ABS-CBN’s newest pop rock diva launches her debut single
Breakthrough star Gigi de Lana gives an excruciating new meaning to the popular Pinoy slang “Sakalam,” which serves as the title of her debut single released under Star Music.
“Sakalam” is a power rock ballad that lyrically tackles a person’s struggle to let go of a broken relationship despite the detachment of her partner. The term is an inverse of the Tagalog word “malakas,” adding more emphasis to the emotional grief caused by the separation as depicted in the song.
“Habang kinakanta ko 'yung ‘Sakalam,’ nasasaktan ako. Nilalagay ko 'yung sarili ko sa song kasi gusto kong kantahin na punong-puno ng soul. Sobrang nakaka-relate kasi sa mga pinagdaanan ko rin sa buhay,” shared Gigi.
She also expressed an encouraging message to listeners who are experiencing heartbreak. She said, “Even though ‘sakalam’ talaga siya, pansamantala lang ‘yang nararamdaman mo. Itong song na ito, hindi lang tungkol sa heartbreak. May binibigay din itong positive vibes.”
Aside from being the first original song of the newest pop-rock diva, “Sakalam” also serves as the first single off her debut full-length album set to drop in 2022. As of writing, the song is currently listed at the top spot of Spotify Philippines' Fresh Finds playlist.
The Star Magic artist and RISE Artists Studio talent performed and recorded “Sakalam” with The Gigi Vibes band members Jon Cruz, Jake Manalo, LA Arquero, and Romeo Marquez. The track was written and composed by Romeo with Erwin Lacsa, with Jon serving as its arranger, and ABS-CBN Music creative director Jonathan Manalo as its producer.
Last August, Gigi announced many of her exciting projects lined up for the remaining months of 2021, led by her participation in the Filipino music festival “1MX Dubai” and the staging of her very own “YouTube Music Night” digital concert both in December.
A simple matter of lost and found becomes a dangerous obsession. How far would you go to hold on to the ones you love?
Starring Hugh Jackman (Logan, X-Men franchise), Rebecca Ferguson (Mission: Impossible movies), and Thandiwe Newton (HBO’s Westworld, Solo: A Star Wars Story), Reminiscence, an action thriller written, directed, and produced by Lisa Joy (HBO’s Westworld) is now streaming in the Philippines on HBO GO.
Nick Bannister (Jackman), a private investigator of the mind, navigates the darkly alluring world of the past by helping his clients access lost memories. Living on the fringes of the sunken Miami coast, his life is forever changed when he takes on a new client, Mae (Ferguson). A simple matter of lost and found becomes a dangerous obsession. As Bannister fights to find the truth about Mae’s disappearance, he uncovers a violent conspiracy, and must ultimately answer the question: how far would you go to hold on to the ones you love?
Known for her extensive work on the HBO science-fiction drama series HBO’s Westworld, Reminiscence marks Joy’s feature film directorial debut. The film was produced by Joy, Jonathan Nolan, Michael De Luca and Aaron Ryder. The executive producers were Athena Wickham, Elishia Holmes and Scott Lumpkin. Several HBO’s Westworld collaborators comprised Joy’s creative team, including director of photography Paul Cameron, production designer Howard Cummings, editor Mark Yoshikawa and composer Ramin Djawadi, along with costume designer Jennifer Starzyk.
Looking Back, Moving Forward
All during her first pregnancy, Lisa Joy was never far from her laptop. The coinciding moments of profound loss following the loss of her grandfather and the prospect of new life stoked the creative sparks that compelled her to explore the overriding theme of memory within a wholly-created and genre-bending world. The filmmaker says, “Some of the most incredible moments of our lives are locked in our heads; they’re the stories that we revisit again and again, that make our life worth living. Sometimes, those stories aren’t shared by anyone else and so when you go, they go. In the end, I think we all become stories. We coalesce into a couple sentences over generations, and I’ve always thought, ‘Try to make it so your sentences are good, that you add more joy into this world than you took from it.’
A New Kind of Noir
For all the cinematic acumen and film references present in Joy’s work, it is surprising that she did not grow up steeped in the art of cinema. Her real instruction in and appreciation for the classics began when she was in college, working as an au pair in her senior year to “finance working for literary magazines in New York.”
When her young charge had been tucked in for the night and his parents had gone out, Joy would hole up in bed and watch old films. She confesses, “Film noir really spoke to me, the same way that mythology spoke to me. They are both about complex people in a world that can be dark, cruel, lawless. There are no clear-cut heroes, no clear-cut victims. The complexity of those characters navigating that world, that’s what I was drawn to. In writing ‘Reminiscence,’ I wanted to delve even deeper into that complexity, twisting around traditional notions of noir… starting with the term ‘noir’ itself. We’re used to those kinds of films being very dark and for me, I wanted it to be flooded with light and natural beauty, because sometimes the darkest things hide in the most beautiful surroundings.”
Assembling a Memorable Cast
In the case of her leading man, the filmmaker’s reputation opened the door, but the goods—even the promise of them—sealed the deal. Hugh Jackman tells, “When I met with Lisa, she had shown me some of the visuals and I understood what the movie was about in general, but I hadn’t seen the script. And I was already excited about it. I was excited about the world of the film. I was excited about the character and about her as a writer-director. I think she’s incredibly talented, but when I met her in person, she just gave off an air of confidence and surety, not only about the material, but how she was going to tackle it. Her passion for it. It’s a rare thing for me to just have that instant sort of gut feeling that ‘I’ve got to do this’ and, to be honest, I felt that 20 pages in when I later got the script.”
Rebecca Ferguson likewise responded to Joy and her way with words, both spoken and on the page. Ferguson says, “Lisa’s way of writing—there’s a poetry, a musicality without sounding ridiculous. It makes me, as an actor, want to be absolutely truthful to each and every word. I think, other than the writing, the first thing I fell in love with was that Mae was portrayed in many different ways. She’s portrayed through others’ ideas of her. Her existence is defined by each person who thinks they see her. Talking to Lisa, it became, who is Mae? What is her true identity? When does she let things slip through the cracks? I’d never done something like this before.”
For the part of Watts—Nick Bannister’s support and colleague in one package—Joy turned to the “inimitable” Thandiwe Newton. Newton reveals, “When Reminiscence came along, it took me a week just to wake up to the fact that Lisa wanted me to be a part of her first feature. I don’t think it’s an obvious choice to have me in the role, but that’s where magic kind of happens—when you’re entrusted to do something bold, something different, to use my skills as an actor to transform. With Watts, I got to explore and play a personality that I don’t think I would’ve necessarily gotten the opportunity to do.”
The film stars Cliff Curtis (The Meg, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw), Oscar nominee Marina de Tavira (Roma), Daniel Wu (TV’s Into the Badlands, Warcraft), Mojean Aria (TV’s See and Dead Lucky), Brett Cullen (Joker), Natalie Martinez (The Stand and The Fugitive series), Angela Sarafyan (HBO’s Westworld) and Nico Parker (Dumbo).
Stream or download Reminiscence and catch indelible performances from Thandiwe Newton and Angela Sarafyan across three seasons of HBO’s Westworld on HBO GO. Download the app at the App Store or Play Store on your device.
You can also access HBO GO via Cignal or at https://www.hbogoasia.ph/. HBO GO can be accessed via Android TV, Apple TV, LG TV and Samsung Smart TV – and comes with AirPlay and Google Cast functionality.
Investing in quality and durable washing machines has
become a necessity to every Filipino household. Throughout the years, this
helpful appliance has made an enormous impact in people’s lives, saving them
more time and energy that can be directed to other chores and priorities. Every
year, we have seen innovations and exciting features incorporated in our
washing machines, allowing people to easily adapt to lifestyle changes and
developing preferences.
XTREME Appliances, the country’s leading one-stop-shop
appliance brand, has been continuously offering products that are high quality
yet at a very affordable price. Recently, the brand has launched new additions
to their washing machine line under their XTREME Cool category — the twin tub
washing machine and the top load fully automatic washing machines. In line with
its mission of bringing premium quality home and commercial appliances to the
Filipino market, XTREME Appliances considers every Filipino needs, wants, and
preferences. Aside from providing innovation, the brand considers market
relevance and affordability as large factors in their product pipelines.
With the introduction of these new products — XTREME Cool Twin Tub Washing Machines
and XTREME Cool Top Load Fully Automatic
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specifically those people who want to upgrade their lifestyle but are
budget-conscious.
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Save up to 40% of your time with XTREME
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One of
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This top
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The
XTREME Cool Top Load Fully Automatic Washing Machines are available in two
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updated on the latest news and happenings of XTREME Appliances, like and follow
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Save up to P1,500
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ePLDT recently launched a new, cloud-based phone system called ePLDT Calling for Microsoft Teams, which allows businesses to combine their communication and collaboration systems in a single platform.
As businesses have implemented work-from-home setups at the onset of the pandemic, many had faced challenges around operational inefficiencies brought by the sudden pressure to adopt systems that optimize remote working arrangements. This influx of business applications have thus resulted in largely disconnected legacy and digital platforms.
Organizations caught in this siloed approach (those with disjointed communication and collaboration systems) are predisposed to users toggling from one system to another, which consumes more time and could possibly cause customer dissatisfaction due to simple miscommunication rising from seemingly mundane oversights such as unattended calls and queries and mishandled requests.
In addition, such disparate setups lack operational insights where businesses can gather pertinent data that can be used to improve customer experience.
ePLDT, in partnership with Microsoft and AudioCodes, developed ePLDT Calling for Microsoft Teams—a modern enterprise voice solution that combines both business communication and collaboration systems to enable employees to seamlessly integrate calls into their workflow. The service aims to help boost the efficiency of businesses to improve overall business outcomes while reducing costs, application overload, and worker fatigue.
Businesses are also able to get real-time insights on the quality of calls made to ensure smooth communication and customer satisfaction. Calls are also protected with built-in security and privacy from Microsoft 365.
ePLDT harnessed the collaborative power of Microsoft Teams and utilized the combined robustness and reliability of PLDT SIP connectivity and ePLDT VITRO Data Center, to create a hybrid telephony and video conferencing solution that allows real-time collaboration among employees, customers and other stakeholders. With ePLDT’s ICT expertise and Microsoft 365 certifications, customers are assured that this groundbreaking solution is professionally implemented and supported, and shall be continually reviewed and enhanced.
“Traditional telephony solutions provided limited capabilities at a high cost and effort. ePLDT Calling for Microsoft Teams is the perfect solution for effective internal and external communication,” says Nico Alcoseba, VP & Head of ICT Business for PLDT Enterprise.
Furthermore, ePLDT Calling for Microsoft Teams provides better management of customer experience across legacy and digital channels and aligns technology investments with every company’s business objectives.
“We at ePLDT strive to continuously provide enterprises with innovative solutions that will create real value to their business. We always keep in mind the needs of our customers when we develop a new product to ensure that it answers their problems or challenges, and ePLDT Calling for Microsoft Teams is an illustration of that,” says ePLDT President & CEO and SVP & Head for PLDT and Smart Enterprise Business Groups Jovy Hernandez.
“With ePLDT Calling for Microsoft Teams, we will enable businesses to have maximum productivity and a seamless collaboration among employees,” he added.
