20 PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY September 16 - 30 , 2017 Kundiman legend Ric Manrique , Jr . passes away
Ric Manrique , Jr . has passed away .
The U . S . -based singer dubbed as “ King of Kundiman Songs ” succumbed to a heart attack and diabetes complications last Saturday , Manila time , as announced by his children on his personal Facebook page . He was 76 .
“ On behalf of the members of the Manrique family , we would like to thank you all for the prayers and love that you have given to our Daddy ,” they posted .
Born Ricardo Manrique , Jr . in 1941 , he started his career as a member of the Mabuhay Singers in the 1950s . He became a national sensation in 1960 when he became a champion of the revered singing contest “ Tawag ng Tanghalan ” for 12 weeks .
Manrique then became a successful recording artist and live performer throughout the ’ 60s and ’ 70s . Best identified with singing traditional Filipino love songs , his contemporaries included fellow legends Ruben Tagalog and Diomedes Maturan . He recorded songs in Filipino , English and Ilocano .
Additionally , the singer with the smooth , distinctive baritone voice also sung the theme song of several Filipino movies , including a duet with Pilita Corrales called “ Ang Daigdig Ko ’ y Ikaw ,” from the 1965 movie of the same title starring Fernando Poe , Jr . and Susan Roces . Paying tribute to Manrique , veteran movie scribe Lolit Solis wrote in her latest Philstar column that the King of Kundiman was also the favorite singer of the late King of Philippine Movies and would take him to serenade the woman who eventually became his bride . Over the years , Manrique would also sing the theme song of several movies starring Roces including “ Florinda ” and “ Maruja .”
From the mid- ’ 60s to the early ’ 70s , Manrique also appeared in several movies , mostly as himself or as a singer including musical films like “ Christmas Holiday ,” “ Top Ten ” “ Musical Giant ” and “ Intensity ’ 70 .” In later years , he would migrate to the United States with his family but would continue to make public appearances for Filipino communities .
Last year , he was honored with a Lifetime Achievement award by TOPLA or The Outstanding
Pilipinos in Los Angeles . Over the years , his recordings have been re-issued time and again . Today , several of those recordings including a collection of Christmas songs are now available via popular streaming service , Spotify . ( Edwin P . Sallan , InterAksyon )
Leonardo DiCaprio shares before / after photos of PH beach
He ’ s long been known as an environmental activist , tackling the need to take action against climate change in a rousing speech he delivered when he won his first Oscar last year .
So it ’ s no surprise that Leonardo DiCaprio placed the spotlight on the Philippines after Greenpeace tagged it as the “ third biggest source of ocean plastic pollution in the world .”
On Instagram , the Hollywood star shared a startling “ before and after ” photos from Greenpeace that showed just how polluted the beach of Manila ’ s Freedom Island was prior to a cleanup project .
“ Plastic or no plastic . Which do you prefer ?” asked DiCaprio , who has donated millions of dollars through his foundation to support environmental conservation efforts .
The photo was from a Greenpeace campaign , which gathered thousands of volunteers to clean Freedom Island ’ s beach .
The group blamed big
corporations for using cheap disposable plastic to package their
goods . ( abs-cbn / AP )
Star Magic Ball 2017 details revealed
Since Star Magic is celebrating its 25th anniversary , this year ’ s Star Magic Ball is expected to gather not only the ABS-CBN talent center ’ s 300-plus pool of artists , but also past Star Magic talents like Kristine Hermosa , Heart Evangelista and Claudine Barretto .
This year ’ s Star Magic Ball theme , according to an official statement is black and white .
The ball will be held at a hotel ballroom on September 30 and will be broadcasted live on Lifestyle TV , with live patches on ANC , live streaming on Metro YouTube and TFC . com ( mirror feed with Lifestyle-HD ), and catch-up programming on TV2 , KBO , IWanTV , Sky Free View , SVOD ( program feed-
HD ), and other partners such as ABS-CBN . com , NoInk , API , Lifestyle Hub and Push . com .
The airtime for all telecasts will start at 6:30 p . m . All artists should be at the cocktail area by 8 p . m . Gretchen Ho will interview the artists as they come .
Martin Nievera will host the ball . He will also sing the opening performance , “ Just Once In A Lifetime ,” originally by Sammy Davis . Next , Star Magic will show the teaser to its coffee table book . This will be followed by special awards like Best Dressed and Couple of the Night .
Next , KZ Tandingan , Yeng Constantino , Xian
Lim , Denise Laurel and Jolina Magdangal will perform a medley .
The event will be capped off by an afterparty , and by that time , media coverage of the event is expected to end to give way for the artists to be free to be themselves and to party .
Besides the outfits and the dates , the artists would bring ( or leave with ), cat fights and other unexpected behind-the-scenes make the ball a highly anticipated event every year . ( D . R . M . Afinidad-Bernardo , PS )
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