Monday, June 16, 2008 Costanilla: Music Pop season By Sam Costanilla Spotlight
SIR Philogene Florita of the Cebu Arts Foundation Inc. e-mailed to remind all interested composers that new forms for the 29th Cebu Popular Music Festival are now available at the University of the Visayas alumni office and its high school department. He wrote that entries must be submitted to the same office and department for proper coding and logging in. All entries must contain a compact disc of the original song entry along with the application form duly filled up. It must also contain 12 copies of the song lyrics. Florita also stressed that all entries must be received at the close of school hours on July 31. Screening of all entries will be in August, he added.
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TALKING of songwriting, there’s a very commendable project initiated by the office of Provincial Board (PB) Member Agnes Magpale, chairperson of the PB’s Committee on Family, Women and Children. I am referring to the 2nd CebuChildren’s Popular Songwriting Summit and Contest to be participated in by teenagers from 12 to 17 years old. The two-day event on June 21-22 will be held in Danao City with multi-awarded composer Jude Gitamondoc to talk about basic songwriting (composition 101) and Jay Unchuan of the Center for Pop Music to discuss about proper song interpretation. This writer will lecture on the use of appropriate Cebuano lyrics.
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THIS project was actually started five years ago but had to be temporarily shelved due to unavoidable ircumstances.It is now being revived and I hope that this will be institutionalized as a yearly project if only to encourage the youth to hone their songwriting and singing skills. Gani and Gloria Villarojo of both Cebu Popular Music Festival and Huniño songwriting festival are being commissioned by Magpale’s office to facilitate the revival of the Cebu children’s popular songwriting summit and contest. They are doing a good job.
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COMPOSER-singer Val Dinopol has e-mailed to report that Southwings band’s album, titled Promiseland, is barely less than a week online on iTunes, amazon.com, Lala, Napster and Groupie Tunes but the Cebuano song Panaad by lead singer Valrock is already a streaming favorite. The song depicts a little story about the singer and his wife. Pinoy communities in the US especially in Daly City, California, are among the fans of this particular song.
Other compositions in the album are Car, Just Starting Love, Komosta Inday, Never Been Blue and Fate. Dinopol added that to get into iTunes, one may go to www.tunecore.com/music/southwings.
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THE other Sunday, I was in Aloguinsan to emcee its third Kinsan Festival with Governor Gwen Garcia and her brother Cong. Pablo John Garcia as guests of honor. I should congratulate Mayor Cynthia Moreno, her husband Vice Mayor Chuncee and the rest of the town officials for their effort in staging a more colorful and fantastic festival compared to its two previous presentations. It was such a festive atmosphere you’d think it was the municipality’s annual feast celebration which Aloguinsanons observe in October yet.
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THERE were five colorful contingents with the St. Rosario National High School as the best in streetdancing competition and the Aloguinsan National High School as the best in the ritual/showdown category. A beautiful lass named Rhodora Almudin of the same school was picked as the Kinsan festival queen.
The entire event became livelier because of the guest performances by Alcoy’s Siloy festival dancers and Danao City’s Karansa festival dancers. The only minus factor in the entire presentation was the lousy sound system.
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THIS aging and sickly government consultant comes to office in his favorite dirty-white collarless shirt and denim pants. He doesn’t know that his colleagues, who all come in proper uniform and formal wear, are talking behind his back. (E-mail: samcost@yahoo.com or text 09268443888)
