THE 1ST PHILIPPINE POPULAR MUSIC FESTIVAL- TRINA BELAMIDE (1 of 2)

Hi everyone!

Sorry for the silence. I have been busy with some personal stuff that I haven’t been able to update my vlog.

This is a first of 2 posts about a monumental event in Philippine music that happened a few nights ago, which makes it even more personal as I had 2 very close friends who were part of it.

A few months ago, April 30 to be exact, my friend, songwriter and producer, Trina Belamide, invited me to a recording of her new song. An entry to the first Philippine Popular Music Festival, a songwriting competition,  where the grand prize is a whopping P1,000,000, a first in songwriting competitions.

The Philippine Popular Music Festival or Philpop, is the new Metropop, or The Metro Manila Popular Song Festival,

It was “the country’s pioneering and once foremost songwriting competition,” according to The Philippine Star. Its objective was to promote the advancement of Filipino music, and its chief proponents were Teodoro Valencia and Imee Marcos.

The songwriting competition was originally open to all music composers. From the Fifth festival onwards, the competition was divided into Professional and Amateur Divisions, to give new songwriters a level playing field without competing with more well-known composers. It ran from 1977 to 1985 and was relaunched in 1996 and had its last run in 2003.

Trina won 2nd place in Metropop 1996, with the song “Shine”, recorded by Ima Castro and interpreted then by “The Company’s” Sweet Plantado, and now popularized once again by Regine Velasquez.

Trina is no stranger in the music industry. She has penned numerous hits such as The Company’s “Now That I Have You”, Regine Velasquez’s “You’ve Made Me Stronger”, and also the 1995 World Youth Day theme, “Tell The World Of His Love”, and is also a multi-awarded producer.

And now I wouldn’t be surprised if this new song she cooked up would be a hit too.

She’s calling it BIGTIME, and it talks about a girl who is back with a vengeance, as she was constantly ignored then by a guy she likes. And now that she’s hit the BIGTIME, the roles are reversed and now the guy’s after her.

The song is a throwback to the 1950′s big band era, where the trio Andrew Sisters, curly hair, polka dots, and bebop reigned supreme.

Professional musicians like Trina know the difference between live and digital instruments just by listening to them and there was no way she would resort to recreating the big band sound using digitized instruments. So she commissioned Mel Villena, master arranger and musical director of the AMP Big Band to arrange BIGTIME and record all the instruments live. Something unheard of in this digital age.

I was there to document the whole recording process. From the guitar, piano, trumpets, trombone and saxes. It was a very chilling experience for me. I have never heard that kind of big band sound live in my life.

As soon as the recording of the instruements were done, it was time for the vocals by the trio called Baihana. These 20 something girls have a very distinct sound to them. A sound that was popularized decades before they were even born. Their style is reminiscent of The Andrew Sisters, also a trio from the 50′s.

The Andrew Sisters

I have heard of Baihana before. I have also seen some of their performances on YouTube, but this was the first time I would hear them live and recording. And needless to say, I am now a fan.

All I gotta say is the big band arrangment plus Baihana’s authentic 1950′s sound made BIGTIME a reality. I’m sure it was exactly what Trina was thinking.

So after the mixing of the song, Trina submitted her entry for Philpop. And after 2 short weeks, Trina made it to the final 14, besting almost 3,000 entries from around the globe. The final 14 was a good mix of Filipino music genres, from pop, reggae, rock, dance, r&b and folk. All beautifully crafted, all worthy of a spot in the finals.

Many issues circulated and attacked Philpop, its brains Ryan Cayabyab, Trina and some of the amateur and professional songwriters who made it to the finals, but I’m not even gonna talk about that. It was just a bad case of sourgraping by some of the songwriters who didn’t make it to the finals.

Two weeks before the finals night, Trina was very busy with BIGTIME. Voice, choreography and dance rehearsals with Baihana, costume fittings, final mixings, band and tech rehearsals for the show, paperwork, and campaigning. I helped out with some of the choreography and campaigning.

And I was there at the finals night too. It was held at the Philippine International Convention Center or PICC last July 14, 8PM, and was televised over TV5 around 11PM.

The stage design was beautiful, the production numbers by some of the country’s top performers were flawless, hosts Nikki Gil and Ogie Alcasid were very engaging, the board of judges all worthy and the top 14 entries were all deserving in their own way. Of course I was rooting for BIGTIME all the way. But I had some other favorites too.

The Philpop stage

Regine Velasquez

Some of Filipino music’s finest artists perform past Metropop winning songs

Trina and Baihana

 

Baihana performing BIGTIME

Baihana (from left to right: Anapet, Mel and Anna)

BIGTIME didn’t win, but I’m sure it made a BIGTIME mark that night. Family, fans, friends and colleagues all joined in to support  Trina and the rest of the candidates and of course to support Original Pilipino Music (OPM).

Trina with fellow multi-awarded composers Jonathan Manalo and Jungee Marcelo.

Here’s an unofficial music video I made using BTS footage of the making of BIGTIME,

Special thanks to my friend Jhett Baroma for some of the pictures and also to Ms. Girlie Rodis and Geoffrey Yusooncho.

You can download BIGTIME from iTunes or MyMusic.

SWEETS AND SWIMSUITS

When designers collaborate, it’s usually to strengthen each others’ brands. Widening their audience and market, the collaborating brands also compensate for each others’ weaknesses and work towards a common goal.

Designers also collaborate with other brands who have a similar aesthetic, bringing a breath of fresh air to the label.

Take for instance one of my favorite collaborations, Jeremy Scott x Swatch.

Swatch has been a very solid pop brand in watches, dating back in 1983, which I still clearly remember. They have introduced numerous watch fads, including the Pop Swatch, a detachable watch you can pin on your shirt or bag. Their products range from loud neon colored straps to gold and metal, more formal timepieces.

Enter Jeremy Scott, an American fashion designer, famous for outrageous pieces favored by pop icons, including Madonna, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Beyonce. He was responsible for Britney Spears’ stewardess outfit in her music video for Toxic, and he was also the first designer to dress up Miss Piggy.

So back in 2011, Swatch teamed up with Jeremy Scott and released 2 collections of wild, fashion forward and very memorable pieces. Scott is also famous for his winged sneaks, via a collaboration with Adidas.

Scott’s watch designs reflect the colorful personality he is known for while still maintaining Swatch’s pop flavor, as a wearable, everyday brand.

In Manila, brands such as Bench, Human, Oxygen, Freeway, and F&H regularly team up with local designers to further expand their catalogue and to explore other design ideas while keeping the brand’s image.

Last May 3, I was invited to a photo shoot of a very different and exciting collaboration between 2 designers of very different fields but share the same name and appetites.

First is Twinkle Legaspi, a baker of mouth watering, home made desserts via her baby, Dessert Barn. Her specialties include the Amnesia Chocolate Cake and her Bananalicious cake. The Amnesia Chocolate Cake is a personal favorite of the Mega Star, Sharon Cuneta, that it urged Twinkle to create a double dose version of the Amnesia, aptly called Mega Amnesia.

And Twinkle Ferraren, a resort and swimwear designer, responsible for a recurring collaboration with Freeway, featuring her hand painted and hand woven swimsuits.

They call their collection Twinkle x Twinkle: Taste of Summer. Twinkle Ferraren’s new swimsuit shades consist of citrus, earth and orange tones, all based on Twinkle Legaspi’s newest dessert offerings such as the Margarita Cupcake, the Kalamansi Meringue, the Peanutbutter Bananalicious cake and her classic Chocolate Cupcakes.

Why the collaboration of sweets and swimsuits? As the Twinkles say, “What’s sexier than a girl in a bikini is a girl in a bikini who can eat chocolate cake.”  Yes, the two Twinkles obviously share a name, but they also share an appetite for food and sweets. You might think that sweets and swimwear do not mix because to look good in swimwear, you have to stay away from sweets. Twinkle Ferraren has an answer to that. Swimwear is for every shape there is and yes, woman become self-conscious after eating, especially in their swimwear. So Twinkle Ferraren also came up with a convertible bikini-tankini for the collaboration. It features a detachable piece to cover your tummy when you feel a little bloated or maybe to cover up some scar you have.

This shoot is a prelude to a launch coming within the month, wherein the two Twinkles would be showcasing Twinkle x Twinkle, and also profiling swimsuits and sweets, based on a personality.

More in the video:

MAKES SCENTS

Perfume has always been a staple in almost everyone’s beauty kit.

It’s as good an accessory as a necklace or watch, where it’s the last thing you put on, and the first thing that people notice.

With so many brands and scents out in the market today, it’s easy to find a fragrance that matches your personality to a T.

I personally like fragrances and prefer the lighter scents. Fresh, clean and subtle are the top 3 words to describe my perfect scent.

I have also often wondered about the process and work that goes into making a fragrance. From deciding on the feeling and emotion it should evoke, to the ingredients needed, to which “notes” should be strongest and lightest.

So it was a real treat to be invited to the first ever Fragrance Master Class conducted my International Fragrance Expert, Arnaud Marolleau. Made possible by no other than Prestige Brands Philippines, Inc., distributor of fragrances from Carolina Herrera, Versace, Jimmy Choo, Mont Blanc, Paco Rabanne, Nina Ricci, Oscar dela Renta and other designer scents.

It was interesting to find out lots of interesting factoids about fragrances.

1) Some scents have up to 300 ingredients in them, making them more unique and expensive than most.

2) Authentic ingredients to most fragrances can be so rare, that they cost up to $10,000 per ml.

3) Fragrances and scents we are all accustomed to used to be derived from the most obscure and odd sources: Musk is taken from the sweat of a bull’s testicles. Ambergris is from a secretion of the intestines of a sperm whale and civet is from the civet cat’s urine.

4) EDT fragrances should be stored away from direct light and heat. Or else this makes the alcohol evaporate, thus changing your fragrance’s scent.

I also got to chat with beauties Kelly Misa and Isabel Roces at the event and found out their preferred scents.

Photo taken from Kelly Misa’s Instagram account

8 new scents were also unveiled at the event, namely Versace Yellow Diamond, Paco Rabanne Black XS, Carolina Herrera 212 Sprays, Nine West Love Fury, Mont Blanc Legend, Oscar dela Renta Live in Love, Creed, and Jimmy Choo.

I have also made a mental note on a fragrance Arnaud Marolleau told me to check out. It’s Silver Factory by Bond No. 9 from the Andy Warhol series. The bottle alone is already very appealing to me. And I love Andy Warhol. So what’s not to like?

Watch what happened here:

MY FIRST EARTH HOUR

I do my part in saving the environment. I haven’t done anything monumental, but I know small things go a very long way.

I use canvass bags for shopping, to minimize using plastic bags. I refuse to take single-use plastic bags such as the small ones they put medicine in, or when I buy batteries or a razor. I keep small pieces of trash in my pocket until I find a trash bin nearby. I turn off lights and appliances that aren’t in use. I unplug chargers, speakers and my TV when I leave the house, as these still consume electricity, even when they’re not in use.

I even started a Twitter account under the name thedailygreenph, where I tweet daily green tips. I even bought a book called The Green Year, which contains very affordable, simple and sustainable eco ideas for you to do every day, for a whole year.

So I sort of have a “green thumb”, and I try my best to contribute. I have been wanting to join an Earth Hour get-together for quite some time now, and incidentally, a friend of mine invited me to this year’s. So I was definitely determined and excited to go.

I arrived at the Ayala Triangle Park at around 8:00 PM, just 30 minutes before the actual Earth Hour. There were hundreds of guests and media people present, and most of them had candles, ready and eager to light them up when Earth Hour strikes.

The hosts for the event were Rovilson Fernandez, WWF Philippines National Ambassador and Miss Earth Water 2006, Cathy Untalan.

Earth Hour 2012′s new mantra, “I Will If You Will” is now in full force and actually snowballing. It spurs certain individuals to share a personal dare with the world and challenge them by asking, “What are you willing to do to save the planet?”.

Rovilson has pledged to participate in races while in a Panda suit until April if 5,000 of WWF Philippines’ 23,000 Twitter followers opt to use the stairs instead of elevators for a whole month.

His co-National Ambassador, Marc Nelson, has promised to swim with sharks in a Panda costume, and also plant trees underwater while munching on a carrot, if 5,000 of his Twitter followers pledge to avoid using plastic and reuse shopping bags.

Glow in the dark dance group, Bailes de Luces, the Caracol dancers, El Gamma Penumbra, Brigada and other groups performed for everyone and provided both entertainment  and illumination before, during and after Earth Hour.

Celebrity host, basketball player, entrepreneur and now Eco Warrior, Chris Tiu was also there to inspire everyone to make the green move. The Ecowarriors is a new, non-profit environmental group, that uses the power of celebrity and social media to promote a greener Philippines. Other Eco Warriors ambassadors include Miguel Zubiri, Rico Blanco and Doc Nielsen Donato. You too can be an Eco Warrior. Just log on to their website and register, like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter to get updated on their efforts.

I also got to talk to a group of very inspiring high school students from Benigno Aquino High School in Makati. They formed an organization and called it the A.N.G.E.L.S. Club, which stands for Agents of the New Generation, Environmental Leaders and Saviours.  I spoke to them briefly and they even provided their own personal everyday tips on going green. Solid proof that the youth is very able and not too young to make a change.

It feels so good to be in the same space with people who share the same beliefs and goals. Each of us have the power to make a difference, and we don’t need to wait for everybody else to make that change for us.

My first time to participate in Earth Hour was very memorable and fun. So fun that I promise to go every year now. And if what I heard is true, that Senator Lito Lapid is recommending Earth Hour in the Philippines to be every month, then I will also be there every month.

You may also want to see my interview with Joey Mead on being green and A Vicious Recycle.

OPM2GO: AFFORDABLE FILIPINO TUNES AT P15 EACH

Hi everyone!

Sorry for the silence for the past few months. I was busy renovating my bedroom and bathroom. From cleaning, packing, to picking out tiles and paint colors, my life took a very busy turn. Will post an episode on that soon.

Last night was a milestone for the Filipino music industry, as OPM2GO, the Philippines’ first ever digital music store, was launched at the Eastwood Central Plaza. I was invited to the launch by Mr. Jon Santos of OPM2GO.

Security was very strict, as all photography and video equipment were each inspected and tagged by the Philippine Security Group (PSG)

His excellency, President Noynoy Aquino was also there, as he formally unveiled OPM2GO.

Singer, songwriter, OPM President, the brains behind OPM2GO, and husband of Asia’s Songbird, Ms. Regine Velasquez, Ogie Alcasid, opened the program and led a keynote speech on OPM2GO. He explained what OPM2GO is all about, and also gave a live demo on how to purchase tunes from the site.

The host for the evening was The Queen of Soul, and my good friend, Jaya.

Guests were treated to performances by Philbanda, Jett Pangan, Jim Paredes, Jaya, Rannie Raymundo, and independent acts namely Techy Romantics, Skarm, Arko, Kenjhons, Mike Swift, and guitar legend, Noel Mendez.

Spotted in the audience were singer siblings Agot and Olive Isidro, Bayang Barrios, musical director Tats Faustino, and members of the press.

Each tune from OPM2GO is priced from P10-15 only. Don’t know which track to download? You can also stream a clip of each track before downloading them. Now you can download only the ones you love.

Payment schemes include via credit card, Smart’s Pasabayad (exclusive to Smart and TNT subscribers) or using the OPM2GO prepaid cards, which is available in denominations of P50, P100 and P300. The OPM2GO prepaid cards will soon be available in all Astroplus, Odyssey, National Bookstore branches and other retail outlets nationwide. Now Filipinos abroad can purchase their most favorite Filipino music anytime.

I love this souvenir fan they gave away.

Guests were given a complimentary P50 OPM2GO prepaid card, and of course, I tried it myself.

Log on to http://www.opm2go.com and you will see the welcome page.

First, you have to register for an account. Click on SIGN UP on the menu or at the upper right hand corner of the site. Sign up with your full name, a username, a working email address and your OPM2GO password. After clicking SUBMIT, you will see this:

Then wait for the confirmation email from OPM2GO.

Click on the confirmation link, and you will be logged in to the homepage of the website.

Since I am purchasing the tracks using my complimentary OPM2GO prepaid card, I have to load my OPM2GO wallet first.

To do this, click on MY ACCOUNT, and from the menu on the left, click on MY WALLET. You will see a field there that says ENTER PIN HERE. The PIN is located at the back of the prepaid card which can only be seen when you scratch off the security label. Enter the PIN and click on the WALLET icon to load it.

Here you can see that I just loaded P50 onto my wallet. A list of your purchased tunes will also be updated at the bottom.

Now there are 2 options for searching for tunes. You can either use the search field on the right side of the screen or click on BROWSE from the menu to search for an artist alphabetically. The search field is more useful if you are searching for a specific song title. This way, all artists having that song title will appear in your search results.

I used the BROWSE button from the menu because I forgot the song title but was sure of the artist.

I searched for the artist called Tribe of Levi. Good thing each song listed under them has a clip available for live streaming. All you have to do is click on the play button, located before each song title.

So when you find your song, which I did, you will see this page:

Listed below your song are other tracks by the same artist. And beside your song details are the play button, the price of the track, a “cart” button, and a dedicate button.

I was ready to purchase the song, so I clicked on the price of the track, which is P15.00. The cart button is better used when you are purchasing more than one track.

You will be asked your mode of payment, and since I already loaded my wallet, I chose and clicked wallet.

Curious about that “Dedicate this song” option? When you check that tick box beside it, you see this:

The message you enter here sends to your recipient’s email, notifying them that you just purchased that song and you are dedicating it to them.

Now onto checkout. After clicking on wallet, you will see this message:

And once you confirm by clicking Purchase Song, you will be led to your order details along with a download link. The track will be saved to your laptop of desktop’s downloads folder in MP3 format. The bitrate of the track I downloaded is 128 kbps.

Your updated wallet amount is also shown at the upper right hand corner of the website or by clicking MY ACCOUNT>MY WALLET. Your purchased tracks are also all listed in MY ACCOUNT, along with a download link for each track. So if your laptop or desktop crashes, you can still download your purchased tracks from your account.

It was a breeze purchasing from OPM2GO. Audio quality is very good, and so far, most major artists are already in its catalog. More artists and songs are to be added soon.

Special thanks to Mr. Jon Santos, Ms. Dinah Remolacio, Mr. Ogie Alcasid and Ms. Jaya Ramsey.

Watch what happened here:

12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS PROMO WINNERS

Finally found the time to meet up with all the winners of last year’s 12 Days of Christmas promo.

We all met at one of my favorite restos called Sauceria, located at 25 Boni Serrano (Santolan) St, corner Sunset Drive, QC. They have the best food ever! They make their own bread, pizza dough, ketchup, mayo, creme fraishe, yoghurt and more! A must try is their original S’mores pizza, Char Siu Pork pizza, and Spanish Sardines pizza. And their very unique Salted Egg and Ampalaya (bitter melon) pizza. Order the Calamansi or Ginger Soda too to wash it all down. Thanks Sauceria for having us! Visit them on Facebook.

Congratulations again to all my winners! Enjoy your loot! And thank you so so much again to all my generous sponsors!

Follow Prestige Brands Philippines on Twitter: @BeautyManila

Follow Bianca Valerio on Twitter: @Bianca_Valerio

Follow Pablo Cabahug on Twitter: @PabloCabahug

Follow Kyla on Twitter: @KYLAisMCA

Follow Dessert Barn on Twitter: @dessertbarn

Visit MedChef on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/medchef

Visit Sauceria on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sauceria

Visit Great Image on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greatimage

Here’s the video of all the winners!

MEETING DAVID ARCHULETA (PRE-AMBUSH)

Guess who’s meeting David Archuleta tomorrow?

I am! Hehe. David’s reps from TV5, a local TV station, sent me an invite for the press launch to his Philippine soap entitled “Nandito Ako” (I am here), tomorrow at 7PM.

I am putting together my questions for David and hopefully all goes well tomorrow.

If you have been following David’s Twitter and YouTube channel, you would be updated with this new project of his.

This is his last week of filming in Manila, and here’s his latest video blog post from his YouTube channel.

Thanks in advance to TV5 for inviting me!

KATY PERRY MEET & GREET

So I was at the PURR by Katy Perry Meet and Greet yesterday, at the Atrium of SM Mall of Asia.

Hundreds of fans were there, waiting for Katy to arrive. Along with their bottles of PURR for Katy to sign, plus other memorabilia like CDs, homemade posters and some even came in colorful outfits and wigs!

The security was very strict.

There were 2 kinds of passes available:

An autograph pass which you can only get when you purchase the 100ml bottle of PURR. Katy is only going to sign 2 items, one being the PURR bottle or the PURR box. The people who have the autograph pass weren’t allowed to bring their own cameras and bags, as there was an official photographer taking their pictures with Katy. You would then need to download your pic with Katy from the official Facebook site.

And there’s the MEDIA pass, which is what I had. This included the PRESS from the TV stations, newspapers and magazines. The PRESS was given a nice spot right in the middle of the venue, around 7 feet away from the stage, so we didn’t need to crowd with everyone else to get good shots. Here’s my media pass which I had Katy sign.

The event was scheduled to start at 2PM. I arrived at the SM Moa Atrium around 2:15PM, and there were already hundreds of people lined up waiting to see her.

It was hosted by Tim Yap, and numerous celebrities were also there namely Janice de Belen, Kathryn Bernardo, MYX VJ K-la Rivera, Divine Lee, Hayden Kho, Jamie Rivera, Julius Babao, Christine Bersola and Sam Pinto. Watch my interviews with some of them at the end of this post.

I already had a set of questions to ask Katy, but unfortunately she refused to have interviews with anyone to avoid being asked about her divorce. She hasn’t made any statement about it anywhere, so it was very unlikely that she would start talking about it in Manila.

But it’s all good. It was fun to be part of the event. Katy arrived around 6:30PM and greeted everybody with a huge shout out and smile. She was genuinely happy to see that many people for the PURR Meet and Greet and those same people and more would see her perform today for the second time.

It was also nice to see fellow bloggers at the event, especially Paul and Bestie, who had the autograph pass. I of course asked them about their 5 minutes with Katy.

And yeah, her hair was blue.

PURR is now available nationwide at all fragrance sections of major department stores. The 100ml bottle is at P3,700, the 50ml bottle at P2,600 and the 30ml at P2,100.

MY NEW HEADER

I’ve always wanted to make Ambush Online more personalized and I’ve also wanted to see what I would look like as a cartoon or caricature.

So I asked a graphic artist friend of mine, Karl Domingo, to make me a personalized header for the vlog.

I told him I wanted something that followed the color scheme of the vlog, and probably a caricature of myself with a mic. Something fun and quirky but not exactly comical.

The inspiration behind the art is called Vector Art and I have been a fan of it for years now.

My favorite vector artist is Jason Brooks. He is responsible for the numerous cover art for most of the Hed Kandi dance CDs.

I tried to learn how to create my own vector art, but it was a tedious process. And you have to have tons of patience too, especially if you’re turning a photograph of  a real person into vector art. Like this vector version of Scarlett Johansson took 7 hours to make. Taken from http://poch0010.deviantart.com/

Now of course vector art isn’t limited to people as subjects. With this kind of art, you can go crazy and just let your mind soar. You can even download free vector art wallpapers. Just like this one from http://freevector.com

Which now brings me to my friend’s contribution to Ambush Online!

Here’s my new banner, created by my friend, Karl:

And here’s just my picture without the banner:

I absolutely love it! Don’t you just love the mic? And I’m wearing a jacket too! Pretty impressive huh?

You can see more of Karl’s work at his site. And maybe you can have him make you one too!

Thanks Karl! =)

Here’s how to make simple vector art using Adobe Photoshop.

PARTY PURRFECT

Last December 10, 2011, Katy Perry’s first fragrance called PURR, was officially launced here in Manila, through Prestige Brands Philippines.

It was held at the fragrance department of SM Makati.

Brand Executive for Katy Perry Fragrances, Ms. Andi Flores, describes Purr, as having a fun balance and mix of floral and fruity scents. PURRFECT for the fun teenager. It’s Katy Perry in a bottle, as PURR reflects Katy’s exact personality and danceable, melodic tunes. Fun, sexy, sweet, mysterious, naughty and playful all rolled into one.

The packaging also shows Katy’s fondness for felines, as she is in a catsuit herself for the ad campaign. The bottle is of a purple cat with crystal eyes and dangling around its collar is a silver heart with Purr inscribed.

PURR is Katy’s first fragrance, now made available worldwide. A follow up has already been launched. This time, aptly called MEOW, which is soon to be launched here in Manila.

The PURR launch is also in PURRFECT timing for Katy’s concert this Sunday, as part of her California Dreams Tour 2012.

Spotted at the launch were celebrities Meagan Young, Melissa Ricks, Fabio Ide, Mikael Daez, Ervic Vijandre, Ian Batherson, Bela Padilla, Bettina Carlos, Helga Krapf and was hosted by MYX VJ Winner and singer, K-la Rivera.

The Purr models

Host K-la Rivera interviews a contestant, complete with cat ears and feline eyes

Sampling by the Purr image model

Meagan Young, Bela Padilla and Helga Krapf

Melissa Ricks

Mikael Daez, Vicky Ortega, Djanin Cruz, Bela Padilla, PURR image model, Fabio Ide and Ervic Vijandre

I am also invited to the Katy Perry Meet and Greet this Saturday at the SM Mall of Asia. I am hoping to get at least a short interview with her and ask her what to expect from her show and maybe talk about her music and of course, PURR. So let’s hope I get to meet and talk to her in PURRson.

Here’s my episode on the PURR launch.

PURR is now available nationwide at all fragrance sections of major department stores. The 100ml bottle is at P3,700, the 50ml bottle at P2,600 and the 30ml at P2,100.