The Soundtrack from our trip to the Philippines

I'm back home in good ol' (cold) Switzerland since Friday evening! A proper recap from my almost five weeks in the Philippines will follow shortly (when I recover from this flu...yes, I already managed to get sick, oh brother). Until then, here the songs that played over and over again on MTV Philippines and other Pinoy Music channels, and on the radio. Enjoy !! The Filipino artists are marked in yellow.
And BTW (to be pronounced as bee tee double u, as heard and seen in the Disney channel movie Camp Rock ("It so can't compete with High School Musical!", according to Sara Jane and Yves), which we watched twice at different hotels...Yves would call this "Shocking!!", haha. Yes, I have degenerated into a twenty-seven year old watching movies and listening to music for fifteen-year olds - ah but it's too much fun).

When I grow up (Pussycat Dolls)
* This is real (Camp Rock OST) - also in Bonus section
Spotlight (Jennifer Hudson)
Daylight (Kelly Rowland)
7 things (Miley Cirus)
One step at a time (Jordin Sparks)
That's not my name (The Ting Tings)
Shake it (Metrostation)
That's what you get (Paramore)
Miracle/Last night (Fragma vs. P Diddy & Keisha Cole)
Forever (Chris Brown)
Leavin' (Jesse Mc Cartney)
Always be my baby (David Cook)
Yugto (Rico Blanco)
I kissed a girl (Katy Perry)
Penge naman ako nyan (Itchyworms)
Disturbia (Rihanna)
We rock (Camp Rock OST) - we mainly laughed at it ;-)
Akala ko (Parokya ni Edgar)
Here I am (Nikki Gil)
Greenlight (John Legend)
Viva la vida (Coldplay)


Bonus Material:

You're so gay (Katy Perry), hehehehehe
Sana/I wish (Nikki Gil - Coke commercial in the Philippines)
Home (Aiza Seguerra covering Michael Buble)
Vic & Acoustic Chicks - Yet another proof of the musical talent in the Philippines


Various cover versions of *This is real (who would have thought !! :-))

This is real (Filipino version - Julianne and Miguel Escueta)
Suki Siapaku (Malaysian version)
Etre moi (French version - Sheryne)
Sono io (Italian version - Ariel and Stefano Centomo)
Oto ja (Polish version of This is real (Ewa Farna & Jakub Moleda)

Oh, I love him

Ah, Jamie, Jim, whatever you call yourself these days. You're just spectacular and crazy and authentic. Thank you. What this video makes me think? You just have to be true to yourself ... and somewhere down the line, you'll make it :-) And this is so refreshing too ... here an older video of him performing live (looking completely different without the glasses, the beard and the shorter haircut):

Almost forgot

I forgot to mention one thing in my last post: I went to see Jamie Lidell at the "Rocking Chair" festival in Vevey on 23 April, together with Jo. It was da bomb! It was at a very tiny venue, almost invisible from the outside, a totally alternative setting. And we were in the first row (if you can call that a row), i.e. we stood exactly in front of Jamie! Or rather, below where he stood on the stage. So maximum one meter away. I almost felt uncomfortable at times - if an artist is that close to you physically, where do you look? "I can't always stare at his face", I told myself throughout the concert. And he (only when shaved and not wearing glasses) really looks like somebody I used to have a crush on a couple of years ago, so I was even more irritated, haha. You'd probably know Jamie Lidell because of this song (from the Grey's Anatomy Soundtrack, haha. Shame on me that I didn't hear of him before!)

I really love his new sound, but am also happy that he still pulled off things like this at the concert in Vevey. His band members looked hilarious: one guy, rather old looking, was wearing a wig and some strange white dress, and was playing two saxophones at the same time at points. If I remember well, the other band members wore wigs too. The funniest moment of the evening, however, was BEFORE the concert even began. Right after Jo and I entered the concert room, somebody behind us called my name. MY NAME! I turned around, and the only thing that came out was a scream. It was a guy who lived in the same neighborhood in Weggis, my hometown! And went to the same high school. And guess who accompanied him: A guy who was in seventh grade with me, during high school in Lucerne!! Hahaha, it still makes me laugh. The two of them had travelled all the way from Berne to see Jamie Lidell, turned out it was already the third time they saw him live. Aw man, good times. Another fantastic concert experience. That would make my third concert this year. (Have I told you that I'll see Lenny Kravitz this July? Can't wait!). Here two songs off his new album called "JIM":

Dayum good song

...Janet is back, yeah! The title of the song - Feedback - is my word of the moment. Things need to change, and active feedback is (hopefully) the beginning of it.

Anybody wanna join me...

...to the Jamie Liddell concert on April 23 in Vevey (Rocking Chair Festival). No, I don't know yet how I'll go home to Geneva, LOL

I need to ...

Sorry, yet another series of random music posting...

P.S. Vive bands like Salt n Pepa, En Vogue, Eternal ...

In love with this song - and the movie

P.S. And Bleeker :-)

Some more sound...

Ayo - Life is real



Jamie Scott - Made



Le Trio Joubran (don't know which song this is, sorry). I saw them live in Switzerland in 2006. Beautiful beautiful music



Lizz Wright - Another Angel

Lalala, lalala, lalala, lalala, lalala, lalala, lalala

:-)

Hahaha, another concert for FREE! Unbelievable

I can't help but to laugh out loud right now....I have just been notified that I have won 2 tickets to the TOWER OF POWER concert this Friday in Zurich!!! How can I be so lucky when it comes to concerts all the time? Whoohoo! :-D And it's totally my kind of music.

P.S. In the past, I have won tickets for concerts three times (Accordeon Tribe, Patrice, Wilco & Tori Amos), which doesn't include the two free VIP passes I received last Summer for the Gurtenfestival as a "compensation" because they couldn't employ me that year, hahaha

P.P.S. In the past, I have won tickets for movie avant-premières two (or three?) times

P.P.P.S. In the past, I have won "the unique opportunity" to dance on the McDonalds Love Mobile at the Zurich Street Parade - you guessed right, I couldn't have cared less and didn't make a fool of myself for free wearing red and yellow while dancing to techno music. LOL

What a lucky streak...

Non-stop (but live is much better)

From a previous album...such a beautiful song



Sigh...



Catchy tune...




Really like this version...sorry Rihanna :-)



Tim is my favorite ;-)

If only I had had enough money on me last night to buy that cool yellow band t-shirt...

"This was our first concert ever in Switzerland. Tomorrow, we're flying to L.A. for the Grammy awards..."

Sweeeet :-) The Plain White T's concert was fantastic!! Tom Higgenson sings so well live, and he and one of the guitarists are really cute. Guess what: my Dad accompanied me to the concert! My Daddy's way cool :-) The Rohstofflager (concert place) isn't that big, and the tickets only cost CHF 49.- each. And these guys are nominated for 2 Grammys this year !!

And did you know? The "Delilah" from the song will actually accompany Tom to the Grammy Awards :-) Read more here.

It's gonna be my myself and I

It's not like the first time I'm going to a concert alone...I think I should have good chances selling my spare ticket at a higher price tomorrow evening, because the concert is sold out :-) Wish me luck!

Hammer!

OH MY GOD !! If you ask me, this girl is gonna outsing Joss Stone - and she's SWISS! Hallelujah number 2 :-D Usem Wallis! I think I should stop making fun of that place - and start thanking Stefan Raab. Never thought I'd say that, either, haha.

I'm also digging the songs of her Swiss band called "Bigfisch", especially the song "Seeluverwandt".

Which person ...

... wants to accompany me to the upcoming The Plain White T's concert in Zurich on THU 7 FEB, 8pm (at the Rohstofflager) ? If you live in the city of Zurich and have a place to sleep for the night, that would be even better, hehe. I have to go back to work in Geneva the next morning, veeery early!!

First come first serve, I already have the tickets!

Turn up the volume (yes, I say this a lot) ....

I can't get this song by The Killers out of my head anymore....best remix ever! They played this at the end of the fantastic movie "Keinohrhasen" - I have to watch it a second time. Til Schweiger's four (!!) kids play in the movie too, and they're incredibly cute.

FOREVER in love with Justin ;-)

He is a God. Thanks for the cool evening, ladies ;-) See you soon!

Go get 'em girl

Yeah, you go girl! And no, I'm not saying this because I currently work for the company that makes your perfume...


P.S. Sound section updated

Yet another random post - am just not in the mood quite yet

According to my sweetheart, Til Schweiger's new movie Keinhohrhasen (you already have to love the title of that flic! Kind of reminds me of my favorite German movie with the craziest title possible: Das merkwürdige Verhalten geschlechtsreifer Grossstädter zur Paarungszeit. Simply magnificent) is da bomb. I've watched the trailer and already feel like I'm gonna love it. Not only because I used to wear almost exactly the same glasses as the "wallflower" girl in the movie, hehe. There was hope for me too. Even wallflowers can blossom. LOL

What I'm feeling like right now

Last one for today

Amy Amy

THIS is the Amy Winehouse I want back...

So much better live...

Charmingly different from the original...

I like the beat of this song...

Updates soon...

...very soon. In the meantime, once again an updated sound section. And don't be hatin' for the liking I'm taking in the new Britney song. On another note, this song right here is haunting me, I simply love it.

Peace y'all. Yes, that wasn't very eloquent, but I'm tired. Speak. Soon.

:-)

)i( Tunes

I've updated most of the songs in my sound section...yes, a lot of Hairspray OST at the moment, please bare with me. And watch the movie, dayum! I'll go out on a limb here and claim that something is seriously wrong with you if you don't immediately feel like jumping out of your seat to dance to the beat while watching the movie. If you do go and see it, also listen to the lyrics carefully. I either nearly cried laughing, or because I was so moved (your first impression of the movie will be that it's very light-weight and superficial, but it touches some very important issues, trust me. Hm, New Line Cinema should pay me for all the promo I'm doing for the movie!). Yeah, that's my sappy self surfacing again.

I can't seem to get enough :-)

I love it !!!!!

HAIRSPRAY IS DA BOMB :-D

My favorites of Eurovision Song Contest 1990 :-)

This is the first one of a series of random Eurovision song contest posts ;-) Seriously, 1990 had such fantastic songs if you ask me....remember?

Austria (!) God and look at her amazing legs ...
Germany (who would have thought, haha)
Italy (winning song)
France
Israel
Norway
Portugal
Belgium
Sweden
Iceland
Denmark
Spain


And see Yugoslavia below, it even deserved a post of its own ;-)

Isn't this just the best Eurovision song ever? :-D

Yugoslavia, Eurovision 1990. This singer is so over-the-top kitsch, you just have to love her!! I remember this song SO well ...how about you?

And who remembers this? :-)

Hopefully last random post, bear with me please....I don't really know why (well, I know it's NOT because of the haircuts), but te Eurovision Song Contest anno 1989 is very special to me ;-) Probably because it's the first one that I really remember...

A music festivals recap

Before I start blabbering about how tired I am because of working even harder these past two weeks (you can now call me the Powerpoint guardian - yes, that was my nickname at work recently, haha - 450 slides in three days), I will share some videos with you of the fantastic concerts I have been to in July (I unfortunately couldn't find anything from The Roots and Kelis at Gurtenfestival) !!! The one from Plüsch isn't from the Gurtenfestival but from an earlier concert of theirs this year, couldn't find anything on YouTube. However, I loooooved that song when they played it at the Gurtenfestival. I repeat that I find the lead singer soooo cute, and very talented ;-) Did I already mention that we saw him in the festival crowd the day after they played? He was there with his girlfriend. How groovy...On another note, Joss Stone rocks my world (and Christian's too I think, hehe). She's got so much self-confidence for her age, it's incredible. Watching her always makes me think "Girl knows exactly who she is and what she wants in life", which I find extremely impressive.

Anyways, here some videos (India.Arie, Tori Amos, John Legend, Joss Stone, Plüsch, Cypress Hill). Enjoy!

India.Arie (Ready for love, live at Montreux Jazz Festival)

John Legend

John Legend

(both at Montreux Jazz Festival)

Looooong overdue update

I am really sorry (and surprised!) that I've hardly updated my blog lately. I used to be such a blog addict, remember? Anyways, work is keeping me busy, and tired. I am quite sure I'm doing a good job, which is cool. Fingers crossed for me my boss won't find someone for the permanent position too fast, so I could at least stay until the end of September or maybe October. For the time being, they told me at least until the end of August. What I do all day? Well, just imagine all the things an executive assistant to a Senior Vice President does, plus some HR related things (answer people on their applications, in general negative or potential), pick up candidates for interviews, and some office admin work.

I also (finally!) bought some new clothes and shoes, was really necessary for work. Haircut is still due though. Any good hairdresser (cheap) in Geneva? Thanks ladies ;-)

Other than that, I've been to a lot of concerts. Last weekend, to the Gurtenfestival in Berne with Christian. The concerts rocked!! The Roots, Cypress Hill (oh man, that was da bomb), Kelis (she needed some time to get going, maybe she was tired, it was very late), Plüsch (I had no clue that guy sings SO well! Fantastic stage presence, interaction with the crowd, and he's cute too, hehe. And it's a Swiss group! Man, that was my big surprise moment....Anna, you would have loved it!), Patent Ochsner, Freundeskreis, and my darling Joss Stone (I love her!!!).

Right now, I'm off to the Paléo Festival in Nyon, doing AIDS prevention work as a volunteer. I'll get to see (from a far) P!NK, yeah :-)

Tootles, I promise to update again soon. Peace out

God I love Tori ...

"Being a preacher's daughter, I understood the politic of religion and so I really began to see how now that we're in a very right-wing Christian time", Amos says. "Women are divided into the mother and the whore. It's very black and white. As a piano player, I understand black and white very well. And it's just not acceptable outside of a keyboard." (Tori Amos, on her official website)


She speaks my mind right there ... and by the way, the concert on Wednesday was incredible. Such incredible stage presence she has, and such fine talent. It leaves you in awe. She shines like the diamonds on the watch Claude Nobs gave her as a present on stage, after the concert.

Tomorrow night

Wilco & Tori Amos (for free!) at the Montreux Jazz Festival with Aïda

Whatta concert night

(Warning: I wrote this post really hurriedly, so it's in really bad English. Just wanted to share it quickly). Whatta fantastic concert night at the Montreux Jazz Festival (Miles Davis Hall) together with Ravaka, Mialy and their cousin. Not only did India.Arie and John Legend sing "Ordinary People" together on stage, Quincy Jones (!) made a surprise appearance on stage, talking about music and life for a little while...amazing. And India.Arie, what can I say, her concert was one of the best ones I've ever been to. She can move you to tears. If I were a singer/musician, she'd be my role model, because her words and music speak from the heart, and of her life and lessons learned, and because of the incredible energy and connection she creates with her audience (or at least she sure did tonight). WOW. I am so buying her new CD. The opening Act, Saskia Laroo & band, was a huge positive surprise, definetely a discovery. John Legend was fantastic, really, but it all seemed a little heartless. No breaks between songs, no real interaction with the audience, just a routine, as if he was just a machine. Such a pity, maybe it's the huge pressure of being the new big shot? I don't know. India came across as so relaxed, and really interacted with the audience. Such an inspiration as a human being and a woman, she is.

Saskia Laroo
India.Arie
John Legend

(Source of photos)

Free concerts update (to cheer me up)

I'm still riding the negative vibe a bit, and I am not liking myself this way, but it'll get better soon. Gotta be positive again, right? Still got no money because I still have no job, but got all the things money can't buy, and can visit loads of concerts and festivals this Summer for FREE. I shall be happy and cheerful and giddy again...

As for the free concerts:

• I have won two tickets to the Tori Amos (+ Wilco) concert on 11 July at the Montreux Jazz Festival
• I have received two VIP-passes for the Gurtenfestival from 19-22 July (I was supposed to work there, but they cancelled on me a few weeks ago, and I got VIP-passes instead, as an apology, which is actually way better, haha)
• I will be working at the Paléo Festival on 26 July in the evening and will therefore get a free day-pass (doing AIDS prevention for Groupe sida)
  

Plus, thanks to the city of Geneva and its Musiques en été festival, there are loads of great free concerts in the Park again this Summer. I plan to attend the following mos' def' (if not all of them, let's see if I have the time. Will miss some due to other free concerts mentioned above, hihi) :

• Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars
• John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers
• Antibalas
• Brooklyn Funk Essentials
  

The only concert I am paying for this Summer is the one of John Legend & India.Arie on 8 July at the Montreux Jazz Festival ...

She kicks ass

Joss Stone

Really want to see her live once ... such a flower child, and yes, that dress (shirt?) in the video above is damn short. But she can pull it off! And her voice blows me away.

At first I didn't really like her move of coloring her hair and changing her style, it seemed a bit fake and like she like she was just trying to copy Nikka Costa. Nevermind that now, Joss is rockin' the new style. Lovin' it !

P.S. Nikka still is my number one :-)

So beautiful (trying to calm down)

The songs...

"Sun and Moon"
"Last night of the world"
"I'd give my life for you"
"Movie in my mind"

From the Musical "Miss Saigon"

...sung by the amazing Filipina singer and actress, Lea Salonga!

(P.S. Did you know she is the singing voice of Major Disney movies? Princess Jasmine of "Aladdin", Pocahontas, Mulan, and that girl in Hercules ??? OMG)