A Filipino folk dance troupe and the Filipino turon (banana fritter) proved to be hits at the 10th anniversary of the “Welcome to Berlin” (WiB) festival in Germany.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the folk dance group composed of second-generation Filipinos opened the event at the German Foreign Ministry last May 19.
“During the celebration, [...]

The Philippines was featured in the recent 58th Annual International Ball of the International Committee of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
The Philippine Consulate reported the ball, “Sights and Sounds of the Philippines” was held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at the Music Center in downtown Los Angeles May 16.
In its report to the Department of Foreign [...]

Twenty-six years after it was shown in the Philippines, Nora Aunor’s Himala is once again in the spotlight. The 1982 Ishmael Bernal film about a faith healer is the only Filipino film that entered the Best Asian Films of all Time chosen by CNN UK (United Kingdom).
The writer of this piece, Mairi Mackay, points out [...]

Two years after bagging their first crown, an all-Filipino dance group again reined supreme in the recently concluded World Hip Hop competition in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The Philippine All Stars reclaimed victory last August 3, two years after winning the championship in 2006. Last year, All Stars only managed to get the bronze. The seven-member team [...]

The Philippine Normal University Chorale has won two awards in a recently-held international competition in Spain.
The PNU singers received the first prize in the folkloric category and landed third place in the mixed choir event during the 26th Festival Internacional de Musica de Cantonigros held in Catalonia, Spain from July 17 to 20, 2008.
In the [...]

A Filipino-Australian made it to the top six of the popular reality television (TV) show “Australia’s Next Top Model” before judges decided to send her home.
Rebecca Jobson used to be one of the favorites of the judges and of local media among the contenders in the reality TV show.
“I think you two are possibly the [...]

Tara Starnegg, a 21-year-old Filipina-Austrian, is making a name in Austria in the field of arts. Tara specializes in the art of drawing “manga” or Japanese comics, including print cartoons.
At a young age, Tara participated in numerous drawing competitions in Europe and garnered major awards.
Tara’s works are highly-acclaimed not only in Austria but also in Japan, the origin of manga…

MANILA, Philippines - Four years ago, two singers became the first ever full-blooded Filipinos to almost dominate one of the biggest and most popular television franchises: American Idol.
And so Filipinos thought that Jasmine Trias and Camille Velasco, who could belt out Olympian vocal climaxes, were the best contribution of the Philippines to the famous pineapple [...]

It might be a tad late but “Good Morning America” on ABC named the “Papaya” dance as the new international dance craze after “The Chicken Dance” and “Macarena.” Hosts Diance Sawyer, Robin Roberts, Chris Cuomo and Sam Champion tried the simple steps in the March 21 edition (US Standard Time).
The recognition is clearly belated as [...]

IN HER interesting post, “Idol Talk: The Pinoy Connection,” Vera H-C Chan wrote, in part, “…a University of Arkansas economist actually used ‘American Idol’ as a means to study racial discrimination in the labor market. He uncovered a ‘positive correlation’ between the race of the viewers and contestants when the competition got hot. In Malubay’s [...]