Nature.