Christian Bautista continues partnership with Ink-All-You-Can

Asia’s Romantic Balladeer Christian Bautista has made bold moves the past months and engaged in projects that stretch his artistry. Acknowledging the singer’s unparalleled dedication to his craft, Ink-All-You-Can continues to support the singer in all his endeavors.

Last November 28, Christian Bautista represented the Philippines in the ASEAN-Japan Music Festival – Music For Healing After The Earthquake, which hoped to deliver hope and courage through music to all those affected by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake. The festival held at the NHK Hall in Shibuya Japan was attended by 4010 people, and was aired over at NHK Channel.

Kobe and Andre Paras sign deal with Kapuso Network

Basketball heartthrobs Kobe and Andre Paras signed an exclusive contract today with GMA Network Inc.

Present in the contract signing were GMA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Felipe L. Gozon, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Felipe S. Yalong,  Officer In-Charge of Entertainment TV Lilybeth G. Rasonable, Vice President for Entertainment Marivin T. Arayata, Vice President for Drama Redgie A. Magno, Assistant Vice President for Alternative Productions Gigi S. Lara, Assistant Vice President for Corporate Communications Angel Javier - Cruz; Assistant Vice President for Talent Branding and Imaging Simoun S. Ferrer, Program Manager Charles Koo, and father of Kobe and Andre, Benjie Paras.

Primetime King Dingdong Dantes renews contract with GMA Network

It is confirmed: Dingdong Dantes is still very much a Kapuso!

The actor, touted as Primetime King, officially renewed his contract with GMA Network today, September 14, making him an exclusive talent of the network for the next five years.  

The renewal, which took place at the Manila Polo Club this morning, ultimately debunked rumors of a possible transfer of the actor to another network. 

Present during the contract signing were GMA Chairman and CEO Felipe L. Gozon, President and COO Gilberto R. Duavit, Jr., EVP and CFO Felipe S. Yalong, Entertainment TV OIC Lilybeth G. Rasonable and Dingdong's manager Perry Lansigan. 

Carla Abellana signs with Universal Records

Kapuso Primetime Queen Carla Abellana inked a recording contract with Universal Records last August 29. The My Husband’s Lover star immediately proceeded to the recording of her first single – a cover of Toni Daya’s hit Kung Alam Mo Lang.

Carla expresses gratitude to everyone who made this project possible – as shown in picture (L-R) Talent Manager Arnold Vegafria, Record Producer Ito Rapadas, General Manager Kathleen Dy-Go, Carla, and UR Operations Manager Peter Chan.

MUSIC LYF: MCA Music Welcomes Sitti

The country’s number 1 music company MCA Music (Universal Music Philippines) welcomes another top artist to its OPM fold—none other than the Philippines’ Queen of Bossa Nova SITTI.

She joins its roster of best artists which includes bands such as Urbandub, Pupil, Franco, Chicosci, The Oktaves, Tanya Markova and Pedicab and solo acts Nyoy Volante, Sabrina, Solenn Heussaff, Loonie, Barbie Forteza and Ron Henley. Its international acts comprised of U2, Snow Patrol, Keane, Justin Bieber, Lady GaGa, Miley Cyrus, Paul McCartney, Lionel Richie, Gotye, Rihanna, Sting, Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey and Jessie J among others.

Present during the contract signing was MCA Music (Universal Music Philippines) President Ricky R. Ilacad who incidentally was the one who signed up Sitti during his term as head of another record label. Also present were MCA Music executives Wilson Cruz (Marketing & Sales Director), Kiko Guevarra (A & R Manager) and Mark Bonifacio (OPM Label Marketing Manager).

GMA Network on The Sarah Lahbati Issue [UPDATED]

UPDATED: seems that the Sarah Lahbati contract issue continues as GMA Network releases a new statement about the issue. Sarah Lahbati today has released her statement from her tweets in twitter and can be seen the compiled version below the GMA Network statement.

Sarah Lahbati clearly violated her contract with GMA Network

Sarah Lahbati’s Artist Management Contract with GMA Network is effective until February 21, 2015.  There is no provision for leave of absence in said contract.  Any leave is subject to prior agreement between the Network and Sarah.  Therefore, Sarah’s unilateral decision to go on leave, despite its earlier disapproval by the Network, is a violation of her contract with the Network.  Further, her declared trip to Switzerland for an indefinite period, without the prior consent and approval of the Network, will be an additional violation of her contract.

Sarah, who is exclusively managed by the Network, earlier signed a co-management contract with Royal Era Entertainment & Artist Management, the talent management company of Annabelle Rama, the mother of Sarah’s current boyfriend, Richard Gutierrez.  Such act violated the terms of her contract with the Network.  The Network would have had no choice but to sue Sarah and Royal Era Entertainment for the said breach if they refused to rescind said co-management contract.

GMA Network's official statement on Sarah Lahbati

"Last December, Sarah Lahbati unilaterally decided to take a leave of absence of one (1) month from GMA Network, because she said she wanted to de-stress and unwind.  Because her reasons were vague, they were not accepted by management.  While we understand that work in our industry can be stressful (as in any business), we believe that this is not only unavoidable in most cases, but also a part of what one does as a professional and/or performing artist.

Her leave of absence was also disapproved by management because of her pending obligations (i.e. Party Pilipinas, on-going promos and other endorsement commitments).  However, on the evening of Jan 2, she tweeted that she will be going to Switzerland to study, despite the disapproval given to her last December on taking a leave.  This is in violation of her contract, because she has to perform and appear in programs and events assigned to her, and make herself available to faithfully and promptly fulfill all engagements contracted for her by GMA.

At the same time, she has yet to address the issue of her walking out during taping, which caused the production team to pack-up, and incur an additional cost of 500k.  She is therefore, currently under investigation and the network is still studying on what actions to take."