I wasn't able to watch yesterday but it's on top of my movie marathon list today. I am anxious to see if the numerous mixed reviews are true or not. This should be pretty exciting.

Well, David Cook's not only started with his early post-Idol success, he also started taking the girls. It has been rumored that Cook is now dating Season 2's Kimberly Caldwell. Who is this chick? I dunno. I didn't watch Season 2. But for the jealous fans, here's a photo of the first AI Season 7 chick.

Clay. Yeah, Clay Aiken, the same guy from American Idol Season 2. Clay got a girl knocked up?! WTF?! People.com reports that he has gotten Jaymes Foster pregnant. Jaymes, the 'lucky' gal, is the sister of his producer, David Foster.

The funny thing is... it's through artificial insemination. Do I hear Perez Hilton giggling in the background?

I think Americal Idol is probably one of the greatest talent shows in US history. However, the real proof of success is not in text or call votes but in sales of singles and albums. It's the true measure of whether their fans will follow them throughout their post-Idol career and whether their appearance in the show was indeed because of their raw talent.


Looks like it's an early win for Americal Idol winner David Cook. Not only did he manage to finish on top, he began on top beating runner-up David Archuleta in the Top Digital Download race. According to Yahoo! Music, Cool made a record-breaking 17-song appearance on the Top 200 Hot Digital Songs chart. Archuleta managed to put 12 of his songs on the same chart.

Cook's first single as AI winner, Time of My Life had a total of 236,000 downloads as supposed to David Archuleta's cover of John Lennon's Imagine. It managed to earn 71,000 downloads.

Despite early criticism - saying Time of My Life suffers from the viral Idol template - downloads have helped it launch a hotshot debut on the Hot 100 Billboard Singles charts at #3. Things are looking up for David Cook.

Now, who's convinced that America chose the right Idol this year? ME!

OUCH! Someone's getting beaten in the gigantic country called China. Apparently, there was a YouTube video circulating on the internet showing actress Sharon Stone making comments on China's actions against the Tibetans.


In the video she said: "I'm not happy about the way the Chinese are treating the Tibetans because I don't think anyone should be unkind to anyone else."

She also added: "And then all this earthquake and all this stuff happened, and I thought, is that karma -- when you're not nice that the bad things happen to you?"

This enraged the Chinese, who already banned her Christian Dior posters from being displayed on all stores in China. These comments refer to the Tibetan attacks by the Chinese government which aims to crackdown the alleged plan of the Dalai Lama to sabotage the Beijing Olympics. The Dalai Lama has denied these accusations.

The massive earthquake hit the Sichuan province in China on May 12 leaving nearly 88,000 people missing or dead.

Meanwhile, Stone has issued a statement apologising for her remarks. In a letter sent to the AFP news wire agency, she said: "My erroneous words and deeds angered and saddened the Chinese people, and I sincerely apologise for this."

UPDATE: DIOR has dropped Stone.

Though I am not a fan of rock music, I have become a fan of this one in particular. Wow! Arnel Pineda's performance is amazing. I don't know Steve Perry and I've never listened to any of his songs. That's probably a good thing because I have no one to compare Arnel with. To the haters, I understand your pain. Steve Perry is the only guy who can front Journey if it were up to you. However, you gotta give this guy props for doing one helluva job!

The Brits are at it again! Another 90's pop group is making a comeback. This time it's the pop sensation Boyzone. Remember that group?

Some of their memorable hits are 'No Matter What', 'Love me for a Reason', and that immortal Bean song 'Picture of You'. For the younger folks, Boyzone was the rival of the American groups Backstreet Boys and N Sync. It's hard to compare them because Boyzone was known for their ballads and their covers. They did not have a lot of original songs (I think). Most of their popular singles were all covers.

Here they are today:

Hmm... not sure why they've suddenly gone naked in this promo pic.. but I have to say they do look better here than on their old pics. I heard the tickets sold in just minutes like when the Spice Girls tour started. Let's see if they still can sing live.

Ally gave me a big laugh today. Thanks Ally. It was Vlad's idea to visit ***** and apply for a job there. I said yes because I was bored and of course, I already had a string of applications and I want to add more options to the table. We waited in the food court until they opened. I don't know how we started this conversation about creditors calling you up in public. I asked them it's a bit embarrassing.

Ally shared her experience: Citibank called her up because she hasn't paid her credit card dues. She was trying to haggle with the agent she spoke with. She said she clearly remembers what went on in that conversation. In the end, she still wasn't able to pay her bills.

Shortly after she hung up, she got a text from someone who claimed to be an old friend:

'Hey Ally, how are you?'
'Hus dis pls?'
'It's *****, di ba? We met in *****. Worked there before.'
'OH HEY! How are you! So how did you get my number.

PAUSE.

'Uhm, don't get mad okay?'
'Sure..'
'I was the one you were talking to earlier.'
'Huh?'
'I work for ********** now.'
'Holy shit. Haha! Uhm... okay. Haha' [Insert nervous laughter here]
'Hehehhe..'
'So now you know I can't pay my bills yet.'
'Yeah, I figured. You haven't paid in 3 months now.'

[Insert Feeling of wanting to die here]

OH ALLY. Thanks for the laugh. Sigh!

Last year, I got interested in monetizing my blog. I moved from LiveJournal to Blogger because this format is much easier personalize. Starting today, I am going to start talking about some of the programs I signed up with and the ones that actually legit and worked for me.

Some people find it hard to believe that they can actually earn through their blogs. I was one of them. When I was invited a few months ago to join a Paid-To-Click ads (PTC) program, I just laughed at the invitation. Who pays to click ads? The answer: well, the advertisers! Yes they do!

There a lot of advertisers out there who need buzz and enough hits for their sites. So instead of clogging their sites with numerous bookmarks and joining dozens, if not hundreds of social networking sites, they 'outsourced' and passed it on to PTC sites.

So how does it work? Advertisers pay the PTC sites to display their ads or sites. Those sites will then be available for the members to click and browse. It's that easy! You might say the pay is pretty silly (1 cent USD per click) but think about it. If you do this everyday, you can get 10USD in just a couple of months from your own clicking ALONE. If you refer people, you get part of their earnings too.

Here are some of the PTC sites I use. Feel free to click and earn cash!








Coming up: Paid to blog programs

Got this from Famous Like Me. Love that blog. I don't know how he gets these mugshots but I think they're pretty cool. Here's some of them:

This is so going to be much better than Gossip Girl!

I've never been a fan of David Archuleta. My money was on David Cook since I heard him sing that cool rendition of Mariah Carey's Always Be My Baby. But I have to day, David Archuleta really gave me the chills on their one-on-one battle the previous night. I've never heard him sing like that. I thought her version of Robbie William's Angels was so poor, very amateur but this diva-in-the-making (Yes! Get lost Clay Aiken!) did so well, I was impressed!

Congratulations to David Cook! Since you're going to get the better recording deal and better exposure, I figured this will be my last goodbye to the wonderkid who stole the hearts of many, most especially my aunt who lives in LA (shoutout to you!)

OMG! Scenes have somehow been released through the WWW. I love that the movie is still faithful to the mood of the series. I love et...

Don't you guys just miss this theme song? And the drama? And the cast? Well, I cannot wait for the new Beverly Hills 90210 spin-off to be released on TheCW. Hopefully, Studio 23 or ETC would earn the rights here in the Philippines. This could definitely outshine Gossip Girl. I remember going through the mountains of DVDs looking a copy but all I found was the complete series of Melrose Place. I can't say I don't like it but to me, 90210 was a more 'decent' version of it. Go figure.

Nice teaser. I miss the theme song. Can't wait.

I think every person deserves to know how harmful the softdrinks are to their health. These cola companies disguise their products as healthy by saying they are calorie-free and sugar-free. The truth is, they just substitute sugar with an artificial sweetener called Aspartame. Check the labels. It's all there.

Research have proven that Aspartame can trigger or worsen the following chronic illnesses:

1. Brain tumor
2. multiple sclerosis
3. epilepsy
4. chronic fatigue syndrome
5. mental retardation
6. lymphoma
7. diabetes

and many other diseases.

Aspartame is made up of three chemicals: aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol.

Try water for a change!

As promised, here are the clips. The first one is the runway show which is the most extravagant so far. The finalists wore clothes from Donatella Versace. I'm just wondering why Donatella did not appear on this ANTM episode.

A few thoughts: Whitney did great on this final episode from catwalk to commercial and photos. I am now convinced that she deserved to win. However, I do hope the fashion folks out there will give her more jobs as a full-figured model. Maybe it is about time to have one.

RUNWAY PERFORMANCE



FINAL JUDGING

Now here's one cool way to get discovered you hot model wannabes out there! Look of the Year is the most unique beauty contest for anybody -- and I mean ANYbody. You will be judged by the people who log in and vote on their official website. It's the latest way to get recognized, win a $10,000 USD prize, or get spotted by an agency hunting for new models.

One winner will be chosen from each of the following categories:

Girls 14-19
Women 19+
Boys 14-19
Men 19+

The top ten contestants will be published each month for each category. Look Of The Year will announce the 4 winners of 2008 on the 31st of December 2008.

So what's next for you? Paris? Milan? New York? Start increasing your chances of being discovered by logging on to LookoftheYear.com now! And remember, stay fierce!

I don't know where America's Next Top Model, or Tyra Banks for that matter, is going with this. I've been closely guarding Wikipedia and YouTube for the latest on the reality show's Cycle 10 finale. The final three includes Fatima, Anya and Whitney. Fatima was eliminated which makes Anya and Whitney the final two who battled it out on the runway.

THAT IS MY QUESTION. How the heck did Whitney pull it off on the runway? Did they make custom-maid dresses for her? I'm not being mean or anything but let's face it. Models are thin for a reason. They're supposed to look like hangers. (Notice how skinny the hangers look in the shops?)

Are you still excited to watch the X-Files sequel? My dad should be. He got hooked years ago when it was still shown on RPN 9. I remember fighting over the remote because we wanted to watch something else. We were both into UFOs and alien shizzle but I never really became a fan of this movie. I heard the first movie was a cliffhanger. What took them so long to make this follow-up?

Erm, I'm not sure about the title: I want to believe. Cheeseballs to the max. But hey, I am glad to see Scully and Mulder. They better kiss this time.

I was still looking for covers of the hit song Bleeding Love and I chanced upon this band called Boyce Avenue. Their acoustic take of the song is AWESOME. This guy's got a great voice. Below you will also find their No Air cover (Jordin Sparks/Chris Brown).

Please don't stop the music! Visit them @ www.myspace.com/boyceavenue

BLEEDING LOVE



NO AIR

Eat this David Archuleta! The new kid wonder is a FILIPINO. Charice Pempengco's performance on Oprah is her best so far. Somebody please give this kid a record deal as she's growing too fast!

Who do you think will win? My money is on Fatima. Come on! If Whitney wins, this show will turn into some kind of preachy reality show and Tyra Banks will not benefit from it. Too much Oprah dramz.

Eat this David Archuleta! The new kid wonder is a FILIPINO. Charice Pempengco's performance on Oprah is her best so far. Somebody please give this kid a record deal as she's growing too fast!

Who knew that Jesse MCartney is the brilliant songwriter behind Leona Lewis' smash hit Bleeding Love? According to Jesse: "I originally wrote it for my own record.I was so in love that it was painful. It was like bleeding, it cut me open.That's how my head was and that idea just really fit the song".

Well done kid! Listen to his own version below. Not sure if this will do as well as Leona's version. His is a more pop-boybandish version which should be well received by the teens.

I got so scared one time when my boss almost caught me sleeping. You see, work has been pretty easy these past few days and I am getting a bit bored. (And yes, I told my boss that too.) So what I do, instead of eating during my one-hour break, is to catch some sleep in the sleeping quarters. I tried to set the alarm but was afraid that I'd piss the other people off so I just hoped that my body clock would give me a good kick in the head after exactly 60 minutes.

I woke up to the vibrating sound of my cellphone which slipped out of my pocket. My boss was trying to call me! I didn't bother responding because I was too freaking scared to say that I was just sleeping. So I went back to my desk inconspicuously and just pretended like I've been working for hours.

Thanks to Jessica Zafra for sharing this article.

I think I am suffering from serious Sleep Debt. Here's what I would usually do after work:

-log on to the internet
-check mail
-do my Pay-Per-Click habit
-do my 2nd Pay-Per-Click habit
-check for opportunities on Pay-Per-Post sites
-shameless plugging of my blog on other blogs and sites
-Chat
-Eat
-check for more opportunites on Pay-per-post sites
-try to exercise
-drink
-check more mail
-finally sleep

As a result, I've only been getting an average of 4 hours of sleep everyday. Not bad considering that when I was younger, I could go on without any sleep. But then I forgot that age does have a lot to do with how my body can handle pressure.

The article does not lie: Studies show that such short-term sleep deprivation leads to a foggy brain, worsened vision, impaired driving, and trouble remembering. Long-term effects include obesity, insulin resistance, and heart disease.

The good news though, is that like any debt, it CAN be repaid by taking an extra hour of sleep just to catch up and recharge my batteries.

Sigh... I'm am aging fast. Fast. Fast. Fast.

This is so freaking hilarious. I couldn't stop laughing. Check out the spoof of Mariah Carey's Touch My Body made by famous Jackie Beat. For the record, people find the song ludicrous but I actually like it. Besides, it's her 18th number single y'all.

Killer lines:

'Cause if you run the pics you got without the use of PhotoShop
I will hunt you down

Meanwhile, here's the piano-only version which I always listen to when I'm blogging.

Make me a Supermodel is imported from the UK. One will quickly call it a copycat of America's Next Top Model but there are a few differences. The most obvious one is that it's for both males and females. It also features a male supermodel host, Tyson Beckford.

The format is very similar to ANTM - a challenge and a photoshoot. What's unique is there final catwalk on each episode, which is done before the judges make their comments about the models. It's good in the sense that they can judge the models on their overall performance - catwalk and photoshoot - unlike in ANTM where the models' runway talents are only tested on a few challenges.

Their selling point is that the audience can participate by choosing who should be kept in the competition, a true signature style of a reality show. The judges are just there to choose the bottom three performers. From there, America can vote using their AllTel phones on who they want to be made into a supermodel.

The bad: Tyra is definitely more popular than Nikki Taylor. (Or I could be wrong) She also brings more energy to the set than the hosts of MMAS but maybe that's how it really is in the real world.

Here's a clip from the last episode I watched:

I just saw Iron Man ... TWICE. Yes, it's that good~! It's worth every penny.


I didn't realize that Iron Man's story is much like Bruce Wayne's - a rich man who becomes a hero. What I like about this movie, aside from the incredible effects and robotics displayed on film, is its political angle. It reminds me of Lord Of War (Ethan Hawke, Nicholas Cage) which tackles how America itself funds the terrorists - therefore funding the so-called war.

Oh I am soooo excited for the sequel. I am sure War Machine is going to be in it!

The trailers of the 1989 Batman Movie (where Michael Keaton played the lead character) and the latest installment, The Dark Knight have very, VERY similar trailers. I don't know how much of this was edited to highlight those similarities but the timing and shots are almost identical.