I have decided to remove this post in deference to Pilita Corrales’ standing as a respected Philippine artist. To Ms Corrales, my sincerest apologies.
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November 6, 2006 at 4:15 pm
Olivia Newton Gan
“Her antics are inappropriate for a woman of her age.” This is just as bad as asking Pow to wear a skirt because she’s a woman and it is expected of a woman to wear a skirt.
You expect Pilita to be something you can pigeon hole her into via her age. Isn’t this discriminatory? So she flirts with the other male contestants and the host. so what? Is this bad because she’s geriatric? What, only younger supple women can flirt?
My goodness, this is offensive to women!
At least Pilita has the guts to say what the people want and expect from a star. Give me a list of singers that are fat and make a lot of money. Talent is nothing in the shallow world of showbiz where perception is everything. (Hello, Kris Aquino?) This competiton is not just talent and likeability, it’s ultimately about marketablility.
As if Paula Abdul runs a brilliantly inspired commentary when she is in that judge’s seat in American Idol. When are comments like “You have a beautiful soul and it shows on stage?” or “YOu are a bright light and your aura will shine” helpful to one’s musical talents? Please, Paula Abdul’s commentaries remind me of drunken stupors.
I am not a Pilita fan and I do not watch this show, but your arguments are quite limited and faulty.
November 6, 2006 at 10:07 pm
patty
“Well, this isn’t a show about her, it’s a show about singers who would like to be the Philippine Idol.”
LoL. sometimes I wish Francis M stayed and Mamita went to Europe. Her comments aren’t helping.
November 7, 2006 at 10:06 am
ganns
Olivia: I would’ve appreciated a real email so I could reply to you personally, as I usually do to people who respond to my entries. You are, of course, entitled to your opinion, and I respect that you think my ‘arguments’ are limited and faulty. It, after all, is just that – my opinion – and bears little to no influence on how ABC-5 handles the show.
At the end of the day, if anyone from ABC-5 manages to find their way to this teeny-tiny blog, I hope they can at least give constructive criticism to Ms Pilita based on what I’ve said, because, while my comments may be, in your opinion, limited and faulty, I’d like to believe they have some worth, and if Mamita chooses to take my comments constructively, she can still modify her actions and comments on the show so she can be of more use and service to the contestants and the show in general.
Re: Pilita’s flirting. I personally don’t think what I’ve said is discriminatory at all. I simply don’t think it’s in proper taste nor is it helpful for a 60-something-year-old woman to throw double-entendres on a show that’s supposed to be rated G. If anything, I think Pilita’s actions and comments degrade women. I’m not saying only young women have the right to flirt, but – even for our relatively open-minded culture – what does society think of 60-year-old women who hit on men a third their age?
If you want me to call a spade a spade, I can and will. This competition is politics, pure and simple, and whoever has the money makes the rules. However, I would like to believe that American and Philippine Idol seek to break the rules. Taylor Hicks, for instance, was hardly the kind of artist who anyone expected to win American Idol, and that, actually, is the point, towards which Pilita doesn’t cater, because she wants to box the contestants into her concept of cool, which is outdated by today’s standards.
You didn’t clarify your specs for celebrities who are more than chubby, so I’ll give you a decent selection of respected local and international celebrities who earn more than enough despite having weight issues:
- Aretha Franklin (started out thin, but being fat didn’t affect the career)
- Gladys Knight (started out thin, but being fat didn’t affect the career)
- Roberta Flack
- Cameryn Mannheim
- Ruben Studdard
Locally, there are a lot of chubby people in media, and I’ve found that those – Arnold Clavio
- Ruby Rodriguez
- Ike Lozada (+)
-
Remember, too, that Oprah, Kirstie Alley, and even Kris herself have all struggled with weight.
Ryan C. says that Mau could make it on voice alone. Pilita says she needs to slim down. One could be talking about the ideal situation, while the other talks about the so-called real world. Sure, I imagine that it may be harder to market someone fat than someone svelte, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done. If people vote out Mau because she’s fat, let THAT be the indication that people aren’t ready for a fat Idol, and that it’s about perception. However, what is one to do if Mau does win?
Isn’t that an indication the people are ready for and open to a chubby Idol, and that Philippine Idol, ABC-5, and local media (represented by Pilita, or whatever) should try to be a little more open-minded towards making this person’s career work? Not everyone is Frenchie Dy, and we don’t know what happened to her career, but I believe if Mau wins, she won because of talent, and not because she was thin or fat. The judges’ job is to focus on preparing the person to become a better Idol, but who says ‘thin is necessarily better’?
November 7, 2006 at 10:36 am
forg
mau, pow and gian are the only good ones left in the contest.
I’ll root for mau and if she ever wins I hope her record company will manage her well.
Frenchie Dy is my all time favorite contestant of a Filipino singing competition, im so glad she won despite being behind in the text votes but it is such a pity the her career did not became succesfl. i blame the record company.
About Pilita, i dont like her so as Francis M. PI made bed decisions with picking the both of them as judges..
And now I dont wonder anymore why the likes of Jan, miguel and ken made it to the top24
November 7, 2006 at 1:37 pm
ganns
Gotcha, forg. Here’s hoping: who knows, maybe things will turn around. Maybe.
November 9, 2006 at 10:04 am
Olivia Newton Gan
Sorry about the email, I forgot to add the real one.
The mere fact that you deem pilita’s flirting as inappropriate for a woman of her age is discriminatory. Discrimination is when you IMPOSE what is your definition of appropriate or acceptable to a group of people. Your statement can be taken as that women of a certain age should not openly flirt. So what should women of a certain age do? Knit? See? You have expectations from a certain sector of people; it is like you expect homosexuals to be a collective of screaming faggots waving shears and curlers. You mentioned how society frown upon a woman hitting on a man one third of her age….you see? there’s societal pressure to conform to a certain prescribed role. This is the basic ingredient of discrimination, kiddo.
About the “fat issue,” it is you who said that Gladys and Aretha “(started out thin, but being fat didn’t affect the career)”….there you go! They started out as svelte in ridiculously tight costumes, but their talent eventually shone all the way and by that time, the audience didn’t care (MUCH) that they became like spokespersons for the goodyear blimp. Roberta flack is talented, no doubt, but the abovementioned artists are singers who made it big BEFORE the massive popularity and machinery of music vidoes. It was their voices that captured fanfare.
How fickle are the viewing audience? Perfect example is Cristopher Cross. He sang the popular Arthur’s theme (Best that you can do) and he just dropped out of the radar at the early 980s. Why is this so? when MTV surged and the music fans saw how FAT he was, his music somehow did not become popular. He was seen in a televised performance and he is not exaclty Ricky Martin. He is not sexy ergo not cool. This is even acknowledged by MTV as a downside of music videos.
Furthermore, Why do they deify Elvis when he was thin and mollify him when he was fat? PLEASE!!!!!
Rubben Studdard? He’s a superstar? He’s JUST a winner of American Idol, which Clay Aiken eventually trumped in album sales. Camryn MAnehim IS NOT a superstar. She has the usual coterie of supporting roles as the fat nerd to the nurturing understanding but strong FAT (insert lawyer, sister, aunt roles here) basically, she is NOT the one who gets top-billing.
Oprah? Please! that woman has made billions of dollars talking about weight and made losing weight an industry and gym and yoga gurus and nutritonists (people dealing with weight loss) celebrities…. Kirstie Alley made a comeback in a sitcom “Fat actress” and has antics of her LOSING WEIGHT. She recently went on Oprah to show Oprah that she is thinner now and can wear a two-piece bikini. Not really supportive of fat people is it?
Ike Lozada is not a star. Ruby rodriguez in a non-entity. Give me a list of fat local singers who made it big (Big like Regine or Ogie type of big) AND say that they do not care how they look. Arnold clavio is a media personality and does not rely on album sales or concerts to make him earn. I won’t even dignify Kris Aquino, she made the act of scandal a career move.
Please, I have been fat all my life and I know that fat people have it rough. Of course I do not really believe that “thin is better” but I always stand by what I know is that perception is everything.
November 13, 2006 at 8:25 am
ganns
Please check your email, Olivia. I’ve answered to you in private.
November 15, 2006 at 1:36 am
gogo
Gann, very well said about mamita and i wish too that she will not be anymore judge on next season of RP idol. Can she be more professional rather than personal in judging the contestant.
First, the PI judge MUST be first and foremost a criteria of an IDOL … hmmm… How can you tell the other to be an idol in “TOTAL PACKAGE” if you yourselves are not?
Btw, I was in Singapore for almost 3 months and I watched their SG idol version. We Filipino, agreed that SG idols are very far compare to our RP idols. We have a very good talents compared to them and this made support the PI idol show. Unfortunately, ABC-5 has less marketing arms in promoting the show compares to ABS-CBN.=(
November 16, 2006 at 4:04 pm
Manny.
I am a Pilita fan. At least I’m a fan of her recordings pre1980’s. And I like the fact that she’s not ashamed of her Cebuano heritage as I’m a Cebuano myself. But I agree with you. I think Pilita just talks out of her ass. She doesn’t have any real insight. She pretty much says all of the singers are good except if they’re fat she’ll comment on that or if they’re tomboy or whatever. I think “TOTAL PACKAGE” is just something she thought very clever to say. Remember she said that the first Philippine Idol has to be someone who will represent the Philippines internationally? Well your shallow observances of weight and gender identification will not produce this type of performer. You will just get the same mannequin-type popstars. A great singing voice and good looks alone will not make you stand out internationally. There are two portuguese language singers who are BIG among non-Portuguese speaking audiences around the world. Mariza from Portugal and Cesaria Evora for Cape Verde. Mariza is slim but not very good looking but she has a very powerful and passionate voice that could bring an audience to tears. She mostly offers decades-old Portuguese folk/love songs called “fado”. They are very folksy and very European songs. She offers something that is unique to her country. Cesaria Evora is a big African woman of failing health who sings the Portuguese/African influenced songs of her country Cape Verde. A truly mesmerizing singer.
Nothing I’ve seen thus far on Philippine Idol is worthy of international accolades. There is nothing uniquely Filipino about these singers. If Pilita want’s someone to represent the Philippines internationally she has to look for someone like Mariza or Cesaria or Fairuz from Lebanon. Which of course is completely the type she is not looking for.
I like it when she says things like, “I like him because he’s different.” When the contestant she is talking about is completely ordinary. Like that young guy who sung “Anak” but then later dropped out the race because his parents wanted him to stay in school. There was nothing different about him. He sang well and was handsome. This is different??? The transvestite from Cebu sang very well and yes she was different in a sense but she sang American pop tunes in the style of American r&b singers. This is not different.
I’m annoyed.
April 12, 2007 at 11:52 am
Eddie Stephens
I am a bass player in southern California, USA, and have had the honor of backing up Ms. Corrales (Tita Pilita) many many times, specifically at all of her last shows at the Sycuan Casino in San Diego, CA, USA. She is nothing like what you are claiming her to be. She is one of the SWEETEST, most LOVING, and CARING people and artists I have ever met. She has always been fair, “politically correct”, and hilarious all of the times that I have worked with her. Unless you know her personally, you should not pass judgement on her. For as the bible says, “He who is without sin, shall cast the first stone.”
-Eddie Stephens
Paramount, CA, USA