Natalie Portman wins Oscars' best actress

Image via WikipediaAFP News --- Natalie Portman won the best actress Oscar for her role in the disturbing ballet-themed thriller "Black Swan," at the 83rd Academy Awards.

Portman had been frontrunner for her sexually-charged portrayal of a ballet dancer whose drive for perfection pushes her to the edge of madness. Her performance had already earned her prizes at the Golden Globes and Britain's BAFTAs.

British filmmaker Tom Hooper won the best director Oscar for historical drama "The King's Speech," at the 83rd Academy Awards.

Hooper, for whom it had been his first Oscar nomination, was an award-winning TV program maker before a big-screen career including 2009's with the soccer movie "The Damned United", starring Michael Sheen.

In other prizes, "Toy Story 3," the third instalment of the family-friendly franchise starring Woody, Buzz Lightyear and co. won best animated feature Oscar as expected.

And the best foreign film prize went to "In a Better World" by Denmark's star director Susanne Bier, who vanquished movies from Algeria, Canada, Greece and Mexico.

The Oscars is the culmination of the multi-billion movie industry's awards season and has been preceded by months or frantic campaigning for the coveted gold statuettes waiting to be handed out Sunday night.

Co-hosts James Franco and Anne Hathaway started the show with a filmed skit in which they were transplanted into the main films nominated for best picture, with amusing results.

Man jumps to his death from LRT

MANILA, Philippines - The Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) confirmed reports that a 35-year-old man instantly died after jumping off a station of LRT line 2 in Quezon City last Saturday. Blotter reports from the Quezon City Police Department revealed that a certain Elino Sordilla, Jr. of Cembo, Makati City had committed suicide when he jumped off the overhead LRT 2 Betty Go Belmonte station and landed on a construction site along Aurora Boulevard. The incident happened at about 3:30 p.m and the victim was immediately brought to San Juan Medical Center. He was pronounced dead on arrival by 5:30 p.m. His remains were brought to St. Mark Memorial Chapel in Sampaloc, Manila. Police found a breakup letter in the victim's possession but said they are still conducting further investigations on his motive for committing suicide. As of press time, the victim's ''legal'' family had not yet surfaced to claim his remains. LRTA spokesperson Hernando Cabrera confirmed that before the incident, Sordilla bought a ticket for a trip to the Santolan Station. He said the teller who sold Sordilla his ticket remembered the victim as ''uneasy'' and ''disoriented.'' ''When he got inside the station platform, our guards said they saw him walking just like other passengers. But every thing went very fast. It took him seconds to climb the station fence and finally jump off. They had the chance to blow their whistles to get his attention but it was too late to keep the victim from falling,'' Cabrera said. Since the police ruled the incident as a suicide, the LRTA holds no liability for Sordilla's death. But on the facility administrators' part, Cabrera said they will devise mechanisms to help prevent passengers from committing suicide within the premises of the train stations. ''It's hard to read the minds of each of our passengers especially when they flock during rush hours. But we will have internal discussions to help curb incidents like this,'' he added.

Maria Aragon gets standing ovation on Ellen DeGeneres Show

By Glenda Villena, For Yahoo! Southeast Asia  Thursday February 24, 2011

 It’s one dream after another fulfilled for 10-year-old Filipino-Canadian Maria Aragon.

After getting a personal invitation from Lady Gaga to sing “Born This Way” with her in an upcoming Toronto concert, Maria has again achieved another milestone.
The young singer has appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres Show on Tuesday, February 22. Ellen first interviewed a relaxed but bubbly Maria who admitted being nervous about performing with Lady Gaga in the Toronto concert in March.

"She's [Lady Gaga] really up there and I'm only beginning," she told Ellen.

Maria also shared that she still could not believe that Lady Gaga actually liked her version of “Born This Way.”   A video of her singing the Lady Gaga song uploaded to YouTube moved the pop star to tears. Days after Lady Gaga viewed Maria’s performance, both were conversing in a radio show aired from Winnipeg with the famous artist praising Maria, saying she reminded her why she was writing songs.

"Well it's not every day that you get to talk to a superstar you get feedback saying that you did great on a cover that's her song," Maria recounted.

Why the song “Born this Way?”

"It’s because of the meaning of the song. It's about just being yourself. God made you who you are and you're no different than anybody else."

Maria then performed “Born This Way” on the widely followed talk show to a standing ovation.

Ellen did not hide her admiration for Maria, who both sang and played keyboards during the live telecast.

"You did it! You sounded great! You sounded so good! How great is she? Ten years old!," Ellen said.

Maria’s “Born this Way' video has now garnered more than 12.6 million views on YouTube.

Here's a video of Maria's interview on "Ellen":

Gwyneth Paltrow to join Coldplay husband in UK charts

 

Reuters - Thursday, February 24

LONDON - Actress Gwyneth Paltrow looks set to enter the British music charts when the weekly ranking is confirmed, entering a domain normally dominated by husband and Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin.

Boosted by her appearance on the "Glee" television series aired this week in Britain, the 38-year-old Oscar winner is at number 24 with her version of "Singing in the Rain/Umbrella" and at number 29 with a cover of Cee Lo Green's "Forget You."

Combined with a third song which she performs on the TV show, tracks featuring Paltrow have sold more than 10,000 copies, according to midweek data provided by the Official Charts Company. The final chart positions are confirmed on Sunday.

Elsewhere, Grammy-winning British singer Adele looks set to retain her position at number one in the singles chart with "Someone Like You," the song she performed at last week's Brit awards.

And she looks set to top the album chart too with "21," so far outselling the rest of the top five combined.

Official Charts Company managing director Martin Talbot said: "The impact of Gwyneth Paltrow and the continuing Brits effect demonstrates how powerful TV can be in influencing music tastes and interests in the digital world.

"The Brits downloads started selling immediately after they were performed on TV, and the instant impact of this week's 'Glee' performances underlines the same power."


Report Courtesy of Yahoo!

Manila hostage tragedy survivor hit from outside bus

At least one survivor of the Manila hostage crisis on August 23 last year was hit by an object that came from outside of the bus where a dismissed policeman kept them in, a Hong Kong court was told on Tuesday.

According to a report of Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), a survivor told a Hong Kong inquest on Tuesday that "after being shot by the gunman, she was again hit in the head by something which came in through a window."

The hostage-taker, dismissed Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza shot Yik Siu-ling but an unknown object from outside the bus also hit her head.

"Yik Siu-ling told a Hong Kong inquest that she suffered a shattered jaw before being struck a second time by an unknown object from outside the vehicle," the RTHK report said.

Mendoza and eight Hong Kong tourists were killed following a botched police rescue attempt in the August 23, 2010 incident.

During the inquest, Yik also recounted that another passenger talked to Chinese Embassy representatives by phone.

The passenger was told they would be freed at 3:00 p.m. that day, the RTHK report said.

Earlier, the Hong Kong court was told that Mendoza initially did not appear to intend to hurt the hostages.

However, his mood changed drastically when he saw on a television monitor that the police were arresting his brother.

Some witnesses also testified that they had planned to overpower Mendoza, while others said they planned to take away his firearm. Both plans failed. – VVP, GMA News

Skeletons found on Philippine clan's properties

MANILA (AFP) - – Investigators have found two apparent murder victims at properties owned by a Muslim clan accused of the Philippines' worst political massacre, the country's justice secretary said Sunday.

Forensics experts found the skeletons in shallow graves on Friday at a grassy field and a corn plantation owned by the Ampatuan family in southern Maguindanao province, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said.

"We have information as to their identities but we are still validating them before we can announce (their names) officially," de Lima told AFP.

The two were believed to be murder victims, she said, but did not elaborate.

The Ampatuan clan is accused of carrying out the murders of 57 people in November 2009 in Maguindanao, an impoverished province the family had controlled for over a decade.

The killings -- the worst political massacre in Philippine history -- were meant to stop a rival from another powerful family, Esmael Mangudadatu, from running for the provincial governorship.

The victims were relatives and supporters of Mangudadatu, who were to have filed his election nomination papers, as well as at least 32 local journalists who had travelled in the convoy.

Their bodies were later found in shallow pits and Andal Ampatuan Jnr, the clan patriarch's son and namesake, has gone on trial for the killings in Manila, where witnesses have testified he gunned down most of the victims.

Although the death toll is officially 57, a 33rd journalist, Humberto Momay, is believed to have been killed as well.

Confirmation of Momay's death would bring the toll to 58 but the Ampatuans are being prosecuted for only 57 murders because his body remains missing.

Apart from Ampatuan Jnr, five other senior clan members, including his father, were among 196 people charged in connection with the crime.

De Lima did not say Sunday whether the discovery of the skeletons would have an effect on the case, or whether the diggings were carried out as part of the prosecution's continuing investigation into the massacre.

She had earlier said that authorities were looking for alleged mass graves around Maguindanao believed to contain the remains of at least 200 past victims of the Ampatuan clan.



Report courtesy of Yahoo!

Taylor Swift charms Pinoy crowd; thanks Sam Concepcion for "awesome" performance

[FIRST READ ON PEP: Taylor Swift charms Pinoy crowd; thanks Sam Concepcion for ] FIRST READ ON PEP: Taylor Swift charms Pinoy crowd; thanks Sam Concepcion for "awesome" performance.

America's teen sweetheart Taylor Swift's one-and-a-half-hour, one-night-only concert at the Big Dome last night, February 19, was a huge success!

She received a warm welcome from thousands and thousands of Pinoys—ranging from 5 to 15 years old—who marked the concert date on their calendars as early as December 2010, when the annoucement was made that the pretty and popular Taylor was arriving.

SAM SHINES. At exactly 8:00 p.m., Sam Concepcion—who was handpicked by Taylor for the front act—owned the stage with his rendition of Chris Brown's "Yeah 3X," Carl Douglas's "Kung Fu Fighting," Katy Perry's "Firework," and his song "Even If."

Judging from his performance, spiced up by well-choreographed dance moves, the 18-year-old singer came well-prepared.

Another unforgettable moment for Sam was meeting Taylor backstage.

His manager Carlo Orosa related, "Very tight ang security. Pagkatapos nung meet-and-greet ng mga organizers, yung charities, at mga taga-Araneta, muntik nang hindi makalapit si Sam. Buti na lang, mabait yung manager."

Next thing Sam knew, he was face to face with the the dad of the 21-year-old country pop singer, Mr. Scott K. Swift.

The two had a brief chat, where Sam related that his career started in theater, and that he is now the country's Peter Pan.

Mr. Swift's face lit up and said his daughter trained in theater as well.

After a few minutes, Sam finally met the star of the show, whose greeting was, "You're awesome! They love you out there. Thanks for tweeting." Apparently, Taylor had read Sam's posts about her concert.

The blonde singer asked, "Are you going to watch the show?"

Sam replied, "Of course, I will."

Orosa witnessed the backstage scene, and described Taylor as "very lovable."

He added, "Nakita ko yung closet [niya], puno ng gitara. Ang dami!"

TAYLOR RULES. Forty-five minutes after Sam's set, Taylor emerged on stage.

She ended her opening song "Sparks Fly" with the intro spiel, "Magandang gabi po. Kumusta kayo?", naturally sent the crowd thrilling to the Pinoy greeting.

Her warmth and friendliness turned the concert into a screamfest, especially when she sang her "You Belong With Me," and told the crowd, "Mahal ko kayo."

Aside from singing, Taylor also showed off her guitar skills. The teen sensation learned to play the guitar when she was 10 years old.

Her finale "Love Story" had almost everyone singing with Taylor.

It was around 10:45 p.m. when the throng was seen leaving the venue. They went home with satisfied smiles on their faces, most of them exclaiming, "Sulit!"

Angelo Reyes commits suicide

By Cynthia Balana
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 08:53:00 02/08/2011

MANILA, Philippines—(UPDATE 2) Former Armed Forces Chief and Defense Secretary Angelo Tomas Reyes on Tuesday morning committed suicide by shooting himself in front of the grave of his mother at the Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina City.

He was 65.

A close friend of Reyes called the Philippine Daily Inquirer to break the news, while Colonel Boogie De Leon, a former administrative officer of Reyes when he was AFP chief, said Reyes was rushed to the Quirino Hospital at about 7:45 a.m. to revive him. Members of his family could not be reached for comment.

De Leon said that Reyes’s son Jett called him up to inform him of the incident.

Reyes, who earlier suffered a mild stroke before the congressional investigations on the alleged AFP financial irregularities, said he could not take anymore the smear campaign against his name and his family.

“Not my family,” he said.

Reyes, who loved his mother very much when she was still alive, earlier told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in an interview that he would never do anything that would besmirch the name of “my good mother.”

In a press conference aired on radio and television, Health Secretary Enrique Ona confirmed Reyes has died from gunshot wound to the heart. He said Reyes was proclaimed dead on arrival at the Quirino Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City.

Ona said the doctors tried to resuscitate Reyes who was brought to the hospital at 7:30 a.m. from Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina City where he visited the grave of his mother.

Ona refused to say what caused the gunshot wounds and could not determine the kind of gun used, saying all these were under investigation.

He “was brought here to the emergency room, wala nang pulso at di na humihinga. Nilagyan ng tubo at nag-resuscitation, swero, binigyan ng gamot. But after 45 minutes, which means that at 8:32 a.m., talagang wala na (without pulse and not breathing. He was tubated and resuscitated, put on IV. But after 45 minutes, which means that at 8:32 a.m., he’s really gone)."

He had a gunshot wound to the heart and an external wound to the back.

Reyes, a graduate of Philippine Military Academy Class ’66, was AFP chief under President Joseph Estrada, and secretary of defense, interior and local government, and energy during the term of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from 2001 to 2003. He graduated as the class valedictorian in high school and was among the top ten graduates of the PMA.

He went on to obtain two masteral degrees, namely: Masters in Business Administration from Asian Institute of Management in 1973 and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government in 1991. He also took up International Defense Management Course in Monterey, California in 1983.

In 1987, he graduated No. 1 in Trust Operations Management Course conducted by the Trust Institutes Foundation of the Philippines at the Ateneo Business School which eventually earned him a scholarship to the Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois.