Platinum Hit

Back then, I thought singers are always the one who write their own songs because they are even always the ones whose been praised for a wonderful song. And then there came the time I get to know about the "composers/songwriters" behind them. I seriously think they deserve more the recognition compared to the artist. I have a hobby of analyzing songs when I'm listening to them, specifically the story brought up by the lyrics. That's why I'm always highly impressed when a hit song was personally written by the singer himself, definitely a total package. Though most of the time the melody or beat is what one first considers, lyrics is really, I think, the element that truly defines a song. 

And then insert here the TV show "Platinum Hit". Hehe. It already ended last August as seen on Bravo TV. I only got a copy from my friend and thank God for a month long sem break, because finally I can able to watch all the series that passed up on me.

Platinum Hit is like Project Runway and America's Top Model, the only difference is that the contestants are aspiring songwriters instead of designers/models. 12 singer-songwriters are chosen to battle it out on who among them has the capability to write the hit song that would eventually win them a publishing and recording deal plus $100,000. The hardship and talent of those less noticed people behind every song are finally recognized! Yay for this show! =]

In every episode, they start off with a hook or the catchy part in every song. Each week, they are given a theme and each songwriter's task is to come up with a hook based on the theme in 30 mins. Top 3 hooks would be chosen which is to be developed into a full song. The top 3 songwriters would also have the chance to choose their own team mates among the other contestants left. In each session they would be given a time frame to finish everything, from the lyrics to the melody and arrangement. Then after the performance, the judges would decide on whose song is a hit or a miss. And from that group, one member would be eliminated. The head judge is Kara DioGuardi who’s formerly a AI judge. Every week, guest judges would also be seen like hitmakers Taio Cruz, Ryan Tedder and Donna Summer.

As what I’ve read from the internet write-ups, Platinum Hit has been kind of a flop. Tsk.tsk. Really? I honestly thought it’s a hit there. The show’s interesting plus each constestant has his/her own personality that I think anyone could relate to. Tss. Bahala sila! Haha! Some of my favorites since day one were Sonyae and Nick, they are the ones who have the strongest personality, but they use it as their strength.

 

Sonyae - undeniably one of the great lyricist among others. She always comes up with unique concepts in every session. Among them all, she's the only one who can't play any instrument. What she has only got packed up for this was her hit ideas plus her great great voice, which is much enough for her to get through. One thing that just puts her down is the ear for a hit melody as the judges always emphasize about her. But still, she's really the one of the great contenders in this competition.

Nick - the douche bag in the pack. He's most of the time in this I'm-the-best-here-so-I-don't-care-if-you-hate-me-because-I-know-I'll-win-this attitude. A lot of them doesn't want to be with him in a team because of his attitude. But If I were the one in there, I'd choose him for he knows what collaboration really means. He knows how to work it to make it happen.

One thing I've realized from this show is that if you just let yourself be a pushover, you'd just be underestimated till the end and you won't really be able to reach your full potentials. Not "fighting" for what you think is right won't lead you to anything. But I guess we already know that. =] I also got a lot of favorite songs from this show, which will surely land on my new playlist for this month.

I think this show would be interesting if the franchise would be brought here in the Philippines. It's time to show new talents. Enough of the endless singing competitions, we already know a lot of Filipinos could sing. But the untapped talent for songwriting is still something to be discovered. Plus it would even help the OPM industry because we could all see the making of potential hit songs.

Ay nako ABS-CBN and GMA. Haha! Breathe of fresh air ito! For sure, sawa na ang marami sa singing constests. At least ito, new concept naman. =]

Awkward

Finally done with the 1st season of Awkward. It's a new series on MTV which just recently concluded, I think, last month. I'm hooked. I honestly didn't thought I'd like this because it's packed with cliches and teen stereotypes, things you normally see on teen movies. But yep! I'm a fan now, and can't wait for season 2.=]

The 1st season started with Jenna Hamilton, an average high school girl, who's trying to find her place and deal with her own issues. She’s like an “invisible” girl at first until some accident happened to her, which made things change. She went through a lot of "awkward" situations . Watch it and you'll see. =]

Then there's her best friend, Tamara, who’s always there to help Jenna go through every situation. She do wants to be popular and does quirky things just to be in the “in” crowd. I love her! So funny! =]

 

Then there’s Matty and Jake. Matty, the love interest of Jenna, who is a popular guy in school who have a weird mannerism when he's nervous. And Jake, another popular guy and a best friend of Matty. He started dating with Lissa but eventually grew a feeling with Jenna afterwards in which he's now making a move. But he doesn’t know that there’s also something going on between his bestfriend Matty and Jenna. uh-oh. Talk about awkward.

Then there’s also Valerie, the school’s guidance counselor. She’s been assigned to advice Jenna, which she now treats as her best friend, since the accident happened. She’s like a 'hippie" counselor who thinks she really has this knack on advising teenagers about their issues, but the truth is she also have some issues with herself to take care of.

 

And her mom, Lacey, who constantly encourages and advice her daughter to get out of her box. She started as a teenage mom so you know the tricks. =]

 

and Sadie, the antagonist, who has been constantly making things worse for Jenny. She kind of resembles Khloe Kardashian, right? She’s my favorite character! She delivers her lines in a very cute manner. Hehe. Love her! =]

 

This tv show was undeniably funny which is even mixed with sarcasm at its best. Though it contains a lot of kissing and snogging so be warned. Cliché it is but it surely caught my interest.  I like how each character represents different teen attitude. I think they will start season 2 next yr., so you all have the time to catch up. =]

PS. 

Jenna's a blogger. And her blog is really in the web. Check it out! =] http://invisiblegirldaily.tumblr.com/
 

DISCLAIMER: I don't own any photos posted above. All credits goes to the respective owner. =]

Musicality

This past few days I've been into musical movies. First on the list is, "Lemonade Mouth", a Disney movie which I just heard and copied from my friend's laptop (I already got my hard drive filled with dozens of movie which I don't even  know when I can finish watching. haha!). It's about five highschool students who have each of their own issues in life.

The story:

It started in a one normal day where they each got detention slips. This detention slips was the key for them to meet each other for the first time in the basement where detention hall is, together with other non-sports related clubs. Then after some moment while they were cleaning stuffs for detention, they got into beat and suddenly realized they can jive into music. The teacher who’s in charge of them, and who is incidentally a former music club head, heard it and thought that it would great if they'd form a band and let the school's director realize that there's more than sports and cheerleading that matters. But they all think it's not their interest not until Stella, a girl with angst who’s into freedom of speech and equality, who forced everyone to give the idea of a "band" a chance. And then after realizing they got it, a nobody like them in the past started to become a somebody.

This movie made me miss highschool, back with my bandmates. I think that's one of the best things I had in highschool. Anything about music interests me; it's like something I'll be living with, in my whole life. Hehe. It's kilig whenever I see the characters in movies snap their fingers and tap in a beat then in a sudden they would be starting to sing and make music. So gooooood. FUN. =]

I have also just recently seen the movie adaptation of the well known Broadway musical, Rent. I got more interested to it when my friend gave me a background about it plus how it became a tribute for Jonathan Larson (who died of an aortic aneurysm before the movie went out on the cinemas). And I never knew, not till now, that one of my all time favorite song "Seasons of Love" became famous because of this movie. Hindi ako informed. Haha! And another good thing about the movie was that 6 out of 8 original cast member went back to do the lead roles. Cool! Dedicated talaga sila. I super enjoyed every song number. I wonder how it's like when someone suddenly breaks into a song while riding the MRT. Haha! It didn't bore me that much even though some of the songs were too long and the setting was a bit dark. It's a good eye opener flick because it tackled a lot of social issues, mostly from the 80's. Too bad I have to forward some scenes because I still have classes that day.

Next on my list would be reality shows like "Platinum Hit" and "The Voice" (I'm starting to have a HUGE crush on Adam Levine. haha!) But not until I get a time for those. October please be near, gusto ko na ng sembreak! XD

*googled photos. ctto.