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!

MQuest Ventures and PARI Unite for AWIT AWARDS

Took the trip to hip Poblacion district in Makati for a one of a kind Vibe PH night where folks from production giant MQuest Ventures and the Philippine Association of the Record Industry signed a partnership to host the 38th edition of the prestigious Awit Awards. 

The event was hosted by several vibe jocks (Maxie Andreison, Joao Constancia, Anna Ramsey, Elijah Canlas, Kych Minemoto, Queenay, a mix of their young gen) and a lot of the artists under different recording companies were in attendance to support the pact. MQuest Holdings President and CEO Ms. Jane Basas and PARI President and Chairman Atty. Marivic Benedicto formalized this signing with executives from various labels serving witness too. I think I've seen Universal's Ethel Cachapero, OC Records James Banaag, and Alpha Music's Alvin De Vera (some personally said hi) at the event. 

For those who don't know, VIBE has been doing countdown shows in multiple channels and has been quite aggressively promoting OPM these past few months and we've seen several established, up and coming, indie and more performing on the show. They're a very good bunch interviewing artists, giving them the platform they need to promote music, and love for it. Actually, much of the event had artists perform in between Vibe portions where they interview them. 

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CUESHE performs their classic hits!

As for the 38th Awit Awards, it will happen this coming November 16th at the huge Meralco Theater in Ortigas. It will be at the helm of Johnny Manahan to direct the show. Artists like Ben & Ben, Over October, Lola Amour and popular Dionela were also announced to perform in the awards night, . We were also treated with lovely songs by CUESHE (and other bands). I like how some of them did it in a different way. You can watch it on my YT account's Shorts @kumagcow.

Again, the awards night will be shown on Vibe at TV5 and the associated channels of Vibe PH, TV5, MQuest, PARI and Awit Awards.  

It just sounds so exciting! 

Luis Villanueva Unleashes new Single “Pécho”

Chill, breezy, relaxing and fun, that's what I'd gladly describe Luis Villanueva's newest single Pecho.

For those who haven't seen it yet, he's a very talented producer, musician, film maker based in the US. He's done Selfish and Cloud 9, his first two singles and it has amassed 1.3 million streams on Spotify which is a feat in itself.

This new single is his handy work influenced by disco, and combined it with techno-electronic music, things you could experience in New York, Paris or the whole Europe. Pecho's music video has already won in film festivals across the globe. They also have casted Asian, LGBTQIA+, Black, Femme and the disabled to work on this video, including Kakie Pangilinan to represent Filipinos in the international scene. Luis also is a founding member of 908A together with Jeune Pascal, a filmmaking and production corpo based in New York. They also promote AAPI in music production and this is their first project. They also released NFT made by artist Dario Rizzuto.908A also hosts events in Columbia University, Parsons and NYU, promoting Filipino art, culture in the state and district.

Here's what I enjoyed today, pretty sick:

Congratulations Luis! You're definitely going places!

YLONA GARCIA Does “Don’t Go Changing” Under 88rising

I've seen her in the country and all I thought of while hearing her sing is that, she's severely underrated. She deserves an international audience and she's about to get it. Sydney based Ylona Garcia just released her single "Don't Go Changing" under American music company 88rising. This song was produced by Jonas Jeberg (who also did songs for Panic! At the Disco, Demi Lovato, The Jonas Brothers, Selena Gomez) and Marcus Lomax (who did songs for Justin Bieber, Maroon 5, Miley Cyrus0. Listening to it this evening had me put myself in a trance with a late night chill song. The lyrics though tell a story on how to grieve and showcase the different stages of letting go, something that hopeless romantics, people who fall in love intensely could easily relate with.

This is part of 88rising's efforts to bring artists from the East to West and it will be part of Head In The Clouds III which will be their third installment. Ylona says "This song simply embraces the truth in life's many mysteries. It talks about tough love." HITC3 by the way will be out on digital stores come first quarter of 2022. The video is directed by Louis Browne who also did work for artists like Jack Newsome, Ellie Goulding (whom I love in ehterial dance tracks!) and Rich Brian. The video (which is on YouTube already) shows a more mature, sultry side of her. Done quite nice, I could see how she's going places with this attempt.

I guess Ylona is going to be destined for an international career, and by the looks of it... she's doing quite good! Congratulations girl, you're going to be BIG!

Kylie Padilla: Seasons

She is Kylie Padilla

A few days ago, we went to the album launch of Kylie Padilla. For those who don't know, she's the daughter of action star Robin Padilla. She's angelic, she's got Venus like skin, she's an actress who's done a few films under her belt and has been regarded as the Angelina Jolie of Philippine cinema. She did her own stunts in a Padilla clan movie and she doesn't mind doing it again. She looks like she's enjoying taking risks, and this time she's embarking on a new journey and take on the the fine art of music. She's got an album out called SEASONS and says this one represents her life that goes through lots of ups and downs, tons of storms and sunshine. They chose this title because of that same reason.

Kylie just wanted this out of her system and it was awesome of GMA Records to also get this started with her. She even has done recordings of the tracks on her own, paying for the studios because she says this is her passion. She is co-producing it. The process of recording this album took quite a while, about 8 months because she's got tons of work in between. 

 

Lonely Without You, Sulat and Awake wasn't hers but it was chosen to fit her mood the time she did this album. Gitara was inspired by a photo of a guy (which we later found out was him) where she remembers him holding it and his abs. 

The track Seasons was actually done in a car, the song is about changing feelings... done about 2 years ago. The track Mine was done in a restaurant, which she often does in writing (like a spur of the moment). She doesn't necessarily need to be sad now before she gets inspired. 

 

She doesn't believe she's really a great singer, but she has her own style. She also wants to build on that. The music on the tracks were done by other musicians and she got her inputs on that. This has 8 tracks and supposedly it was going to be 10 but they had to release it soon. When asked what Kylie they will see on this album, they will see someone real. She acts on TV and on movies but singing brings a more genuine side of her. She's still looking for her own genre and this is some sort of experiment. She was listening to Taylor Swift during the writing process and some say it somehow did come out on the album. 

She doesn't want to shed skin just to promote this album. She knows sex sells, but she's not going to resort to that. She's doing emotional songs and it doesn't mean she has to shed her clothes for that. She wants to sell this album as a full singer and songwriter. It's the most difficult thing to understand because she knows that you would need to read the lyrics to understand what she feels at that time. She also wants to write a song for Julie Anne San Jose, and wants to get her input because they are both artists. She also wants to write for Yeng Constantino or work with her. She's got a ton of songs that she wants to release and it's okay for other artists to perform it. She wants to become a songwriter first, she's also got stage fright so she's learning right now to overcome it. The songs she's writing now are more inclined on Lourde-ish ones but will try to do that in a later album (if given a chance). When we listened to Alive (when she sang it) it felt like Rihanna had something to do with it (no joke), she admits it came out that way because she's inspired by a ton of singers.  

Kylie hopes everyone would get to listen to her album so they would know how much she has put in who she really is on this one. It's now released nationwide under GMA Records so that means, most record bars and stores have it. I've listened to it this morning, all I can say is... she can really sing. Make sure you get Kylie Padilla's SEASONS now!

For more information about his album:

Official GMA Artist Center

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http://gmanetwork.com/artistcenter

Paolo Onesa: Pop Goes Standards

Paolo Onesa sung before us during a small bloggers gathering at the MCA offices in Ortigas. To tell you honestly I didn't know him that much other than he performed during The Voice Philippines. I had my own personal favorite that time and only rooted for one but it didn't matter later on because my bet didn't win haha. Anyway, I'm always up for anything so I listened in. This is his way of introducing himself and from the looks of it, he's bound to be a good one.

Apart from the fact that he's a looker, he sounds so much better singing some tunes. In this album, he's doing some pop songs and treating it with a standard style. If you know Richard Poon, he sounds mighty close to that. Not that he's competition but I guess MCA wants to present him as a younger version since that is pretty much his genre of music. While in the competition, he was actually advised to find his niche because he was pretty much everywhere in terms of music. When he wanted to finally concentrate on one genre, this was really a good match. 

He wanted to sing more originals and some of the difficult songs that divas usually sing. He even did a spin on Love on Top which was sung by Beyonce and it sounded good. This album was a split between what he wanted and what MCA heeded he does as far as song choices are concerned. No arguments though because after all the arrangements were done, it was all good. I went and listened to the tracks these past few days and I guess they've achieved what they wanted to do. It was relaxing, something that you would want to be played at the end of the day when you want to just put up your feet and get a well deserved rest. It could actually even pass as a zen song for spa's but it'll probably be those youngster frequented places. 

While we were interviewing Paolo, his tone reminds me of Matteo Gudicceli. He's young, so he feels like he's a sponge and is willing to actually learn what this industry has in store for him. He's a bit shy but he knows how to crack jokes when needed. That implies he's a smart one. 

His album contains 10 tracks and is available online including iTunes

Lucky In Love
You Are So Beautiful
Make You Feel My Love
Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me) featuring Klarisse de Guzman
Marry Me
You're Beautiful
When I Was Your Man
Which Way, Robert Frost?
Skyfall
Elesi

I strongly suggest though that you get the physical CD because it's way better to have a hard copy. Digital gets lost these days but if you're just buying single tracks, that could be the better option. Thanks to MCA Music for letting us get to know Paolo Onesa! He's bound to charm his way into your heart soon!

For more information about their music:

mca music

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Visit their official website

http://www.mcamusic.com.ph

HALE: The Complete Hits Album

I have seen this guy in the past when we got the chance to talk with SomeDayDream a few months ago. I haven't seen them perform as a group "live" though aside from the occasional appearances they had with MYX via public television. He was nice, he had that presence and I'm not surprised he's got a huge following because aside from good looks... Champ Lui Pio's got so much talent. That goes the same with everyone in his band called Hale. 

Although we're all so shocked about their decision to disband for all the wrong or right reasons, we still continue to reminisce and ask ourselves... why do I love Hale and their songs. We might not even know why or how we could get the band back but for the latter we can easily get our fix of their music! Polyeast Records just came out with the "Platinum Collection : HALE | The Complete Hits Album". If you are a fan of the band or their songs, you would never want to let this thing pass because aside from the CD this contains a DVD compilation of all the greatest hits you love from HALE. This is surely something that fans should never miss. The playlist also boasts of 17 songs which topped Philippine charts when the band was still together. The song choices alone were great, I wonder if they had a hand at this. You should definitely watch the DVD first before listening to the CD. I guess that's the part where you get nostalgic.

Honestly I see quite a ton of sadness in some of these songs. But there's actually truth in these things. These songs matter to guys in general. Girls dig the part where its supposed to be sung to them. You dream of how these emotions could possibly be expressed; they use lyrics and music. Hale just does it like clockwork. It's like poetry put into a song. It's deep that you get depressed in a good way (if there is such a thing). Heavy on most of the ones included in the album; but totally apt for the occasion. There's like a sense of sadness but you love how it just brings your sanity back to something that would totally communicate how you feel when it happens to you. A breakup, a situation, a thing of the past just comes crashing back to you after hearing them play their music.

Broken Sonnet, The Day You Said Goodnight are given favorites. What I love in this album though is quite a surprise... it's the single Magkaibang Mundo. Not only because the official music video stars one of my muse Angel Locsin but because the words touched me the most. It's kinda situational too and I won't tell you I had a similar experience. No I won't tell you really LOL. I guess this album's strong point is that everybody's got a situation they can relate to. That's exactly what the songwriter probably wanted to do in the first place. If you like the band, the song and their music, you should definitely have this album. You'll regret it if you don't.

Please drop by your favorite record stores nationwide and get it. With a CD and DVD it's a collectors item. Thanks to Polyeast Records for making sure we have enough inspiration with Hale's music until now. I just wish somehow, someday they still get to play together. I'm with you. 

For more information about this album


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PolyEast Records 

Acoustic Essentials: Angela Sings James Taylor, Michael Learns To Rock!

I've been listening to her CD these past few days and honestly I haven't seen this particular artist yet nor have I interviewed her. The album itself didn't contain her photos so I was wondering if this was really meant to be this way. I got her "Acoustic Essentials: Angela Sings James Taylor" and the other one "Acoustic Essentials: Angela Sings Michael Learns To Rock". Both of these artists are classics and I am very familiar of their songs; I wonder how she'll be able to do this since the songs are pretty good even without re-interpreting the original. 

I was surprised to hear this for the first time. She's got spunk and the voice is so angelic. No wonder the monicker! My current favorite on this first one is "If I Keep My Heart Out Of Sight". Although she didn't veer away that much from the way James Taylor sings this, it makes a refreshing and more dreamy way of doing this.You kinda get caught in the middle of just enjoying it and keeping your eyes closed setting the mood to relax and off to a good slumber. Here's some of the other songs in the album:

1 How Sweet It Is
2 You've Got A Friend
3 Fire and Rain
4 Wondering
5 Shower The People
6 Your Smiling Face
7 Sweet Baby James
8 Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight
9 Handyman
10 If I Keep My Heart Out Of Sight
11 Something in The Way She Moves
12 Carolina On My Mind

The other album which contains "Michael Learns To Rock" covers is sublime! For those who loved their songs from a couple of years ago, this is definitely a "Must Buy". It really feels different to hear these songs come from a female because as you know the male take on this was kinda romantic. Since she sounds so angelic the difference just makes this a tad better. Not to undermine the original it just sounds clean and crisp when you do this on an unplugged state. 

If there's something to take note of on this album, it's the single "I'm Gonna Be Around". You can really feel that she's going to be there. The emotions were evidently showing on each track but I loved this one better. I guess to each his own. You kinda get the favorite songs you connect with. Believe me, it's quite easy to do that with her voice. She's done this so good. You have the choice to love more on this album's 12 tracks. Do you find anything that you fancy?!

1 25 Minutes
2 Out of the Blue
3 That's Why You Go Away
4 Paint My Love
5 The Actor
6 Sleeping Child
7 Breaking My Heart
8 How Many Hours
9 I'm Gonna Be Around
10 Nothing To Lose
11 You Took My Heart Away
12 Someday

For those who would like me to choose the better one between the two, I'd go for the James Taylor. Though it would really be a more moving experience if you got both CD's on your car. You'll feel definitely better because its worth collecting. On a Sunday afternoon, where you just want to chill and lie down on a hammock whilst sipping on your tropical punch laced with an umbrella on the side this is the perfect accompaniment for that. I wish I could meet the artist behind this album and ask her about the song choices because I feel her.

You can get these albums on your favorite record bars. This is also released in the Philippines by Polyeast Records. 

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PolyEast Records 

She's Back! : The Best of Kylie Minogue!

Hey guys, I'm sure you got the busiest schedules and life's pretty hectic. Enough of that because one of the most beautiful woman I've ever known just released a new album. It's time to talk about that! I think it's kinda early for this but the thought of having an album with The Best of Kylie Minogue as title is just what any particular fan would love. For those who haven't even seen it, you are missing half your life and probably half of the playlist that you should have in your gadgets. You probably think this is going to be the most biased album review because obviously I love her. But I will try my best to stay neutral would that be okay?  For starters, the song choice is like a full tour on Kylie Minogue's career. From chart toppers to dance hits, from memorable pieces to the changes she has been in the past few decades, they've compiled that all into one album. This is definitely a collectors item. First on the list is "Can't Get You Out of My Head" which is stellar, cosmic and undoubtedly one of the more futurustic tracks of Kylie when she came back with a vengeance in the 90's. It has been used in so many shows on TV people already know the beat by heart. I even love "Spinning Around" and "Get Outta My Way" track where her alter ego Disco Kylie probably came out, it would have been fun if they included "You Did It Again" since that would show the identities she had at that time. That's why I regret to have not been able to experience her in the Aphrodite concert a couple of months ago, that would have sent me into tears for sure! Her phenomenal hits "I should be so Lucky" and "The Locomotion" has transcended time and got included on this album too; because that's one of her more notable hits in the 80's so you've gotta have that.

Her most recent album with hit single "All the Lovers" which in my dictionary is by far is one of the sexiest videos ever shown on MTV is something that you should watch... it'll set you on fire because after that you'll really feel too hot! Here's a rundown on the tracks for this "The Best of Kylie Minogue" Album:

1 Can't Get You Out of My Head – 3:492 Spinning Around – 3:263 I Should Be So Lucky – 3:244 Love at First Sight – 3:575 In Your Eyes – 3:186 Kids (with Robbie Williams) – 4:187 Better the Devil You Know – 3:548 All the Lovers – 3:199 Give Me Just a Little More Time – 3:0710 Celebration – 3:5511 Slow – 3:1312 Red Blooded Woman – 4:2113 I Believe in You – 3:1914 On a Night Like This – 3:3115 Confide in Me – 4:2616 Get Outta My Way – 3:3917 The Loco-Motion – 3:1218 Tears on My Pillow – 2:3319 Wow – 3:1220 In My Arms – 3:3221 Never Too Late – 3:27

I

21 tracks of pure electronic music, a mix of inspirations from French, UK or Australian clubs. It's the ultimate album of choice for lovers like me. So make sure that if you drop by your local record bars, get one of these essentials and make her music pound on your ears til the wee hours of the morning like I do!

The Best of Kylie Minogue is released in the Philippines by the good people at Polyeast Records!

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PolyEast Records 

Make It Or Break It: Down To Mars!

I'm not quite fond of KPOP music but I don't hate it don't get me wrong. I have seen groups try and fail miserably but I have seen something very promising a few days ago. Have you guys heard of Down To Mars?

For starters, Down To Mars is NOT a KPOP group. They are however something new, a new breed signifying a whole other genre called "INTERPOP" probably because they are half Filipino and half of an other Asian race. This was my first time to see them but have seen they've got quite a HUGE following. That alone got my attention. Why were they so interesting to these people? That I've got to find out.

You'd be deaf from their screams if you were there I'm tellin you! The host alone had to stop a couple of times to tell the audience to tone down a bit because we weren't hearing him anymore.

Good looking guys who can sing and dance quite well for their age. No wonder they've been hounded by their fans like that! For what its worth, I honestly see these guys are going places. I can tell that to you this early because they will literally be representing the Philippines in Korea a couple of months from now. The Korea Day together with other International performers will be their launch pad in that part of the world and I'm not surprised if they are going to get a lot of screams there as well. They are seriously combining these guys like its a waste of good looks if you put them in a group. GMA and Polyeast Records are gambling on this one but I think they've got a mighty gem in the rough. As far as performance goes, they delivered!

Plus they showed their single's official MTV! With Marian Rivera on the video too!

7 talented guys who also have the looks. Will the make it or break it? I don't know yet but it certainly looks VERY promising! Sorry for those who say they are "KPOP" because honestly they are not. It's like they are in their own genre. They've got their album already out in the market and you should look for the same name DOWN TO MARS on your favorite record bars. This is once again under POLYEAST Records. Try to make sure you get a copy and see what the difference is! Watch out for their shows in leading malls/establishments nationwide!

For more information about the artists/ their single/album


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Down To Mars

Polyeastrecords Phils