VIXX release 4th mini-album ‘Shangri-La’

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VIXX is praised as a “concept idol group” for the edgy ideas presented in all their albums. Their fourth mini-album ‘Shangri-La’, the band’s interpretation of “Oriental fantasy”, was released on May 15th.

The original title in Korean (Do Won Kyung) means "the peach blossom land" –an ethereal utopia isolated from the outside world just like Shangri-La. VIXX presents the image of Shangri-La with their music, visual design, performance and music video, creating a picturesque atmosphere of beauty and mystery.

VIXX’s concept photos have been used as elements in an Oriental painting. In celebration of the band’s 5th anniversary, the album is designed based on the concept of anniversary. The members’ birth flowers and birthstones have been incorporated into the album design to create an Oriental look, taking the whole album to another level. Members can be seen dressed in suits with an Oriental twist, revealing surreal and flamboyant visual effects.

Following ‘Fantasy’ and ‘The Closer’, title track ‘Shangri-La’ is the another collaboration between VIXX and Devine-Channel, a much sought after production team both at home and abroad. In addition, the band reunited with internationally renowned choreographers Keone & Mari, who previously presented a unique and powerful choreography in ‘Fantasy’. This time choreographer Yu Jung Wan was invited to join the team; by incorporating fans into the dance, a strong Oriental atmosphere has been successfully created.

Ready to embody the concept of Oriental fantasy, VIXX worked with their dream team again and created exciting sparks together, making the album a highly anticipated release. Costumes with Oriental elements and poetic Korean lyrics have created a dreamy and mysterious image. In the teaser trailer of their latest music video, a fantastical world view has been revealed, making it even more anticipated.

A combination of title track and other sophisticatedly-arranged songs, the tracklist includes collaborations with many top-selling Korean and international artists. ‘INTO THE VOID’ is a future bass song filled with darkness, a style which only VIXX can perfectly interpret. ‘Black Out’ is an upbeat deep house song accented with heavy bass, highlighting the fashionable side of VIXX. RAVI is involved in the music and lyric writing of ‘1,2,3,4,5’, an R&B song with rich emotion. ‘To Us’ is a synth modern rock song featuring ballad-style lyrics.

To celebrate its 5th anniversary, VIXX revealed an epic return plan including an album release, a concert and an exhibition. The ‘VIXX LIVE FANTASIA DAYDREAM’ concert was held in Jamsil Indoor Stadium from May 12th to the 14th. Another show will be played on June 11th at Busan KBS Hall. As a witness of the band’s major events in the past 5 years, exhibition ‘VIXX 0524’ will kick off at Ara Art Centre on May 24th, the band’s debut anniversary, and end on June 4th. 

Thousands attend AXN’s Asia’s Got Talent Open Auditions in Manila for their chance to shine in Season Two

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(PHILIPPINES) – The most creative and aspiring Pinoy acts turned out in full force today as AXN kicked off its open auditions for the second season of Asia’s Got Talent.

Thousands of talented performers – from magicians, singers and acrobats to dancers and variety acts – headed to QCX: Quezon City Experience to audition for a coveted spot in the record-breaking talent contest and a USD100,000 cash prize. 

“Asia’s Got Talent celebrates performers of any age and with any dream and that was certainly the case here in Philippines today. Our first season was won by the Filipino shadow dance group, El Gamma Penumbra, and this has inspired the entire nation to pursue their dreams. I wish all performers who auditioned for Asia’s Got Talent today the very best of luck and I hope to see them shine on Asia’s Got Talent later this year,” Virginia Lim, Senior Vice President and Head of Content, Production and Marketing, Sony Pictures Television Networks, Asia.

Billed as the world’s greatest talent competition, “Asia’s Got Talent” welcomed individual and group performers of all ages, who took to the stage with dreams of making it to the next round. 

The auditions started at 10:30am this morning with the day’s acts showcasing their amazing skills in front of the show’s executive producers. Due to the overwhelming response, the dazzling display of Pinoy talent did not end until well into the evening. 

Some of the most incredible performances during the auditions included a haka dance group, fire dancers, a 9-month pregnant singer and harpist, a diablo (Chinese yoyo) performer, a differently-abled duo, a beatboxer, as well as numerous vocalists and dancers, some of which started queuing as early as 3am.

The Philippines is highly regarded as the act to beat for having won the first season with the breathtaking performance of El Gamma Penumbra, a Filipino shadow play dance group which took home the grand prize of USD 100,000.

In addition to Manila and the recent auditions in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, open auditions will also be held in Taipei (May 27) and Bangkok (May 28). To apply online, interested participants may log on to www.axn-asia.com/AsiasGotTalent for more details. 

Asia’s Got Talent is slated to premiere in the second half of 2017, first and exclusively on AXN. 

Join the conversation:

@AXNAsia / @AsiasGotTalent / #AXNAsia / #AsiasGotTalent / #AsiasGotTalentAudition 

New Ratings Records in Asia

Season one of Asia’s Got Talent set new ratings records for the English general entertainment (GE) genre during its run, taking AXN to the number one spot in its timeslot among all regional pay-TV channels collectively across Southeast Asia and Taiwan.2

In Malaysia, Asia’s Got Talent was the highest rated entertainment series on English language channels on Astro in the past two years. In the Philippines, the Grand Final Results episode of Asia’s Got Talent was the highest rated pay-TV program in the country since 2008, and commanded a 96 percent share among 22 English GE channels. 3

Got Talent Globally

The Got Talent franchise was created by Simon Cowell’s Syco Entertainment and is co-produced and owned by Syco Entertainment and FremantleMedia. It is entered in the Guinness World Records as the Most Successful Reality Television Format in history with 70 local versions produced across Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle-East, Africa and the Americas. Around the world, the Got Talent format airs in a total of 186 countries. 

AXN: A leader in original productions

AXN is a leader of regionally produced original content in Asia, with notable ratings successes including five seasons of the international Emmy-nominated The Amazing Race Asia; the Asian Television Award-winning Cash Cab Asia and Cash Cab Philippines; The Apprentice Asia; Cyril: Rio Magic; Cyril’s Family Vacation: Hawaii Edition; and the Asian Television Award-nominated Cyril: Simply Magic.

7-Eleven Makes Summer So Cool!

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Our favorite kapitbahay has UBELoaded and Slurpee Shock Rocks as refreshing treats this summer

Summer is officially here! It's definitely getting hotter everyday but 7-Eleven will help you cool down amidst the scorching heat with its latest offerings: the UBELoaded and the Slurpee Shock Rocks, two must-try summer treats.

These new flavors will help you create cool and fun moments with your barkada. With just a quick visit to your nearest 7-Eleven store, make summer more fun with these exciting treats.

First off is the newest Slurpee Shock Rocks, which will surely awaken your inner child. Slurpee Shock Rocks are awesome popping candies that can be sprinkled on top of any Slurpee proving that fizzy drinks can be made explosively delicious with pop rocks.

In fact, the Slurpee Shock Rocks are a perfect combination to any Slurpee drink proving that pop rocks and soda go together debunking the urban legend that people believed in before.

Meanwhile, the new Ube-flavored Slurpee Halo-Halo is definitely a hit for fans of drinks with toppings because this drink is surely filled with it!

7-Eleven also offers other must-tries like--Ube Halaya Fundae & Halo-Halo Fundae, Ube Donuts, Ube Cake Wedge, and Ginataang Halo-Halo.

With these tasty treats, your summer will be loads of fun. So whether you’re currently on a super fabulous vacation or spending some quality time with your friends at home, have the best time with these cool treats from 7-Eleven.

Epson provides technical training for Lantern Vision Learning Center under Family Life Missions for Gift of Brightness donation

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Epson’s Roy Catana (left) leads the technical training and product orientation to Family Life Missions’Carlos Terry who will act as the custodian of the Epson Technology package donated to the Lantern Vision Learning Center. 

Epson Philippines provided technical training to the Family Life Missions and the Lantern Vision Learning Center to help the custodians utilize the Epson products donated under the Epson Gift of Brightness (GoB) program. 

These training sessions were put into place to enable the school faculty and students to be equipped in using the Technology Package. Through the GoB program, Epson Philippines aspires to help enrich the learning experience for students of select public elementary and high schools.

Each beneficiary school had earlier received an Epson Technology package that includes the L220 Multifunction Color Printers and L Series Inks; M100 Single Function Monochrome Printers and Inks; an LQ310 Dot Matrix Printer and SIDM Ribbons, LW400 Label Printers and LW Ribbons, Epson projectors and a document camera.

• “These technical training sessions for all schools that received the Epson GoB Technology Package ensure that we also provide relevant assistance to the custodians and students on the proper usage and maintenance, so that they can have confidence in deploying the use of these products for teaching and learning,” shared Mr. Ed Bonoan, Senior General Manager and Head of Marketing, Epson Philippines.

Since the launch of the Epson Gift of Brightness, Epson has partnered with key media and government institutions to select the most-deserving and in-need schools that can benefit from the technologically advanced equipment including high-volume printers, high brightness projectors and user-friendly scanners. 

“Thanks to Epson Gift of Brightness program, the students of Lantern Vision Learning Center under Family Life Missions will be provided with free printed school materials and a very nice projector for the lessons. This donation will be a big help to us and our young pupils,” said Carlos Terry, the principal missionary who leads Family Life Missions.

Family Life Missions is a non-profit organization that helps poor communities in the Las Pinas area through providing free pre-school education through its Lantern Vision Learning Center. The center also provides free meals to its young students, as well as free school supplies. Most of the materials come from various donations to the NGO.

The Gift of Brightness advocacy of Epson Philippines was launched in December 2013, and has to date, benefited a total of 30 schools nationwide. Epson Philippines is currently selecting another batch of beneficiary schools with the help of DepEd and other partners.

“The Epson Gift of Brightness program is our advocacy for education and the Filipino youth.After our first partnership with the Department of Education last year, we are now embarking on another batch of beneficiaries of the Epson-DepEd Gift of Brightness, and some other schools that have directly asked Epson for help. We are focusing on selecting schools from areas that have yet to receive a similar donation. The new batch of GoB schools will be very soon,” concludes Ms. Donna V. Ferro, Head of Marketing Communications and PR, Epson Philippines.

Merck steps up awareness campaign against thyroid diseases

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In time for the International Thyroid Awareness Week (ITAW) 2017, leading science and healthcare innovation company Merck, joined forces with the Department of Health (DOH), Philippine Thyroid Association (PTA), Philippine Society of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism (PSEDM), and the Iodine Global Network (IGN), to raise consciousness against thyroid disorders. 

You and your thyroid

The thyroid gland is a butterfly-shaped endocrine gland that sits in at the lower front of the neck. It plays a key role in one’s overall health and well-being by producing thyroid hormones that help keep the body use energy, stay warm, and keep the brain, heart, muscles, and other organs in tip-top condition. 

Thyroid disorders are some of the most common diseases worldwide. In the Philippines, one in every 11 adults suffers from goiter or other thyroid disorders. 

Thyroid problems are more common in women. Figures show that women are four to seven times more likely to have thyroid disorders than men. They are also at risk of hypothyroidism by 10 times. Moreover, women who recently gave birth and those who are in the menopausal stage are more vulnerable.  

But why are thyroid diseases usually left undetected and misdiagnosed? Blame the symptoms. Tiredness, anxiety, weight fluctuations, difficulty in sleeping – these are some of the telling signs of a thyroid problem. Unfortunately, more often than not, people usually attribute these to merely having poor lifestyle choices. This is why the theme of this year’s ITAW is: “It’s Not You, It’s Your Thyroid”.

It’s Not You, It’s Your Thyroid

Since its primary role is to control the metabolism, disorders may occur when there’s little (hypothyroidism) or overproduction (hyperthyroidism) of thyroid hormones. 

Patients with hypothyroidism, or too little thyroid hormone, tend to have slower metabolism: they gain weight despite not eating much, move and speak slowly, feel tired and have depressed thoughts, cannot tolerate cold, and have irregular menstrual periods. On the other hand, patients with hyperthyroidism, or too much thyroid hormone, will have hyperactive metabolism: they lose weight despite having good appetite, have heart palpitations, irritable thoughts and insomnia, have sweating and heat intolerance, and can have tremors in their hands. 

The diagnosis of thyroid disorders can easily be made by checking the levels of Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) in the blood. Treatment brings the level of thyroid hormones back in balance, restoring normal metabolism to the body.

For more information, visit www.thyroidaware.com

 or follow “Unmasking Your Thyroid” on Facebook (www.facebook.com/thyroidph). 

About Merck

Merck is the world’s oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company with headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany. Merck is a leading science and technology company that works to further develop technologies that improve and enhance life – from biopharmaceutical therapies to treat cancer or multiple sclerosis, cutting-edge systems for scientific research and production, to liquid crystals for smartphones and LCD televisions