Noel Cabangon, Gloc-9 receive Platinum Record Awards

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Platinum Singer-Songwriter Noel Cabangon and OPM Rap Genius Gloc-9 are undeniably two of the biggest OPM acts of today.

Last Sunday, May 4, during “ASAP 19,” Universal Records Managing Director Kathleen Dy-Go awarded NoelCabangon with three record awards – Double Platinum for “Byahe,” Platinum for “Tuloy Ang Byahe,” Gold for “Acoustic Noel,” his latest release.

These albums, consistently top the music charts, contain Noel’s rendition of some of the most loved OPM classics.

On the other hand, Gloc-9 was also awarded a Platinum Record Award for his latest album “Liham at Lihim,” which included the hits “Magda,” “Takipsilim,” and “KMT.”

Recently, Gloc-9 spawned numerous awards at the 2014 MYX Music Awards.

McDonald’s CDO Crew Wins Global Award in Voice of McDonald’s Season 5

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Rocky Rosabal, McDonald’s CDO crew wins Global 1st Runner-Up Award in Voice of McDonald’s Season 5 finals held recently during McDonald’s Worldwide Convention in Orlando, Florida last May 1. 

With the song "Faithfully",  young talent from Cagayan de Oro, Rocky Rosabal, won in The Voice of McDonald’s Season 5, a global singing competition exclusively for over 1.8 million McDonald’s employees all around the world.

Rocky shared his feeling and stories to the media guests during the homecoming celebration at the Greenbelt McDonald’s in Makati City last Friday, May 9, 2014.

Rocky never imagined his humble job as a crew member would lead him to sing before thousands of people in an international singing competition. 

Behind the kitchen, from holding cooking wares and mops at McDonald’s CDO Divisoria branch,hides a budding international singing competition winner.

“Before, I performed at acoustic bars in CDO but most of the time, there were no customers. No one usually watched me,” Rocky said. “(But) with 15,000 people watching me that night, ibang iba yung feeling,” he recalled.

The McDonald’s CDO crew member made McDonald’s Philippines and his hometown proud with his heartfelt performance of “Faithfully”, popularized by the band Journey, in front of a crowd of more than 15,000 strong.

Aside from being first runner up, Rocky was also hailed as ‘Fan Favorite’ in a public online voting contest, winning him a cash prize of USD5,000.

Voice of McDonald’s is arguably the largest global singing competition of its kind. Fifty-eight thousand McDonald's crew and managers entered local competitions in 63 countries this season, which culminated in a grand competition judged by music industry heavy weights David Foster, Ken Hertz and Skylar Grey.

McDonald’s Philippines CEO and President Kenneth Yang said, “A large part of McDonald’s success is attributed to our people. Our crew members and managers work tirelessly to provide the best service to millions of Filipinos, thus we are dedicated in investing heavily on their training and offering them opportunities to help them grow as individuals.” 

“The entire McDonald’s Philippines system congratulates Rocky for his success in the competition and once again showing the world how hardworking, driven and talented our local crew is. Voice of McDonald’s is truly a great way to set the spotlight on the people who make McDonald’s magic happen every day in our restaurants”, Yang added

Other countries represented during the Finals were Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Norway, Ukraine, Israel, United Kingdom, South Africa, Canada and Australia. 

The Road to the Global Finals

Rocky describes his Voice of McDonald’s experience as “life-changing,” from his regional audition in Davao City to the star-studded grand finals in Florida.

During the local Voice of McDonald’s search, Rocky emerged from a pool of 500 restaurant crew and managers to make it to the top 12 finalists to become the Philippines’ Voice of McDonalds Local Grand Winner. The Local Finals was held at the SMX Convention Centre and aired in ABS CBN and Studio 23. 

Classical singer Lucila Ospitia from Colombia was this season’s grand winner, while Ashlae Nelms from Illinois, USA and Patrick Reis from Switzerland won third and fourth place respectively.

Rocky admits that a lot of preparation and practice was done for the regional competition. After undergoing extensive training from prominent voice and performance coaches to working with professional music arrangers, his efforts were met with a spot in the Grand Finals.

Global Company, Golden Opportunities

Voice of McDonald’s global finalists win a once-in-a-lifetime experience through travel and interaction with McDonald’s employees from all over the world, as well as prizes that not only further fuel their passion for their craft but aid them financially as well. 

McDonald’s continues and will remain committed to developing their people through training opportunities and unique employee engagement programs—solidifying why McDonald’s is a fun and great place to work.

McDonald's Philippines have always supported the competition and strongly encourage their employees to join because that is a great way to recognize their talents and reward their hard work.

For more information, visit www.mcdonalds.com.ph.

Be the next Michael Christian Martinez!

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Filipino Figure Skater Olympian Michael  Christian Martinez,  the first ever South East Asian figure skater to enter the 2013 World Junior Championship and giving an impressive performance at the recently held Soichi Winter Olympics. 

There’s no stopping Michael Christian Martinez in reaping honors for the Philippines as he recently bagged the much coveted gold medal from the Triglav Trophy International Figure Skating Competition in Jesenice, Slovenia.

Inspired by skaters spinning and jumping at the SM Skating Rink in SM Southmall, Martinez took up figure skating when he was eight and began training in 2010 in the United States. Since then, he has been transformed into a world-class athlete and has garnered over 190 medals and trophies from various international and local competitions. 

Martinez’s success is not an overnight thing but the simple decision of his mother and himself to get into the sports changed his life. His achievement is indeed phenomenal but the good news is if you’re open-minded and committed to learn the skill, you too can be like him! 

SM Skating Rink operated by SM Lifestyle Entertainment, Inc. makes this possible as it provides the facilities and programs for the young people who want to develop and hone their skating talents, and who aspire to be the next Philippine Olympian like Michael Christian Martinez. SM Skating Rink offers various skating lessons in its premier branches in SM Mall of Asia, SM Southmall and SM Megamall.

For only P300 on weekdays and P390 during weekends and holidays, you can learn different skating moves by availing open or unlimited skating service offered in both SM Mall of Asia and SM Megamall. You can learn and have fun in the SM Skating Rink with your friends by enrolling to one of the Freestyle skating courses available in the three SM branches that come in both four and six sessions

You can also skate your way to being a professional skater by enrolling to Speed Skating, the newest course offering in SM Mall of Asia. Top local coaches who were also trained by international skating coaches like Kelvin Nicolle, an international referee from New Zealand who teaches short track speed skating in Singapore, will provide the lesson and training to the enrolees. 

SM Skating Rink which once served as a training ground for Michael Christian Martinez still provides a house for discovering new young talents. 

Be part of this and fulfill your dreams in the country’s world-class and only skating rink.

For more information, visit www.smiceskating.com or call 556-0471.

Cosplayer Alodia Gosiengfiao on Massive Gaming for the Gamex Mercs Tournament

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Merceneray online holds Gamex Mercs Tournament last May 9, 2014 at the Cyberzone SM North Edsa. Online gamers for Massive Gaming (massive.ph) is in partnership with GAMEX and SMART COMMUNICATIONS (gamex.ph);

Massive Gaming is among the new breed of online game publishers with a couple of exciting FPS games in its roster including Mercenary Online and WarRock.

Cosplayer Alodia Gosiengfiao was in the massive Gamex Mercs Tournament! The Queen of Cosplay, and true gamer Alodia graced the event and  not only did gamers get a chance to meet her, they also got the opportunity join her TEAM ALODIA to battle it out during a very entertaining exhibition match versus our GM MASSIVE TEAM.

Alodia showed her skills in Mercenary Online off the bat by getting double kills in our Dust 1 map, even defusing the bomb in one round earning them the win.

During the event, Alodia also launched her newest in-game Alodia character. A wind goddess, the specially designed character for Alodia is for Massive Gaming’s latest Battle Arena game, “Dragon Fist Tournament” (dragonfist.ph) which can only be acquired thru the GameX Portal (gamex.ph). Massive Gaming also introduced its latest game to its line up a, “The Aurora World” (aurora.ph) a Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game with massive PVP modes to play in.

The GameX Mercs tournament was a nine (9) month long tournament across more than 500 professional and amateur teams (2,500 gamers) who joined the battle from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Fifteen (15) teams for Mercenary Online and Sixteen (16) teams for WarRock managed to survive the online elimination carnage that battled it out on a live stage in front of thousands of fans cheering them on. 

With the champion taking home not only bragging rights, the teams will also enjoy a total of PHP 300,000.00 in cash, game merchandise, in-game items, custom trophies and awesome gaming gear courtesy of Steel Series.

An action packed day as the player community showed up in droves to support their favourite teams and participate in the many activities on-going at the event. Massive Gaming did indeed put on an entertaining show with numerous pocket events such as a cosplay competition, “Epic Boss” eating contest, photo booths, face painting, raffle draws, merchandise giveaways, super sales and rare in-game item releases. Many players came to meet Massive Gaming’s awesome game masters, especially GM Rhaine who is dubbed the most popular GM in the country.

The GameX MERCENARY ONLINE tournament was finalized with the 3rd placer (PHP 30,000.00) being ANBU from Paranaque City and the 2nd place (PHP 70,000.00) also the strong [A]NBU from Quezon City who were previous top placers in our previous nationwide tournament. Finally our champion and winner of the PHP 100,000 cash prize was an upstart clan, Relevant from Pasig who was a relative a tournament newbie however finished very strong beating [A]NBU at a 7 – 0 score.

Champion – RELEVANT / PASIG 

2nd place - ANBU / QC

3rd Place – [A]NBU / PARANAQUE

The WARROCK NATIONALS 2014 tournament, ended with the 4th place (PHP 4,000.00) Soldados Handsom and the way from Bicol and Locusts Handsomes from Rizal winning the 3rd place slot (PHP 15,000.00) at a 5 – 9 win. Finally the 1st place Supreme Champion (PHP 30,000.00), Locusts Inspired from Metro Manila wins versus Hostility Cebu from Bacolod at a final score of 9 – 3 earning them the 2nd place (PHP 20,000.00) slot. The Clan Locusts truly dominated this tournament with 2 of out their 5 participating teams placing!

Champion – LOCUSTS INSPIRED / MM 

2nd Place - HOSTILITY / CEBU

3rd Place – LOCUSTS HANDSOMES/RIZAL 

4th Place - SUNDALOS HANDSOME / BICOL

The eventful packed day wouldn’t have been possible without the amazing location sponsor SM CYBERZONE, GAMEX the easiest way to load up with MCOINS, IT partner, MSI, Gaming partner, Steel Series, the ultra-fast connection of PLDT and TUNE Hotel for housing our players.

“BABY BLAST 5: READY, SET…GO, GLOW, GROW – A Fun-O-lympics for the Whole Family!”

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This year, “BABY BLAST 5: READY, SET…GO, GLOW, GROW – A Fun-O-lympics for the Whole Family!” focuses on fostering development in 3 areas: GO – physical and motor skills; GLOW – mental and cognitive skills; and GROW – nutrition and health needs.

Rearing a child in this modern and terribly fast-paced environment is a challenge most parents have. You may be happy to see your child developing a skill in one developmental aspect, but he or she may be lacking in another. How do you identify problem areas and help him or her reach their full potential?

Outbox Media Production Agency once again invites you to the grandest family event of the year! Running on its 5th year, “BABY BLAST!” an annual event focusing on the importance of Early Head Start (EHS) Education, continues to bring together EHS advocates, teachers, doctors, parents and kids, through a fun-filled family event happening at the Trinoma Activity Center on May 25, 2014, from 10am-7pm.

Since 2010, Baby Blast has spread awareness that enjoyable, unforced learning, as well as hands-on play and parent-child bonding during the age of 0-3 years is critical in laying down the foundation for the child’s future learning and holistic development. Every year, attendance to the event grows in number, as more families enjoy the fun activities and learn from the featured topics.

The event will feature entertaining talks on health, parenting and education from experts, parents and teachers, Early Head Start demos, exhibits, booths and fun activities! Aside from the onstage program and activities, this year’s exhibit areas will focus on the GO, GLOW & GROW model, divided into age groups, that will help parents identify particular areas where their children’s development may need some help with: Celebrity moms and dads will be hosting the onstage program and facilitate discussions with guest speakers.

AGE-RELATED ACTIVITIES:

· 6-12 months – CRAWLING RACE

· 1-2 years old – BUILDING BLOCKS

· 3 years old – DRESSING UP

· 4 years old – PATTERNS

· 5-7 years old – RELAY GAMES

ACTIVITY AREAS:

· MOVE IT! (Triathlon Kinect Station)

· CREATIVITY CORNER (Arts & Crafts)

· OBM-LYMPICS AREA (Sports Game Booths, Face Painting)

We also have online contests and pre-registration happening before the day of the event:

The event is made possible by: Ceelin, Rite Med, Bounty Fresh Chicken, Water Front Hotels and Casino, Ferna Hot Cakes, Oishi, Uratex and Robby Rabbit.