AWIT AWARDS 2025 Powered by VibePH Shot on Honor 400 5G

VibePH jocks all looked so gorgeous and handsome at the Purple Carpet

It's my first time covering the Awit Awards who has partnered with MQuest and the folks from VibePH. They also have partnered with Honor Philippines who lent us their newest phone, the Honor 400 5G which we used to take videos on the purple carpet before festivities began inside the newly revamped Meralco Theater. We needed to be there early to make sure we had time to see the artists arrive around noon, and they were quite generous posing for us at the VibePH Purple carpet. Awit Awards is an annual event where the PARI (Philippine Association of the Record Industry) honors some of the remarkable musical artists in the country. Even before the event began, I heard PPOP greats SB19 and BINI were receiving awards which I'm super happy about! 

Saw Lolita Carbon, Donita Nose, Ben and Ben, Tutti Caringal, Iñigo Pascual, and a lot more musical artists at the Purple Carpet

Here's some of the scenes at the Purple Carpet, this was in front of the Meralco Building which houses the theater. 

This event was certainly one of the grandest ones I've ever seen. I could see the dedication and work they put in to honor the bands, the groups and individual artists who received awards. I specifically love the part where I saw my own idol Ely Buendia who received the "Dangal ng Musikang Pilipino Award" for his contributions to the music industry. They also gave awards to SB19, their collabs, individual members (including my bias Felip!) and femme PPOP artists BINI. 

This was something that was expected, and they definitely delivered. Hosts Joao Constancia and Ryle Paolo Tan also.gave something extra for this hosting stint. I'd like to send our thanks to MQuest Ventures, PARI and HONOR Philippines for letting us cover the Awit Awards 2025 Powered by VibePH and shot entirely during this event with the Honor 400 5G.

You are not just a business, but passionate people who want to further help the music industry and these artists. May your tribe increase tenfold!

Congratulations to all the winners!

COMBO ON THE RUN Review and How To Get ERASERHEADS Tickets Early via PalawanPay

I was there during their last concert, their last appearance with Smart...  and now they have COMBO ON THE RUN in cinemas so I had to watch this too.

The ERASERHEADS was more than icon, they were a phenomenon that only occurs once in a lifetime. They defined the band life during the 90's, Raymund, Marcus, Ely and Buddy became gods for us, and this was a fitting pickup from where we left off.

The movie was a hodge podge of dark grungy clips of Nokia phone videos sewn together from them being amateurs to tapping club gigs later on. They weren't an overnight success, it was a slow burn, of people who came into their lives that made them who they are today.

Recording those demos and sounding like it was coming from a can, they needed to re-record everything and got it played first on equally iconic radio station for rock NU107.

The songs that got us hooked, the punks, the emos, and how crazy it became, it was the best of times. They toured not just in the Philippines but around Asia, MTV Awards, fame was getting to them fast and it was pandemonium wherever they are.

Their personal life got affected, their privacy, but they still had to dish out songs continuously, without breaks, no vacations, and nobody was saying they were tired. Then still got to movies, commercials, more tours, then did a lot to turn people off. They went weird, lost, but the companies didn't want them to do that. Then finished an album without meeting in studios, they went downhill, had their own set of friends, butt heads, started to really get on each other's nerves. Nobody fixed it. They also didn't know how to manage money,

I loved how they included Ms. Sharon Cuneta, VP Leni, politics and their issues were discussed. Now I have a good understanding about what happened during that time. 

 

 

 

Then now, meeting again after years... they are now setting aside their differences for the fans, a part that made me really emotional. Then they went ahead and surprised us at the end of the film about doing a concert on May 31st. That's almost a month from now, and you can get tickets ahead of everyone else through PalawanPay.

They call it Electric Fun Music Festival. All you need to do is download the PalawanPay App and purchase by following the prompts there. Select the ticket tier you want to be in, add to cart, purchase the ticket by cashing in funds on the PalawanPay App. The concert will be at the SMDC Festival Grounds. You can get tickets starting March 29 to April 16 on the app and have a 5% discount on it. You need to Upgrade your account to have it verified by submitting ID's. You can then claim tickets the next day on SM Ticket Outlets. PalawanPay will also be choosing a lucky fan to win 4 SVIP Tickets. If you bought a lower tier one it will be upgraded so you can go with your friends or family. You can follow their social channels to know more about this event, can't wait to get tickets! See you there!

SMART MUSIC LIVE: Ely Buendia, Up Dharma Down, Nathan Sykes, Autotelic,Crwn and Aegis

Just let me know one artist in this lineup and I'll be there!

It's Ely Buendia. I've been a fan of his since day 1. I was fortunate to have the first concert in UP Sunken Garden, the last set, his XL Concert, the Deezer launch and during PLDT and Smart's launch of their new logo. I even hang around UP back in high school and college so I could see a glimpse of him. I'm not a BIG fan, I'm crazy about Eraserheads and all of them!

Anyway, I know I'm not the only crazy guy out there that would like to see them in a show. Add to that, Smart is going to have Up Dharma Down, Nathan Sykes, Autotelic, Crwn and Aegis perform live on stage at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. You've got the greatest OPM artists, an internationally renowned performer and a lot of surprises in one go. If you haven't got tickets yet, make sure you go to smrt.ph/smartmusiclive for more details. Be there around 6:30PM as the show will start promptly with opening performers so don't be left behind! Go ask your friends and family too if they like good music because I'm sure this is one HUGE party you don't want to miss!

See you there!

KUMAGCOW

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The Smart - Deezer Launch With Rico Blanco, Ely Buendia and More!

Listen. It's the only thing that you have to do to enjoy one of the biggest and strongest tie up ever brought to Philippine shores. Smart Communications, the country's biggest network and Deezer, one of the world's biggest web streaming services just recently launched their partnership at the posh club Raven in BGC.

The event was hosted by rockstar royal daughter cum VJ/DJ Sanya Smith. Deezer had so many things to offer Smart subscribers and that only spells 30.6 Million tracks as of this minute, the ability to create and customize playlists of your own, share that to millions of people and have it in almost all your gadgets. 

To start off, we were treated with music from indie band "The Ransom Collective". They played a few originals and covers. Pretty sick. What puzzles me is that they're still in high school... would you believe that? Their album is also available in Deezer so check them out there.

Deezer's Business Development Manager for Asia Steven Frank says there's no opportune time to actually do this but now - because people are hungry for more music. Deezer's 30 Million songs would be the perfect thing to have for the millions of Smart subscribers in the Philippines.

Ms. Kathryn Carag, Smart's Postpaid Marketing Head also announced the packages meant for subscribers. Smart will also be giving Unlisurf Premium Plan early birds a P175 bill rebate for six months. Aside from that, existing Postpaid subscribers can take advantage of Deezer Music Packs that includes Deezer Premium. Subscribe to Deezer Daily for PHP 25 which you can do 1 day Deezer access plus 25 SMS and 10MB of mobile data for Deezer streaming. Or you can opt for Deezer Weekly for PHP 125 for 7-day Deezer access plus 125 SMS and 50MB of mobile data which you can use for Deezer streaming. Or better yet try Deezer Monthly for PHP250 so you can get 30 day Deezer access plus 250 SMS and 100MB of mobile data for streaming. These and more offers for Smart Prepaid subscribers will be also available soon. 

Cheers! Here's to a strong partnership with Deezer and Smart Communications. On this shot, Deezer's Business Development Manager for Asia Mr. Steven Frank, Mr. Charles A. Lim Smart's EVP and Wireless Consumer Division Head, Ms. Mellissa Limcaoco from Smart's Innovation and Product Development Group, Ms. Kathryn Carag Smart's Postpaid Marketing Head, the gorgeous Ms. Gina Daryanani Deezer's PR Manager for Asia and Ms. Dona Inthaxoum Deezer's Label Relations Head for Asia & Oceania.

The Smart Bro Live and Loud Concert!

Happy that I got the chance to meet people behind Smart a couple of weeks ago. It's time that I tell you this awesome experience when I covered the Smart Bro Live and Loud Concert. Honestly, I was already startled just by looking at the lineup of bands that was set to perform that evening. This was above and beyond the coolest way to spend an awesome night with friends and music lovers. Big thanks to Smart Bro who made this all possible! Then they started!

Opening the show was Save Me Hollywood. They're composed of some guys from Chicosci and Typecast fronted by Juliann Savard who's a former MYX VJ. They did their singles that are more on the Filipino rock, pop, punk and alternative genre. Pretty good.

While the concert was happening, Smart Bro and Smart Corporation had come out with very special offers and rates to patrons who were there that evening.

They even got booths that showcase the latest Internet connection kits, phone units and fun ones like this Instagram inspired one that prints out everything you hashtag with SmartLiveandLoud that evening.

They even got better speeds on these gizmos. I also had to connect to one of these because my data plan with the OTHER network was like hell. Now it was easy for me to tweet and inform my friends elsewhere where the party was!

Oh and if they couldn't go there, this whole concert was streamed LIVE ON YOUTUBE! This is the country's first LIVE INTERACTIVE CONCERT and judging by the throng of people viewing the concert alone, it was awesome!

Then SLAM BAM THANK YOU MA'AM it was time for a band oozing with machismo. It's FRANCO!

I didn't know I'd like this band THIS much. Their tunes Touch the Sky and Better Days was awesome!

Internet Action Star Ramon Bautista provided comic relief and romance as he made his moves with Carla D of Magic 89.9! He was hilarious I tell you!

See what I mean??? Hahaha!

Then the crowd went wild when this guy was introduced. Rico Blanco!

There was no doubt that he was a total concert performer! He even wore his fancy get up - alter ego when he performed his hits that evening like Yugto and some Rivermaya songs. Sweet!

His sound is getting more and more into the classic rock ones. He's got something going on for sure.

Then, pretty Barbie Almalbis went on stage and did some of her acoustic hits. I love the "TABING ILOG" theme. :)

Then my idol came along. Thank the gods of Olympus it's Ely Buendia!

Everybody was eagerly awaiting this part, Ely Buendia gave above and beyond what I expected! He's so good I would have stayed forever there no joke! Grabe! LOL

Things like these do not happen without a reason. It's because Smart Bro knows how to throw a party, a concert and stream it worldwide! I loved every bit of this LIVE AND LOUD concert. It's pretty clear why they are the better network. Make sure you are there the next time they throw something BIGGER BETTER and STRONGER soon!

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