The veteran actress Nora Aunor is set to receive a Gawad CCP Para Sa Sining (For the Arts) Award, the highest honour given by the Cultural Centre of the Philippines, during a ceremony on September 17. The 62-year-old, dubbed by The Hollywood Reporter as “the grand dame of Philippine cinema”, recently starred in Taklub – director Brillante Mendoza’s portrayal of three families who survived the catastrophic typhoon Haiyan that hit Tacloban in 2013. The film won a Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in May. Awarded every three years, the Gawad CCP will also be presented to 10 cultural A-listers including director Armida Siguion-Reyna, fashion designer Ben Farrales and scriptwriter Ricky Lee.
Valenciano nominated for MTV VMA
The Filipino performer Gab Valenciano has been nominated in the MTV Video Music Awards for his choreography of Beyonce’s music video 7/11. “5 nominations, including Best Choreography. Wow,” he posted on Twitter. The video received five nods, including Video of the Year and Best Female Video. Valenciano, a 27-year-old dancer known for his viral video series Super Selfie on YouTube, co-choreographed 7/11 with Beyoncé and Chris Grant. He was recently featured in the official music video of the film Pitch Perfect 2. The 2015 VMAs, hosted by Miley Cyrus, will be held on August 30.
Madonna coming to Manila
Madonna is set to perform in the Philippines for the first time next year. The concert – part of Madonna’s 10th world tour, Rebel Heart, in support of her 13th studio album – will be held on February 24 at SM Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, according to the local promoter, Music Management International Live. On social media, her Filipino fans have complained about the expensive ticket prices, which range from 3,150 pesos (Dh254) to 57,750 pesos (Dh4,655). Madonna’s world tour kicks off on September 9 in Montreal, Canada.
Filipinos compete in film festivals
Carlo Francisco Manatad’s Junilyn Has and Liric de la Cruz’s Sa Pagitan ng Pagdalaw at Paglimot (The Ebb of Forgetting) will screen at this year’s Locarno International Film Festival. Both films will compete in the festival’s Pardi di Domani, a section organisers have dubbed “a scouting arena for the talents of the future”. The 23-year-old de la Cruz, who previously apprenticed with the celebrated Filipino filmmaker Lav Diaz, is reportedly raising funds to be able to fly to the Swiss festival, which runs from August 5 to 15. Meanwhile, Carlo Obispo’s Purok 7 will compete at the World Music and Independent Film Festival to be held in Washington from August 19 to 22. The coming-of-age film, which previously competed in the Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival, is nominated for Best Screenplay, Best Actress (for Krystle Valentino) and Best Supporting Actor (for Arnold Reyes).
Secades exits, Dee enters Big Brother house
Kyle Secades voluntarily left the Pinoy Big Brother house on Saturday after complaining of homesickness. The 17-year-old student had been in the house for 35 days. Last week’s three nominated housemates, Kenzo Gutierrez, Kamille Filoteo and Ylona Garcia, were thus spared from elimination. Before his exit, Secades and his seven housemates succeeded in their weekly task, where they had to produce a concert featuring seven performances, all of which must trend as topics on Twitter – a proof of the show’s massive viewership. Big Brother, known in the Philippine edition as Kuya, announced this weekend that three celebrity houseguests are set to enter the house. The first guest, 26-year-old actor Enchong Dee, joined the remaining housemates on Sunday. This is the 12th season and 10-year anniversary of Pinoy Big Brother, a franchise of the Dutch reality game show.
Battle lines drawn in The Voice Kids
After an entertaining and occasionally heartbreaking round of blind auditions that featured 7-to 13-year-olds belting it out for three superstar coaches, The Voice Kids Philippines kicked into high gear this weekend. The battles stage has begun, as coaches pitted three of their singers against each other in the competition, unlike other international editions of The Voice that feature one-on-one battles. Emerging triumphant are Jonalyn Pepito, Benedict Inciong, Francis Lim, Luke Alford, Martina Ortiz-Luis, Kristen Belo and Elha Mae Nympha. Coaching the young aspirants are Lea Salonga, known for starring in the musical Miss Saigon; Bamboo Mañalac, the rock vocalist who previously fronted the bands Rivermaya and Bamboo; and Sarah Geronimo, the chart-topping pop singer and actress who headlined the romantic comedy The Breakup Playlist, which opened in cinemas in the UAE this month.
artslife@thenational.ae