Pinoy Artistic renaissance

Before the start of every year, it has been a custom for psychics and fortune tellers to come out with their predictions for the coming year. 2008 was no different. All sorts of these statements came out. It can sometimes be fun just listening to them and waiting if they would ever come true.

One time, I read a 2008 prediction for the Philippines in a website. The item that struck me the most was that according to this, there was going to be a Filipino scientific renaissance. Well for a moment, I was lost in my thoughts of having Filipino scientists and engineers gracing the covers of scientific publications, making their presence felt in their fields of research. Then I read at the bottom of the page that this was just a prediction may or may not come true. I thought to myself, of course. That would be too good to be true, but I've been crossing my fingers ever since. Who wouldn't want the brilliant Filipino mind to be finally recognized internationally.

Well, half of the year has passed already. There was still no barrage of Filipino names on leading journals or publications. Although I must admit I came across some Filipinos making a mark in their fields. 6 more months to go, and my fingers are still crossed.

However, if you looked the on the other side, there are a lot of Filipinos making waves at the performing arts scene. This should actually come as no surprise since we already have a multitude of world class talents. However, the pinoys that have come out this year has just been phenomenal and deserve some praise.

First of which is a pinoy born of both pinoy parents. He grew up in Austria though. He sings and he dances, very well indeed. He joined the Austrian TV show Musical: Die show, much like any talent show except they only perform songs from well known musicals. Surprise, surprise he won the grand prize. Here is a clip of my favorite performance of his. I must tell you that you should see all his performances. All of which are superb.


The next pinoy performer is a young girl, not even old enough to vote. But she has been asked to perform in TV shows and programs in different countries. Her name is Charice Pempengco. Interestingly, her rise to fame started when a video of her was uploaded in Youtube. From then on, she has performed in Korea, UK and the USA. Here is the video of her performing in StarKing Tv show in South Korea.

It's just funny how the jaws of the guests on the show drop when they hear her start singing.

Another pinoy who was catapulted to fame by a video posted in youtube is Arnel Pineda. Arnel was a lead singer of a local band called the The Zoo. The band performed cover songs, some of which were songs by the American band Journey. Now by some coincidence, one of Journey's members was looking through Youtube in search of a lead singer for his band. Then he chanced upon The Zoo's video and was blown away by Arnel's performance. So much so that he immediately contacted Arnel for a meeting. At present, they already released an album and performed in various places. Here is a clip of the band performing in Chile with their brand new frontman.


Like I said, half of the year has passed. And I'm hoping more pinoys would be recognized for their talent and work. Some would argue that we shouldn't be too proud of these people just because they're pinoy. I beg to differ, we should be in a constant lookout for people like these and set them as examples and ambassadors of the Philippines. We have, as a nation, a responsibility to make our presence felt in the world. And with pinoys like them, we can truly say we are proud to be pinoy!