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Philippine All Star "HIP HOP DACE GROUP"

noreply@blogger.com (JUANdelaCRUZ) — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 16:53:00 +0000

On August 3, 2008, the dance group Philippine All Stars won the title at the 2008 World Hip Hop Championships in Las Vegas, Nevada. More than 1,000 dancers from 33 countries took part in the annual competition. Three judges, one of them former rap star MC Hammer, reportedly gave the All Stars an aggregate score of 8.94—5.35 of which was credited to the group’s “infusion of artistic steps in its choreography.
The 15-member All Stars has just clinched the top prize at the 2nd International Hip-Hop Open in Italy, and likewise bagged the gold at the 5th World Hip-Hop Championship held in Redondo Beach, California. The Philippine All stars was started in 2005 by twelve friends who came from different backgrounds, but wanted to collectively represent their country in the World Hip-Hop Championships held in the US. That year after taking first in the Maximum Groovity II, National Hip-Hop Open, they proudly placed 6th in the World. In 2006, Allstars put the Philippines on the map of Hip-hop dance in becoming the first Asian country to win back-to-back World Gold titles in the International Hip-hop Open d’Ítalia in Turin, Italy and in the World Hip-Hop Dance Championships in Los Angeles, California. The next year, the group took Bronze in the same competition and also won Team of the Year from V.Ent’s First Annual Dance Awards. Now in 2008, they came back strong again and took Gold in the World Hip-Hop Dance Championships held in Las Vegas, Nevada.
But past the medals, awards, and their resume, this group stands for so much more than winning. To them, winning is only a device for them to get seen, heard, and accomplish their true goals.
The group hopes to elevate the status of dancers in the Philippines, because for too long have dancers been considered second-rate performers. Through their efforts and many talented others, they want to show that dancing is a great art form and should be more respected and rewarded than what is currently being offered by the entertainment industry. They share in a movement that strives to unite and inspire this generation through Faith, Hip-hop, and One Love. Lastly, a goal of the group is to teach and help under-privileged kids through dancing and inspiring them to strive for something more than what they have been told they can achieve. The Allstars advocates for Gawad Kalinga, has taught in US Embassy Outreach Programs, has spoken and performed for the QC Detention Cell, and participated in programs such as Pathways Workshop and Walk for Education. The Allstars are featured in many events, concerts, tours, TV guestings, commercials, music videos, films, and print ads.
= Joshua Barlis
Each member contributes to its authentic Hip-Hop flavor that combines the different styles of Break-dancing, Krumping, Freestyling. Other talents the members possess are Painting, Singing, Music Production, Commercial

ARNEL PINEDA (lead singer JOURNEY)

noreply@blogger.com (JUANdelaCRUZ) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 22:28:00 +0000

Arnel Pineda (born September 5, 1967) is an international Filipino singer-songwriter and is currently the lead singer of the American rock band Journey. Pineda has enjoyed a successful musical career in Asia for the last 25 years.
Arnel Pineda was born in Sampaloc, Manila, in the Philippines. His mother instilled his love for singing at an early age, encouraging him to sing along to songs from her favorite singers like Karen Carpenter and Barbra Streisand. Growing up, his parents entered him in many singing contests.
His mother, who had been suffering from rheumatic heart disease, died when he was thirteen. Her illness had left their family deep in debt. Being a year behind on their rented apartment and unable to sufficiently provide for the family, his father decided to move out and ask relatives to take in Pineda's siblings. To ease his father's burden, Pineda quit school and volunteered to strike out on his own.
For about two years his life was spent out on the streets, sleeping wherever he could: in public parks, or on a narrow bench outside a friend's crowded house. He earned meager money by collecting glass bottles, newspapers, and scrap metal and selling them to recyclers. He would also go to the pier with his friends and take on odd jobs like cleaning scrap metal and docked ships. He didn't have much to eat, sometimes rationing a small package of biscuit as his meal for two days. Despite all these hardships he tried to remain optimistic about his future.

Allan Lindo aka "apl.de.ap" of BLACK EYED PEAS

noreply@blogger.com (JUANdelaCRUZ) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:42:00 +0000

Apl.de.ap was born in Sapang Bato, Angeles City, Pampanga, in the Philippines, to a Filipino mother and an African American father. His father, a U.S. airman stationed at Clark Air Base, abandoned the family shortly after his birth; his mother Cristina Pineda raised Apl and his six younger siblings as a single mother. Two of his siblings are deceased: his younger brother Arnel committed suicide. His youngest brother, Joven Pineda Deala, was murdered at the age of 22 in February 2009 in Porac, Pampanga.As a child, Apl would make an hour-long jeepney trip to and from school, and helped his family subsist by farming sweet potatoes, corn, sugar cane and rice.The Pearl S. Buck Foundation, an organization that finds healthier living environments for young abandoned or orphaned Amerasian children, matched him with a sponsor named Joe Ben Hudgens through a dollar-a-day program. He initially came to the United States at the age of 11 to treat nystagmus, an involuntary movement of the eyes. During a trip to Disneyland, Apl expressed his interest in staying in the United States. It would take another three years for Hudgens to officially adopt him, but at fourteen he moved permanently to the United States to live with Hudgens.In Los Angeles, he attended John Marshall High School and he met William Adams (stage name will.i.am), the nephew of Hudgens' roommate.Apl's early musical influences were Stevie Wonder, The Eagles, The Beatles, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Leaders of the New School and the popular Filipino rock/folk group, Asin. Apl was introduced to hip-hop by break dancing. "I would take the jeepney all the way to Angeles City, and that's how I got introduced to break dancing," he said. "I would see kids at the corner break-dancing and I'm like, 'I wanna do that.'"