Category Archives: International

Film and TV, International

FILIPINOS BARRED FROM ‘X FACTOR,’ OTHER REALITY TV SINGING COMPETITIONS

9 Comments
Contestants of Philippine heritage have done extremely well in reality shows like X Factor Israel and Bulgaria, Britain's Got Talent, Sing Off, and American Idol, among others.
Contestants of Philippine heritage have done extremely well in reality shows like X Factor Israel and Bulgaria, Britain’s Got Talent, Sing Off, and American Idol, among others.

Honolulu, Hawaii – From Israel to Bulgaria, from the U.S. to Great Britain, Filipinos are making waves in reality TV’s singing competitions, and show producers are not pleased.

Meeting in Honolulu for their annual convention, executive producers of the X Factor, Britain’s Got Talent, American Idol, The Voice and Sing Off today issued a joint announcement that henceforth, contestants from, or have a connection to the Philippines will be barred from participating in the TV shows.

“The reason we have foreign versions of these “franchise” shows is to discover talents from across the globe, and it is quite unfair that in every one of these shows, Filipinos are either winning or moving on to the finals,” the producers said.

The group added that the Philippines has its own local version of these shows, including Philippine Idol and PH Voice. “If Filipinos want to join these competitions, they should do so in their home country,” the group said.

Readers of The Adobo Chronicles will recall that just recently, the Philippines was also banned from international beauty pageants because its candidates have practically dominated the contest, having been consistently included in the top 5.  This year alone, the Philippines won the titles of Miss World, Miss Supranational and Miss International.

Reacting to the announcement by the television producers, the Consul General of the Philippine Consulate in Honolulu said, “So, what’s next? Are they also going to ban the Philippines from the sport of boxing?”

International, Politics, Travel

SARAH PALIN’S ‘MAHALO’ MOMENT AT WAIKIKI BEACH

2 Comments
Trash bins at a Waikiki restaurant marked "Mahalo"
Trash bins at a Waikiki restaurant marked “Mahalo”

Honolulu, Hawaii (Exclusive to The Adobo Chronicles) -Hawaii  seems to be the favorite go-to place for celebrities and politicians, especially during the winter.  Even former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin wanted to escape the freezing temperatures of her native Alaska and is spending the next couple weeks in the sunny, white sandy beaches of Waikiki.  Her visit is purely a personal vacation, and she has refused to grant interviews with the local media.

However, one of the reporters of The Adobo Chronicles caught up with the ex-governor at Queen’s Surf  Beach while she was laying on a straw mat she bought from a nearby ABC Store.  Our reporter asked Ms. Palin if there was any truth to the rumor that she flew to and landed in South Korea last week thinking that she was going to attend the Nelson Mandela memorial in Johannesburg, South Africa.

“That’s a lot of MAHALO,” she exclaimed, to the puzzlement of our reporter.

It turned out that Palin went into a McDonald’s restaurant on Kalakaua Avenue just before she went to the beach.  She ordered a cheeseburger, ate it inside the restaurant and deposited the wrapper and some leftover into the trash bin marked “Mahalo” (see photo).  She assumed that “mahalo” was Hawaiian for trash.  So what she actually wanted to say to our reporter was that the rumor about her landing in South Korea was nothing but “trash.”

To Palin’s credit, she actually knows the meaning of “Aloha” and can pronounce “Waikiki” without any problems. Someone just needs to let her know that “mahalo” means “thank you.”

International, Politics, Travel

FORMER PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT GLORIA MACAPAGAL ARROYO BANNED FROM HAWAII

Leave a comment
Big Island Mayor Billy Kenoi
Big Island Mayor Billy Kenoi

Honolulu, Hawaii – The islands of Hawaii are a convenient and strategic place for deposed, disgraced and criminally-charged Philippine politicians when fleeing, or trying to flee, their country. Honolulu became the temporary home of the late Ferdinand Marcos, his wife Imelda and their children when the dictator was forced to leave the Philippines following the historic People’s Power Revolution.

Another former president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, more popularly referred to as ‘GMA,’ is rumored to be planning an escape to Hawaii’s Big Island.  GMA is currently under hospital arrest for criminal charges of plunder and electoral fraud committed while she was president.

GMA’s plan just went poooof!

Hawaii’s mayor Billy Kenoi has signed a bill that bans genetically-engineered crops and plants, better known as GMO. Bill 113 was passed by the Hawaii County Council last November.

Arroyo’s chief of staff delivered the bad news to her at her hospital bed at a government hospital in Manila. The chief of staff did not realize that he had misread the news from Hawaii, thinking that the Big Island had just banned his boss, GMA,  from coming to the islands.

Now, the Hawaii County Council picked up the idea. It is now considering a bill to ban GMA, in addition to the already banned GMO.