Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

MANILA—The year 2009 was a significant year for Philippine showbiz. While the country was hit by tragedy one after another, many took to entertainment to console and amuse themselves, ultimately gaining hope that things will be better in the process. As they say in showbiz, the show must go on as does life in the real world. Below are the top 9 stories which kept us entertained throughout this year.

Last year, the world was introduced to Charice Pempengco, a sweet young girl with a powerful voice via youtube.com. The video had so many hits that talk show hosts Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres quickly had her booked to guest in their respective shows.

This year, the young music sensation continued to forge her hold in the music biz both locally and abroad. Last May, Charice released her sophomore album and held her first major solo concert at the SMMall of Asia to a jampacked house.

In the US, she completed a 10-city concert tour with multi-Grammy award winner producer David Foster and released her first international single Note to God. And it seems Charice is set to conquer filmdom soon as she makes her debut film appearance as herself in Alvin and the Chipmunks The Squeakquel, which grossed a whopping $50 million at the USbox office on its opening weekend.

When the National Artists for the year 2009 was announced back in July 29 which included an internationally recognized painter, a presidential adviser on culture, a designer known as the Fashion Czar of Asia and a contemporary director who gained fame for his massacre movies, many wondered and thought at least two people didn’t belong in the picture.

Amonth before, the list from the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) included lauded composer Ramon Santos and theater veteran Zenaida Amador, and when the final list was announced, their names were nowhere to be found.

The print and broadcast media, social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook and every corner of the blogosphere were filled with rants for some of the choices. Eddie Romero, a National Artists himself, openly criticized Malacañang’s addition of Caparas to the original list of National Artist-elects.

"What’s the sense of having a committee if it would be bypassed in the end," he said in an official statement to the press.

One of the "aggrieved" parties, Carlo J. Caparas, issued a statement saying he deserved the award, adding that,"I’m not being conceited. Ijust want to point out the truth. The past winners are not well-known. Di nila mapapalutang ang award na ito. Ngayon lang ulit napapag-usapan." It looks like Malacañang is thinking the same thing. Even with the controversy, they have not backed down with their announced choices.