Theme for the season

Congratulations to University of the Visayas Chorale for winning Manila Broadcasting Company’s National Choral Competition held over the weekend at the Aliw Theater in Manila. The MBC win is their third this year after their victories at the Tomohon International Choir Competition in Indonesia last June and the Cultural Center of the Philippines National Choral Competition also in Manila last August.

Here are excerpts from the event as posted on the MBC website: “The University of the Visayas Chorale and Hiyas ng Pilipinas Children’s Choir scored stunning victories at last night’s (December 20) grand finals of the MBC National Choral Competition, held at the Aliw Theater in Pasay.

Audience favorite UV, conducted by Anna Abeleda Piquero edged out a powerful St Louis University Glee Club by a hairline, with De La Salle’s Coro Animo and Makati City’s Koro Ilustrado rounding up the top four finishers.

Arriving by boat just the day before—with three of its members sadly falling prey to holduppers at the pier—the ensemble from Cebu showed Visayan spunk, rolling out humorous and vocally flawless performances that earned the admiration of audiences two nights in a row. It was also an amazing double-win by the flashy and talented conductor-arranger Anna Piquero, who likewise steered erstwhile top-seed Koro Ilustrado to fourth place, as she delivered the finest conducting chops seen on this side of the musical world.”

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It looks like ABS-CBN has hit a high note with its Christmas station ID, “Bro, Ikaw Ang Star ng Pasko.” Thanks to its sweet, upbeat tune that resonates with a hopeful message, it somehow offsets the series of gloomy news we have seen, read, and heard as 2009 comes to a close.

Going by the online feedback, it has certainly struck a chord among Filipinos in the tradition of such Christmas pop hits as Jose Mari Chan’s “Christmas In Our Hearts.” In fact, in the several Christmas parties I have attended this December, it has been adopted as official theme song.

“Ikaw ang Star ng Pasko” has been so effective that I tend to forget that this is promotional jingle for a network. In the world of network wars, the best station ID is one point of contention for TV fans, and with the popularity and public impact of “Bro, Ikaw Ang Star ng Pasko,” this goes to say that ABS-CBN scored one over its competitor. This song was written by Robert Labayen, head of the Creative Communications Management, with music composed by Marcus and Amber Davis.

Of course, some people are not so happy with the seemingly ambiguous and too showbiz-y term “Bro” that is used in the song to refer to Jesus Christ. “Bro” took inspiration from how Christ is called by the miracle boy Santino, the central character in the top-rating spiritually and socio-politically-themed primetime series “May Bukas Pa”. One opinion columnist for a national paper even complained why can’t the song say the name of our Lord out loud and clear?

But I’m leaving the deconstruction of the song, in the faith perspective, to the experts.

While I’ve never really followed this drama series that popularized “Bro,” I realized how much it has permeated pop culture when we went to experience the “suislide” of Danao Adventure Park in Bohol sometime this year. When we vacillated, the people waiting for us to take our turn at the ride (which meant gliding in acceleration through a 1.5-km long cable wire spanning two hills and a river) egged us on in the vernacular: “Don’t worry, just count on Bro.”

“May Bukas Pa” also caught the attention of award-giving bodies this year, earning Best Drama honors from MTRCB, Seoul Drama Awards, and the Catholic Mass Media Awards. It also made a star out of child actor Zaijian Jaranilla. But I learned that his stardom comes with a bit of a price: Jaranilla is reportedly not allowed to go on provincial tours because some people actually think that he can perform miracles.

With fact and fiction increasingly overstepping each other’s boundaries, it is the challenge for television not to give its viewers false hopes.

Thankfully, though, we have the yuletide season to remind us, that while the lines may have been blurred for some, clearly—as in the song, “Bro, Ikaw Ang Star ng Pasko”—there’s only one source of all hope.

Merry Christmas everyone!