I’ve been debating with myself if I should blog about this right away or just do it later. I have tons of stuff to do at work tomorrow - make that later - and I need to fuel myself with enough sleep to keep my eyes open. Right now it’s almost 2:00am and I still have to rummage through 300+ photos, resize, select the best ones, tag and upload them, and then write the actual blog entry.

But then, if I put off writing about it ’til later, the excitement will wear off and it’s not gonna be the same anymore. So here I am writing this. I’ll just update this entry to add the photos later.

Prologue: We initially wanted to just buy General Admission tickets for this concert because, just like Super Junior, we love K-pop but we don’t love U-KISS enough for us to shell out about USD150 for VIP tickets. The cheaper ones are still too expensive, so Gen Ad it is. However, ticket sales weren’t good (no use hiding that fact; the concert was supposed to happen end of last month but they had to postpone because ticket sales were really bad) and to make the long story short, Charity, Lou, Djo and I ended up with Lower Box tickets at an extremely discounted price. We even managed to get better seats than the ones written on our tickets.
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Remember the time when music videos and flashy album jackets do not exist and it’s the music that matters? That is exactly what Rain’s mini-album Back To The Basic is to me. And now I fully understand why he chose that album title. Congratulations, Ji Hoon. You’ve inherited JYP’s musical and marketing genius. (In more ways than one, because he also inherited JYP’s cheesiness. But that is not what this review is about.)

I’m skipping Track 1 - 널 붙잡을 노래 (The Song To Make You Stay) because I’ve already talked about that, although I have one last comment: the freakin’ MV ruined it for me. I can’t listen to it now with a straight face because the Chippendales act keeps popping in my head. So let’s proceed to Track 2 - Hip Song.

Oh wow. Hip Song is awesome. The beat is old school gangsta rap, and I have this thing with beats of gangsta rap songs because it’s so full of attitude and coolness. Nevermind that I didn’t understand the lyrics because it’s not like I understood what those American gangsta rappers said in their songs, anyway. It’s the beat that matters in this song (yes, back to the basic). I think, if ever Warner or any local record company will release the mini-album here, the local dance groups will go gaga on this song. It’s going to be a hit among hip hop enthusiasts. Not that I understand hip-hop, but it sounds cool to me even if I’m not a hip-hop person, so I guess that’s good?

The next two songs - One and 똑같아 (Same) reminds me of… late 80’s to 90’s boy band songs. One is more N*SYNC (with a touch of Usher, which is actually not that far off) while Same is more New Kids On The Block (with a touch of Craig David). I like One more, probably because I like N*SYNC’s music more than NKOTB’s, but also because it sticks to your head more. I’ve long finished listening to the tracks thrice and it’s still “One, one, one…” that’s ringing in my head.

As for the last song, Love Song… am I allowed to be nasty in this review? Well, not too nasty because he totally got me at the whispered “come back…” and “I love you…” parts (although “come back” sounds exactly like Kate Winslet in Titanic when she saw the rescue boats leaving without her). But the super-direct Korean-English translation of the lyrics sounds kinda… elementary and I totally lost it at “intolerable” (which was pronounced “intoLErable” ) and until now, after listening to it closely five times, I still couldn’t figure out what the second line of the chorus said. Rain, I know you love food, but lyrics are not tasty. Don’t eat them. Notes to self: (1) stick to listening to the Korean version; (2) stick to just listening and don’t watch the MV.

I think this is why I totally like this album: the entire concept is music of MY generation (well, latter generation, like… college days ). I have one observation, though, although I’m basically guessing because I don’t have the English translation of the lyrics yet: it seems majority, if not all of the songs still talk about a lost love which he is NOW begging to bring back. Continuation of September 12 and Love Story, huh?

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Edited to add:

Remember Ann’s prediction about the mini-album? I posted it here and at Comment No. 13 of that same entry. She said that she found the concept of the album cheesy (”baduy” in Filipino parlance), and looking at the initial album photos and some parts of the MV and the choreography of Love Song, she was right.

She also said that the question is if he will be able to promote this album properly. In the news yesterday is the further cancellation of all music shows this week in due respect to the victims of the sinking of a Korean naval military ship. This means Rain’s comeback stage will have to be postponed yet another week, and with his LOR-Final concerts in Tokyo happening next week, he can’t possibly go full blast on promotions yet.

I like it that Rain has been on the dot with his 2010 Time Table, so far. I just hope he won’t stray far - again - because I don’t think destiny still has enough patience to give him another chance.

credits: lillian0808 at YouTube

I can’t believe I watched this and am blogging about this on Good Friday after spending almost 6 hours in church. I actually first knew about this when I accidentally glanced at my cellphone in between breaks during the Siete Palabras and saw Ella’s text. She was commenting on how Rain suddenly stripped like a macho dancer in the middle of the MV and I was like, “do I really have to be reading something like this on Good Friday while I’m in church???” Ella’s text is like a temptation I should resist.

Anyway… my review. Warning: If you’re absolutely smitten and drooling over Rain’s sexiness on this MV or you’re simply one of those fans who absolutely cannot bear it whenever someone says something unfavorable towards Rain, I suggest you skip this entry entirely.

My overall assessment of this music video is… it’s so CHEAP. Sorry. I had so much hopes about this because it’s such a beautiful, excellently interpreted song, but half of the video, particularly the dancing parts, cheapened the entire thing. I don’t care if Rain looks hot, and he is, but the stripping and gyrating totally did not fit the song and the remainder of the video. It totally negated the parts with Han Ye Seul which were so sweet and classy (to be specific, the romantic parts with HYS. The other parts look like Edward’s “apparition” scenes from New Moon: The Non-Boring Version). I felt so dirty after watching the MV, although it could be because I just came from spending more than 5 hours in church before watching it.

Speaking of the parts with Han Ye Seul… according to the press releases I read before I left the house to go to church, it said that it will feature bed scenes - sorry, erotic bed scenes - between Rain and Han Ye Seul. Either the translator does not know what ‘erotic’ means or the press release itself is misleading. Also, bed scenes? What bed scenes?? Yes, they were in bed but that’s not MY and the general public’s definition of a ‘bed scene’. Incidentally, that was the exact same thing I said when they hyped the last episode of Worlds Within as having another bed scene. I looked forward to it - yes, I’m masochistic that way - but the only thing closest to a bed scene is them lying in bed together and literally going to sleep. Incidentally No. 2, watching the MV in its entirety confirms my earlier suspicion: Rain’s and HYS’s romantic scenes were about 90+% identical to the H2 scenes at WW. If you’ve seen the drama, you’ll know what I mean. I could even do a screencap comparison, except I’d rather not because that would mean I would have to review WW and that’s not a very pleasant experience.

I have one last rant but it’s a childish rant: I totally hate it that they picked my brain and included practically all the romantic scenes I’ve ever imagined Rain doing with my preferred leading lady.

I do have some positive points for the MV: (1) the chemistry between Rain and Han Ye Seul is electrifying, to say the least; (2) Rain does look hot in the video despite the false eyelashes.

PS: Come to think of it, if the “Song To Make You Want To Stay” involves Rain stripping and gyrating, who would want to walk away from that?

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I wonder how many of my blog regulars know that Han Ye Seul used to be paired with Hyun Bin in the sitcom Nonstop 5?

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Anyone still up for voting non-stop for Rain at Time100?

I don’t know about you guys, but I’d rather go all out voting for him at MTV Movie Awards.

I feel that these many online polls that Rain is currently in will work to his disadvantage. Not everyone has the time and the resources to vote for him non-stop. I think, even if I am a teenager who has lots of free time, I don’t have enough hands to vote for him incessantly on multiple websites. There’s a limit to everything.

If we absolutely have to prioritize, I say, put MTV Movie Awards first because it will give him more exposure in Hollywood. Then Mnet and all those Korean portals to help boost sales and hype of his mini-album. I think we have proven time and again (unless you’re living in another planet or are still clueless about this for whatever reason) that Time 100 online polls is a joke. I’m not saying don’t vote; I’m saying, if you have limited resources, it’s better to focus on the ones that will help him more.

I will begin this entry with a rant.

Dear GMA-7,

What the heck have you done to our Full House??

(Agent P’s Side Note: For the benefit of non-Filipino readers of this blog, here’s a quick rundown of characters in the Filipino version and their Korean counterparts: Justin = Lee Young Jae; Jessie = Han Ji Eun; Luigi = Yoo Min Hyuk; Elaine = Kang Hye Won)

I was initially ok with the liberties they took with the characters and storyline since I understood that they had to adapt it to Filipino culture and tastes. What made me give up watching it is Richard Gutierrez’ bad characterization of the Justin character. The guy simply can’t act, period. He’s not even endearing. I get glimpses of a few episodes whenever it’s on because the rest of my family watches the show - why, I have no idea - but I feel like banging my head to the nearest wall every time I see it, so I gave up watching altogether. However, the series is ending tomorrow and I have this habit of checking out the first and last episodes of most dramas on local TV. Then I saw the teaser for tonight’s episode and I felt I really have to watch it. Not because it’s interesting or anything like that. It’s just that work has been too stressful lately that I felt that some good ol’ bad TV could make me forget about it.

When you read comments from people who are actually fans of this version of Full House and most of them say that they are frustrated with how things went with this show, you just know that the creators behind it did a pretty BAD job. The only ones who seem satisfied with it are blind fanatics of the lead actors.

You know what happened at the second-to-the-last episode of Full House, Filipino version?

1. Justin openly declared his love for Jessie while accepting an acting award. This was while Jessie was at the audience with her fiancee (!) Luigi because as we all know, Luigi is a movie producer so he should be there. Why Donald and Lisette (Dong Wook and Hee Jin in the original) had to be there, too, I had no idea. I haven’t seen enough of this show to find out what business do these two have to earn the right to have prime seats at an awards show. Side notes: On this version of the drama, Justin and Jessie somewhat became a couple, but Justin had no choice but to be engaged to Elaine because Elaine blackmailed him by using her illness (!) as the weapon. Meaning, Elaine actually forgot about Luigi and got obsessed with Justin. Meanwhile, Jessie ended up being engaged to Luigi. There’s even a part there where Justin, Elaine and Justin’s entire family had to migrate to the US to forget Jessie or for whatever reason I didn’t bother to find out because I feel like this is now an entirely different drama using Full House as a title.

2. After that open declaration from Justin, he disappeared (of course). Meanwhile, Luigi talked to Jessie and said he’s giving her up (eh?). After that, Elaine rushed towards Jessie looking for Justin (when the hell did Kang Hye Won became a psycho?!?!) and when Jessie was not able to produce him, Elaine grabbed a gun from a nearby security guy and… she shot Jessie! But Jessie was spared because… ta-dah! Super Justin to the rescue! He took the bullet for Jessie! Omigad! What the heck did they do to our beloved drama?!?!

3. Of course, they brought Justin to the hospital where Jessie was denied entry to the operating room (of course); Elaine was hiding from the police but Luigi found her (of course); for some reason Elaine was suddenly at the hospital and Jessie found her, there was a confrontation and… SLAP! Jessie slapped Elaine! OF COURSE. Then after Jessie left, Luigi came in and told Elaine that they have to leave because the police is all over the place and - of course - Elaine said she was the one who called the police.

4. Next scene: Jessie went inside Justin’s room and found his staff and family looking solemn. She was told that she should talk to Justin before it’s too late and when she got to his bed, Justin’s dad - who, as we all know, is a doctor - was covering his son with the white sheets. Meaning, he’s dead. And there I was saying, “ugh, he’s not dead, they’re just pretending he’s dead so that Jessie will panic and declare her true feelings for Justin.” Which was exactly what happened next. It was so damn predictable, even my adolescent niece was screaming, “ano ba, luma na yan, napanood ko na yan!!!” Although that shot of what seems to be an accidental boob slippage from Heart Evangelista (playing Jessie) was quite amusing.

5. Then they showed scenes from tomorrow’s finale and they promoted it as “kilig-filled”, but we were all so ‘MEH!’ about it. Geez, they already showed everything on the teasers, why should we still watch tomorrow’s episode? For Mamita (Halmoni) singing Fallin’ at the wedding? Uh, no thanks.

Suffice to say, the only saving grace of this show is Chiqui, the snooping gossip reporter played by John Lapuz.

In between commercial gaps, some clips of “random people on the streets” were shown with everyone saying they will miss Papa Justin and Mama Jessie. I bet my ass that this is really the Papa Justin and Mama Jessie that they miss:

I know I miss them.

Also, they have clips of students singing the Three Bears Song. I’m sorry, but are they sure that these kids learned that from watching this version and not from the original, Tagalog-dubbed one? Because based on my Kpop Con experience, even really young people know the Three Bears Song in Tagalog, and at that time Full House Pinoy version was just starting. Don’t try to kid us that this version is a success because sorry to say, it’s not. The competition is even killing it on the ratings game.

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On to another disappointment, that is, American Idol Season 9.

They promote this season as having the most talented bunch, and it’s probably true, but if we base it on star potential? I think it’s even more lacking than Seasons 5 and 6. At least Season 5 had Daughtry and Season 6 had Jordin Sparks. We’re already at the semis and I haven’t found anyone to root for yet. Usually, I would find someone by the Hollywood rounds, then it might change after one or two performances. It happened to me the past three seasons. Season 6, I was initially rooting for Melinda after she sang My Funny Valentine at the semis but later on changed to Blake Lewis because of his artistry. For Season 7, I liked Brooke at first but switched to Cookie, then Castro. Last year, I liked Anoop after watching his Clefhangers performances at YouTube, but later on I ended up rooting for Kris Allen.

This year, I kinda liked Andrew Garcia at his first audition and Crystal Bowersox during the Hollywood Rounds, but I’m not excited about them at all. The only one that made a mark with me, so far, is Casey James. He’s an eye candy, he knows it and he’s using it to the hilt. However, he’s just a guy who can sing although he’s a killer blues guitarist. Then again, this is a singing competition, not a guitar competition. And he’s definitely not going to win this one, not when the AI producers seem to be gunning for a female winner this year since the past two seasons have seen an all-male finale.

We’ll see next week if things would improve. But right now, I’m not rooting for anybody. Yet.

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I’m just thankful that my other two favorite reality shows, Survivor and The Amazing Race, seem to be delivering the goods, so far. My favorite Survivor contestant, Rob Mariano, is back at Survivor: Heroes vs Villains and he’s still good ol’ Boston Rob. He was simply amazing at last week’s episode. It’s just too bad that early spoilers say that he will get booted before the merge. As for TAR, lots of dumb contestants this season and it makes for good TV. I’m enjoying it, so far.

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This is what I’m really looking forward to: the second half of Season 1 of Glee.

Yup, two consecutive Random Thoughts entries. I have a few things that I want to blog but they’re not connected to each other, hence, the title, ‘Random Thoughts’.

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To all those who might be interested: I mentioned in a previous entry that FT Island is coming over to the Philippines for a showcase. I’ve just received a preview promo poster and the final date is on March 6, 2010. Refer to the poster below:

Other details such as the venue and ticket prices will be out next week, according to Spin Manila and PrimaDonna PH. I’ll post an update as soon as I get them.

The organizers are also inviting all fan club heads to represent their respective clubs at the showcase. I’m not sure if I’m interested, for the simple reason that we have to pay for our own tickets and I’m not exactly a fan of FT Island (actually, I only know one member because he guested at Family Outing). If funds and schedule permits, then I’ll go. But if there’s anyone from Cloud Philippines who actually likes FT Island, then I’ll be willing to give my slot to that person. The only condition is, she must be there as representative of Cloud Philippines (meaning, bawal bumalimbing sa ibang club hehehe). Just message me if anyone’s interested.

Although come to think of it, that showcase is a good material to blog about. Maybe I’ll allocate that slot to myself, after all.

Edit: Here are the additional info regarding the showcase:

Venue: PICC Plenary Hall
Time: 6:00pm
Ticket prices: php5000, 3500, 2500, 1000

Ok. So that settles it. My slot goes to someone else.

Edit again: Just had this horrendous thought. If the tickets for a showcase of a non-A list Korean artist cost that much, imagine how much will a ticket for a full concert of a Korean superstar (read: Legend of Rainism in Manila) would cost. Oh.my.God.

UPDATE:

I got a clarification from PrimaDonna PH. The event that needs representation from different Pinoy Kpop fan clubs is FT Island’s FANMEETING, not the showcase. This event is not free (and not cheap, though a bit cheaper than the showcase), but I’m sure this one will have limited slots available so I’m announcing now that Cloud Philippines’ slot is UP FOR GRABS. I only have one condition: You must represent Cloud Philippines at that event. Message me ASAP if interested.

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After a few weeks of avoiding it, I chanced upon last night’s episode of Full House (Philippine version). Some things I want to rant, er, say:

1. What the heck, there’s a dog in Full House?? As in literal dog, and they named it ‘Justin’. My sister said they probably put it in there so that Jessie/Ji Eun will have someone to talk to instead of talking to herself. Or to Justin/Young Jae, for that matter. Wait… so in this version, the role of Jessie’s confidante went to the dog instead of Luigi/Min Hyuk? If this is their ploy to make Patrick Garcia fade away as the other man in this drama, then I’m SO fine with it.

2. Speaking of whom… every time I see Patrick Garcia dressed in a suit and trying to be Luigi, I get pictures of elementary school kids trying to act like grown ups. He’s really a total miscast in this drama.

3. I really don’t mind some of the liberties they took in this version, specifically these: (a) making the CEO a gay man instead of a woman (this made it more Filipino since most entertainment managers in this country are gay men); and (b) making the sneaky reporter who is out to create a scandal in Justin’s life as a major character. The fact that these two characters are played by very competent actors (Keempee de Leon and John Lapuz, respectively) made it more bearable. In fact, they’re probably the only reasons why I would keep watching this.

4. Come to think of it, all of the supporting casts in this drama are quite good. It’s the leads that need a serious especially Richard Gutierrez as Justin. I read somewhere that Richard intentionally did not watch the original because he wants to play this character as far away as Rain’s portrayal as possible. This turned out to be a grave mistake on his part. I don’t know if Richard just doesn’t want to put a dent on his image - whatever image he thinks he has - hence he made Justin as ‘nice’ as possible instead of the cranky, loud-mouthed Lee Young Jae of the original. Dude, Justin IS supposed to be cranky and loud-mouthed. Because of this, Justin turned out to be a lame character and all the bickerings between Justin and Jessie came out pointless because Jessie can out-talk Justin. Also, because Justin is so lame, Jessie became a loud-mouth. I don’t remember Han Ji Eun to be a loud-mouth. Wasn’t it Lee Young Jae who was more of a loud-mouth between the two?

One last thing: Richard seriously needs to lose weight. That scene where he was supposed to be jogging was hella funny because he could hardly lift his legs to run. Pretty ironic because Justin is supposed to be this health freak that takes care of his body by constantly exercising. This is what happens when the actor doesn’t do proper research before attacking a role.

5. Last night’s episode was supposed to be the much-awaited episode where Jessie/Ji Eun will sing the Three Bears Song in front of her in-laws. After that scene, I was like… that’s it??? It was so badly executed. Not just the singing, but the camera angle, the abrupt cut to the next sequence, the reaction from the other people in the scene (if you could call that a reaction), the grandma’s attempt to out-sing her granddaughter-in-law (WTF??)… That scene was just BAD.

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Queen Seon Duk looks interesting.

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On to the Notes From Agent P part of this entry:

credits: as tagged

I mentioned in a previous comment that Song Hye Kyo looks like she seriously needs a lot of sleep based on this photo -and all her other photos - from the premiere of Lee Na Young’s movie. Here’s the thing: this is a photo of Rain from his godson’s birthday party, which happened on the same day as the premiere:

credits: as tagged

I have a new tag for them: The “I Seriously Need Some Sleep” Couple.

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Which reminds me: When Hye Kyo’s pics from the premiere came out, I told some friends to (exact quote) “expect Bi to suddenly come out from hiding as well”. And he did. Well, he tried not to, but G.O. just had to post Rain’s photo at the subway and someone just had to post that photo from the party. I love it when other people help me prove my theories without them meaning to.

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Hey, whadya know, Hye Kyo is on Twitter, too. Except there are three of them and all of them claim to be real.

One of the SHKs Tweeted about six hours ago that she’s flying to LA with some friends. Hmmm… her official schedule (per press release, that is) says that she’s supposed to be in the Netherlands now for CF filming. So either the press release is lying (like they always do ), or this particular SHK did not do her research.