Jake Zyrus, Alonzo Muhlach, Upgrade and More Awarded at the Best Choice Annual Awards 2017

Thankful and honored of Wazzup Pilipinas to be awarded alongside the likes of Jake Zyrus, Alonzo Muhlach, Upgrade, and more at the recently concluded Best Choice Annual Awards for 2017.

We all know Jake Zyrus as the former Charice Pempengco who has courageously shown her true self regardless of what others may say. That alone deserves its own separate award aside from her prowess in the singing profession.

Alonzo Muhlach is a spitting image of his father and is not so far away from being a child star himself just like Nino Muhlach during his younger years. I grew up seeing Nino as the most recognizable child star during his time, and it is but reminiscing to see his son following his 'cute" footsteps.

All boys group Upgrade could very well join the ranks of popular singing groups with their charm as a big bonus for their fans, especially the young girls out there who are swooning over them.

I was fortunate enough to get exclusive video interviews from both Jake Zyrus and Alonzo Muhlach, aside from their performances on stage. I also have all video coverage of the performances of Upgrade so watch out for them either on our YouTube channel or Facebook page.

The awarding ceremony was held on September 22, 2017, at the Richmonde Hotel Eastwood in Libis, Quezon City.

Manny Pacquiao, Regine Tolentino, Daiana Menezes, Gerard Sison, and More for Comic Con Asia 2018

From what I'm seeing right now, all those pop culture conventions or expos are becoming almost exactly one and the same since they employ literally almost the same "formula" or content at their events with the addition and exemptions of just a few who are either exclusive, not conveniently affordable or unavailable to partner or collaborate with their events, or belong to a different group not associated with them.

I'm talking about all those events evolving around toys, comics, cosplays, anime, and everything related in one way or another. This is why, if you are a fanatic of attending the said events, you would often get the chance to see almost the same people and attractions. Though the bigger ones invite foreign celebrities and attractions to add to the hype, they still use the same formula - meet and greet, book signing, photo ops, regular and VIP passes, cosplay, cosplay, and cosplay.

Thus, I was not surprised when the latest convention capitalized on cosplayers at their media launch. But these are not the ordinary cosplayers because JusticePH belongs to the top cosplayers around with outfits or costumes that are superior in materials and details. Their members are also not confined to Justice League characters alone since we could see them wearing costumes inspired by other popular characters from the movies, animation (cartoons and anime), and comic books. 

They also invited celebrities like Daiana Meneses and Regine Tolentino to cosplay as two versions of Wonder Woman, and Miss Global Philippines beauty queens wearing outfits of Scarlet Witch, Harley Quinn, Diana Prince from the latest Wonder Woman movie, and also have to mention Gerard Sison as the most recognizable Superman cosplayer not because of his costume but because of his striking facial features resembling the earlier Superman actor. To top it all up, they also have senator and boxing champ Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao as their event ambassador (It would have been a lot more fun to see him cosplay, but I guess already represents the better role of "Pambansang Kamao."

If these still do not give you a hint that the event would be far greater compared to the rest, the organizers promise to make the experience of attending the convention a lot more interactive by employing challenges for the attendees where they get the chance to win prizes if they take the effort to accept the challenges. It's like being inside an RPG game itself where there are side quests where you get to win special loots or extra perks aside from glory of completing the main quest.

Could I suggest as well the ability to "level up" at their event? Like, the attendees to points for every visit to each booth, gain prizes if they reach a certain number, earn another point if they return on the second day, earn more points if they stay for several hours, earn points if they belong to the early birds, and more points if they stay until closing time. Perhaps more points if they get to join the special activities like meet and greets, and a lot more (since you're getting my drift already). Attendees who would be coming in costume could also get a certain number of points or instant freebies the moment they enter the venue. Remember that they add to the success of the event because that would mean more attractions to ogle upon (selfies, photo ops, groupfies, etc with fans).

In short, every move is equal to a certain point which they could cash-out or gift-out when they've earned a considerable amount of points already. Like a free shirt for the first 100 points, or whatever loot will be coming from the sponsors.

Though the organizers are still not able to provide a list of their intended celebrities to grace the occasion, I'm sure they will give in to the demands of the fans. They should have consultants who are well-knowledgeable about the fandom, and not just the momentary hype so they could evaluate which popular personality or groups they would be willing to spend their budget on. The sponsors would also weigh in on the decision since they would want more mileage out of their sponsorship. 

Getting in more people is not the only intent but also attracting all kinds of audience and not just the usual geeks who frequent similar conventions. With the organizers having the mainstream entertainment and beauty pageant media already in their database, I would suggest they also tap the online or blogging community which could also generate a massive promotion of their event. We all know that online is the now and the future so it would be wise to also include online influencers to create interests to this newest addition to the pop culture conventions.

The Moymoy Lulumboy Book 4 Media Launch

Coming from the owner of Precious Pages (home of the Precious Romance hits), we expect nothing but the best the company could offer out of the Moymoy Lulumboy books. True enough, Segundo Matias Jr.'s Moymoy Lulumboy stories are giving foreign fictional stories something to watch out for. If you want stories revolving around our own versions of mythological creatures like "aswang" and "manananggal", then this book is highly recommended.

The Moymoy Lulumboy books are proudly Filipino creations with Filipino writer/illustrator Jomike Tejido providing the images for us to better visualize the characters and stories aside from the words coming from the author. I'm actually craving for a full comic/graphic book version so Jomike could illustrate more.

We have to admit that the illustrations provide essential elements on why we love most books since we get to have an idea of what the heroes and villains, the places and objects, especially weapons, would look like. Though the author would effectively describe most of the looks, their words are mostly effective in establishing the character and feelings of the main characters. Most of the images, sequences, their over-all looks, etc., are established in our heads as we read the story. Thus, interpretations may vary depending on how we visualize them in our heads.

The comic book artists are making it big as well by using their expertise to bring the experience to a higher level since we get to see how they truly envision the world and the characters via different angles, point of views, colors, etc.,

Yet, after seeing the presentation during the media launch held on the Saturday during the Manila International Book Fair (MIBF) 2017, the book could also be effective as a musical or play, or even a TV series or a movie? Who knows, only the fans could further dictate up to which point the success of Moymoy Lulumboy would reach. An effective collaboration is always the concern, but when all parties involved are eager to make everything work, we're sure to see the character go beyond the books. Why not? It is well deserving of praise and should be rewarded by getting more exposure through different mediums.

How about an online version, a digital interactive e-book perhaps? It's a lot of hard work, but more realistic than an animated feature since the Philippines is not yet ready for a Filipino-produced animation.

We all know about the popularity of Harry Potter, the Game of Thrones, and other fantasy stories. They all started out as books so which raises the question, "Is Moymoy Lulumboy qualified enough to be considered at par with their level, and could make its way to a TV series too?"

The answer is " If we could also make our special effects at par with the Hollywood versions, then there may be a chance to follow those footsteps."

Our only shortcoming is that we still do not have enough skills and equipment to get away with stunning visuals that could match what Hollywood is doing. Even if we do, we could nit afford it yet. The expense or cost of the project may not be attractive for producers.

But why am I talking about the next level for Moymoy Lulumboy? The author revealed that he may consider reaching up to book 7, and even beyond that. That means more reading adventure for book lovers.

I am fortunate enough to now be a proud owner of all four books, and looking forward to continue the collection even if it means attending all MIBF events. But that is no errand for me as I always anticipate this annual event. The smell of real books, flipping every page as you read, and actually holding them in my hands are beyond compare to having them on a tablet or online version. Seeing them on the shelves at home and able to get them as I please everytime as I go to bed before finally sleeping, is always a much awaited moment.

Congratulations to the team, for coming out with the newest addition to the Moymoy Lulumboy book series. Count us in up to the next upcoming books! Let's put Philippine folklore further into global knowledge. We've seen Philippine mythological characters already being used in foreign content, so hopefully the Moymoy Lulumboy books will strengthen our presence in the international scene.