MANILA, Philippines - If there is one thing we’re good at these days, it would probably be live-TV-tweeting on a Sunday afternoon. Have you noticed how your Facebook updates get bombarded with rants and raves about which variety show has better productions or what Ruffa Gutierrez is wearing on her TV5 showbiz talk show Paparazzi? Knowing that your boss is, in fact, watching the Kanto Boys on ASAP XV or that your college classmate is a big fan of the seemingly cloned Starstruck V hotties is undoubtedly entertaining.
Even recently, we found out that “Tweenoy” (tween + Pinoy) stars are on the rise. Yes, local entertainment — our favorite guilty pleasure — doesn’t need Justin Bieber. We’ve proven that to ourselves upon checking fan tweets @SuperElmo everytime tween star Elmo Magalona comes out on the boob tube. Fans of equally squeezable Tweenoy stars like Joshua Dionisio and Barbie Forteza of private-school-pup-romance drama First Time are on an online-forum cold war against on-screen rivals Jhake Vargas and Bea Binene. And what is all the buzz about the now-defunct showbiz group Ampalaya Anonymous?
We don’t know how it all started. But posting public comments on social networking sites has become an effortless multi-task for us. Tweeting while being glued to the small screen feels like texting while having dinner with your folks or listening to morning-show blahs while driving to work. We are multi-tasking connoisseurs — that’s for sure. However, it is a peculiar observation to see someone “concentrating” on two LCD screens. The question is, when will we get tired of it?
While we can’t get enough of local Tinseltown, we started stalking your Twitter accounts — like we always do — and found some very interesting non-showbiz discoveries as we master our live-tweeting:
1. CNN go!
CNN addicts begin noticing this new travel and culture show. The news cable’s Asian edition launches a features-segment-slash-website that brings together the region’s international cities. Although they haven’t included Manila yet, it shows viewers how we are all connected. Indeed, the world is getting smaller and it’s just a matter of time and effort that Filipinos become more region-oriented.
@cabosella Fun fun fun, I want 1: Could it B magic? Street performer gets busy w/ the iPad | CNNGo.com: http://bit.ly/c3eVYq via @addthis
@cnngo: Morning all. It’s a damp one today, but made it in relatively dry. What’s going on today? Let’s find out!
2. World Cup fever without the Philippines
Vanity Fair surprises the world again with its June 2010 cover that shows World Cup stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Didier Drogba, among other international football players, in designer underwear. “Leibovitz’s portraits are, well, revealing. And underwear has never looked so patriotic. In America, these men might not enjoy the same name recognition as the stars of the NFL — that game that we call football — but for most of the planet, they are more than just showstoppers. They are gods,” according to Vanityfair.com. Rumors say Ronaldo wasn’t very happy about the revealing cover. If you give a damn, the World Cup series runs from June 11 to July 11 in South Africa. You can watch it in the Philippines on Studio 23.
@TheStereo_Iriel: I’m NOT Gonna Lie, I’m a Closet-fan of soccer[futbol] but there’s No Philippines for the WORLD CUP, I’m lookin’ forward to The U.S. team!
@holidaywinkle I WANT THE NEW VANITY FAIR. Aside from it being my favorite magazine, Cristiano Ronaldo in (skivvies and nothing else!) is on the cover :”>
3. Facebook on Time
Internet phenomenon Facebook makes it to the cover of Time. Whether or not your profile picture made it to the cover’s collage of random Facebook users, there are serious privacy issues that the site will have to face in the near future. “Facebook has changed our social DNA, making us more accustomed to openness. But the site is premised on a contradiction: Facebook is rich in intimate opportunities — you can celebrate your niece’s first steps there and mourn the death of a close friend… Because of this, Facebook keeps finding itself in the crosshairs of intense debates about privacy,” Dan Fletcher writes.
@fredlam71: WTF Time Magazine?! I’m crushed! You didn’t include any of our profile pics to your front cover of Facebook?
@ kristoforlawson: Anyone who has TIME Magazine with the Facebook cover - Check just below the start of the M! - I Made the cover!!!
4. Futurama drama
Hold your torrents, the long-awaited new season of futuristic satire Futurama doesn’t start until June 24. After almost seven years, the Matt Groening-created animated series comes back to the boob tube with its hilariously peculiar characters — über-bum Philip J. Fry, Bender Bending Rodriguez and the one-eyed hottie Turanga Leela, among others. If you like the tease, check out www.comedycentral.com for images that lead to the one-hour-premiere event.
@UproariousO: Can’t wait for new Futurama episodes..woo hoo!! (Bender style)
@TodayILearnd: TIL that Matt Groening named Futurama’s Bender after John Bender from The Breakfast Club. http://bit.ly/9m6574
5. Al Gore, not so convenient
Former US Vice President and Nobel-Peace-Prize winner Al Gore is coming to town! But a different issue is spreading in Twitterverse. In non-showbiz news, the environmentalist and his wife Tipper Gore call it quits after four decades of marriage. “That’s a pretty surprising announcement — especially since the couple was best known for the obviously passionate but also awkwardly long kiss they shared at the 2000 Democratic National Convention,” Robert Nickelsberg writes in Time. Even Pinoys have caught the Gore fever, trying to pair the newly-separated political figure with famous single Pinays. Now, that’s inconveniently true!
@iamtreasure RT @Karen_DaviLa: GUYS! Let’s take a poll: Who should Al Gore date in the Philippines? :) —> Madam Auring, para may asim :D
@bangengeman RT @Karen_DaviLa: GUYS! Let’s take a poll: Who should Al Gore date in the Philippines? — Dapat ikaw. Feeling ko gusto mo din talaga eh. :D
6. True Blood does not disappoint
Whether you’re a fang-banger or a vampire wannabe, we’re sure to see you online in mid-June tweeting about the new season of the happening HBO vampire drama True Blood. The new episode airs in the United States on June 13 and we know you Trubies will find away to get a hold of that avi file. If you have been paying attention, some juicy trailers and teasers were released on YouTube and on fan sites. Yes, there will be a werewolf, and tweeps have been clamoring about the seamless casting in this Alan Ball creation. Season 3 also answers the question: Will the telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse fall under the seduction of vampire horndog Eric Northman? Perez Hilton also revealed that there will be some homoerotic vampire-on-shapeshifter action between two major characters. Sex, blood and rock ‘n’ roll, indeed.
@angeiis2: I HATE SOOKIE :) HAHAHA i love eric
@markygk: @AlexAllTimeLow ive been watching true blood. steer clear of them fang bangers!