Australia | The Adobo Chronicles

Sydney, Australia (The Adobo Chronicles) – Fifteen-year-old Filipina Marlisa Punzalan was declared this season’s winner of the syndicated reality show X Factor Australia, beating two other finalists, Dean Ray and Brothers 3.

Marlisa’s mentor, Irish singer Ronan Keating, so much wanted his protégé to win the competition that he had a nervous breakdown during the night when the results of the voting were announced. He had to be briefly hospitalized immediately after the live telecast.

The night previous to the announcement of the results, Keating said on live TV that this could possibly be his last season as judge and mentor on X Factor Australia and that he wanted to leave the show with her protégé winning the competition.

Keating’s first visitors at his hospital bed were Marlisa and her huge family who brought him home-cooked adobo, pancit and lumpia, the signature Filipino dishes. That significantly reduced Keating’s blood pressure.

All’s well that ends well.

Here’s Marlisa’s final performance in the grand finals:

The announcement:

Sydney, Australia (The Adobo Chronicles) – Koalas, incorrectly called koala bears, are slowly diappearing from the Australian continent, thanks to an advertising campaign launched by a razor company.

The razor ads feature bearded male models who, upon closer examination, are actually ‘sporting’ baby koalas on their faces. The ad photos have gone viral and many Australian men have caught on to the new fad.

Koalas have once been considered an endangered species and the Australian government fears the new fad will evetually lead to the extinction of these cuddly, furry animals.

Animal rights groups in Australia have threatened to sue the razor company for instigating this fad. Barbers who have lost a lot of business lately, have said they will join in this class-action law suit.

As for the razor company, sales have plummeted. Their ad campaign to promote shaving backfired.