GMA Network proudly welcomes Christian Bautista

March 20, 2013 (Quezon City, Philippines), Multi-platinum artist Christian Bautista signed an exclusive contract with GMA Network Inc.

Present in the contract signing were GMA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Felipe L. Gozon, GMA President and Chief Operating Officer Gilberto R. Duavit, Jr., OIC for Entertainment Lilybeth G. Rasonable, and Christian’s manager Carlo Orosa.

Being welcomed by the GMA executives, Christian feels very privileged and excited about this new chapter in his life, “It’s wonderful! Bagong taon, bagong makakatrabaho at bagong bahay. I feel very welcomed and very honoured na nandito na ako ngayon. With all the projects I’m doing, it’s gonna be fun!”

Carlo is looking forward towards a bright future for Christian in GMA. “We feel the warmth and sincerity of their welcome,” he adds.

MUSIC LYF: Panatang Makabanda marks the return of Rivermaya in the local recording scene

Iconic and multi-platinum-selling band Rivermaya makes a local recording scene comeback with the much-awaited release of their album Panatang Makabanda, under Universal Records. The album is their first in four years and their first with Universal Records.

Rivermaya is now composed of Mark Escueta, Norby David, Mike Elgar and Ryan Peralta.

Rivermaya joins the label’s elite roster of bands – Parokya Ni Edgar, Kamikazee, Sponge Cola, Calla Lily, among others.

Ramon Bautista takes ‘friend zone’ fever to the corporate world

Are you in love with your officemate – or worse – your boss?  Then you have a potentially big problem.  But don’t worry, comedian and TV host Ramon Bautista might have a solution to your predicament.

After his “Tales from the Friend Zone” video series became popular on video sharing website, YouTube, Bautista recently released a new video series tackling a different relationship issue.

While the first series dealt with problems that occur when courtship goes south and ends in an awkward state of being “just friends” or “friend zone,” the new web series deals with the woes of office romances.

JUAN MINUTE SPOTLIGHT: Neil Coleta

We all know hims as the "Nestea Guy" who is a quest to win the heart of the girl he loves with the help of his family and iced tea. He also appeared in a Cookie sandwich commercial as a student with his friends But Neil Coleta proves that he not all looks and "Papogi" moves but also an actor to watch out for. He is now starting to be a household name and going beyond just being a commercial model.

He is usually seen as a comedic character in teleseryes and even in commercials, but he also proves that he can do more than being funny by being part of the musical movie "I Do Bidoo". He is also now the sidekick of Coco Martin in Juan Dela Cruz as his best friend in the series.

His efforts were rewarded recently with his newest endorsements and also the Star Award for Movies as the Best New Actor Award. He still proves that hard work has its fruits and now he also have Chicken and Baboy. 

Jolina Magdangal gears up for heavy drama

After doing mostly light and oftentimes comedic roles, singer-host-actress Jolina Magdangal is shifting gears and is set to do heavy drama in GMA’s upcoming primetime series “Mundo Mo’y Akin,” which will replace “Pahiram ng Sandali” this month.

“Yes, I’m ready,” replied Jolina when asked about how prepared she is for her pivotal role in the series.

Jolina will play the character of Zenaida “Aida” Carbonel, the keeper of the secret behind the real identities of the lead characters portrayed by Louise delos Reyes and new kapuso Lauren Young.

Sunshine Dizon returns to drama, reprises ‘familiar’ role in new series

After taking four years of respite from showbiz, actress Sunshine Dizon is back to doing drama and is one of the lead cast members of GMA’s upcoming primetime series, “Mundo Mo’y Akin.”  In the said series, Sunshine will be working with Angelika dela Cruz, Jolina Magdangal, Alden Richards, Louise delos Reyes and new kapuso star Lauren Young.

“I am very excited and I can assure the audience that this show is going to be very beautiful: maganda ang concept, maganda ang story,” Sunshine said in an interview during the photo shoot for the said series.

NMPP and Migz Zubiri Presents 15 Scholars

photo from  www.orangemanazinetv.com

This March, 15 students have finally reached their goal of graduating this school year which belongs to the family who are part of NMPP (Nagkakaisang Mangagawa ng Pelikulang Pilipino) which is group of people who work for the movie industry. Senatoriable Miguel "Migz" Zubiri has been a loyal supporter for the people in the industry and is a fan of Pinoy movies.

Migz Zubiri shares that even on his term as senator, made this project in support to the people of NMPP where families are dependent on local movie projects.  Future projects Includes a planned housing project and more scholars under the project. He shares that he was able to get to know more about them through directors whom he have worked with like Joel Lamangan who is the president of the NMPP.

#OkraSoup Episode 1!

The long wait is over as the first (impromptu) episode of OKRA SOUP has now been uploaded and with the pilot episode graced with a fresh new artist of PolyEast Records Isabelle De Leon. We had a fun jamming time with this sweet rock-chic along with fellow bloggers Jing, Sire, and Myrna! Okra Soup is part of Manual To Lyf's offering for 2013 providing live videos which people will see live experiences and sometimes live celebrities!

Well Okra Soup has been in the planning and teasing process since 2011, but the only thing we had were teasers featuring Kim Chui, Richard Yap, and Xian Lim! Episode two is now in the works and of course, will have more improvements (just to get the ball rolling) and hopefully soon a trending show and topic on twitter, which you can also do to help with the hashtag #OkraSoup.  You can send us feedback and your messages which would be read in the next episode! So tweet away!

Former Rivermaya frontman Jason Fernandez makes TV acting debut

In previous interviews, former Rivermaya frontman Jason Fernandez admitted being abandoned by his Cypriot father at a young age. In fact, after his stint in the band, he flew to Cyprus to meet his father. 

This Holy Week, Jason was tapped by CBN Asia to be one of the lead stars of their Good Friday presentation – Tanikala presents Ama Namin, which also stars Mike Tan, Diva Montalba, and Tricia Amper. It will air this March 29, 5 p.m., on GMA 7.

REEL DEL: The Croods REVIEW

Its time for a prehistoric fun time with Dreamworks newest animation offering for 2013, The Croods.

This is the story of the prehistoric family of the Croods, which includes Eep (Emma Stone), a girl in a family of cavemen living in pre-historic times, talking about how her family is one of the few to survive nearby, mainly due to the strict rules of her father, Grug (Nicolas Cage) and his wife Ugga (Catherine Keener), daughter Sandy, son Thunk (Clark Duke), and his mother-in-law (Cloris Leachman), which were used in living in a cave all of their lives but when seismic events destroys their home, they now embark on a journey of finding a new home.

They would also encounter a new guy named Guy (Ryan Reynolds) and his pet Belt. The movie comes in 3D and is actually a visual feast . I also liked the Owl City track featured in the movie. Kids will definitely love this movie because of the humor and also values which they can learn from the characters.