Barbie Forteza, JC Alcantara a love team in new movie?

Can a horror movie get people out of their homes and fill up the movie houses on rainy days?

Would Barbie Forteza and JC Alcantara headlining a movie together for the first time be enough encouragement to watch GMA Pictures’ PP77 which begins showing today?

Can Derick Cabrido’s name as the film’s director add substantial and irresistible appeal to its being a horror ouevre in which Cabrido is said to be very good at?

Forteza and Alcantara don’t portray lovers in the film. Well, the best way to know what their characters are to each other is to go out and watch the film.

We dare you to. Yes, on rainy and windy days.

Alcantara has revealed at the media huddle for the film that he has the so-called “third eye” in real life. 

Filmmaker Carlos Siguion Reyna has a major role in PP77. 

Would all these details mean box office hit?

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The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) is set to recognize exceptional contributions to Filipino music at the NCCA SUDI National Music Awards at the historic Metropolitan Theater on 27 July.

Entertainment awards nights also stormed Metro Manila these last two weeks of July, apart from literal rain and strong winds and literal rain that flooded many streets in the metropolis and several provinces of this dramatic and theatrical country. Actually, some awards night pushed through, including the entertainment editors’ Eddys at Marriot Hotel at Resorts World Manila. 

The NCCA scheduled two awards ceremonies in the last days of July but decided to postpone them for the early days of August. Those two were the SUDI National Music Awards (SMNA) and the 2024 Composition Prize.

Gary Valenciano, Regine Velasquez, Ben&Ben, SB19 and renowned violinist Coke Bolipata were among the honorees expected to turn up at the SMNA originally slated 27 July at the Metropolitan Theater. A new date for the event has yet to be announced.

The SMNA actually has 12 honorees from 2021 to 2024. Ben&Ben will receive their award for their compositions, concerts and gigs for 2021, along with Cebu Arts Foundation, Inc. (for the Cebu Popular Music Festival) and MSU-IIT Integrated Performing Arts Guild. 

Valenciano, Velasquez, SB19,  Bolipata, Maria Alexandra Chua are the award recipients for 2022.

Marie Jocelyn Marfil, University of Sto. Tomas Singers and Vincent De Jesus are awardees for 2023. A Lifetime Achievement Award will be accorded to the National Music Competitions for Young Artists (NAMCYA) Foundation, Inc.

The SNMA is actually among the highlights of Linggo ng Musikang Pilipino (Filipino Music Week) which is celebrated annually at the national government’s behest in the last week of July. 

The celebration is in accordance with Proclamation No. 933, with NCCA designated as the lead agency in coordination with the National Committee on Music and the SUDI National Music Awards Technical Working Group headed by writer and art and culture advocate Manuel “Noel” Ferrer. He is one of the famous trio of the entertainment journos Troika of the website PEP.ph. 

The other deferred event is simply known as the 2024 Composition Prize meant to be held on 29 July at the Tanghalang Leando V. Locsin in Intramuros.

The event will honor composers who present their masterpieces and extended works that go beyond popular or traditional music-writing or improvisation. It is a biennial award launched in 2016, and the forthcoming edition had a jury composed of former NCCA chair Prof. Felipe M. De Leon, Jr., Maestro Gerard Salonga and Dr. Ramon Santos. Their deliberation was held on 22 January this year. 

The award is divided into 10 categories.  namely, chamber, handbell choir, multi-percussion solo, solo piano group A, solo piano group B, solo piano group C, solo organ, solo rondalla, solo string and solo wind.

Winners for the Chamber Category are Orion’s Belt by Cloyd Robinson Calucag, Sonata for Kulintang and Piano by Paul Earvin Bibal (Special Jury Prize) and Tryptique by Alejandro Consolacion II (Special Jury Prize).

Amianán by Ian Gabriel Corpuz won the Handbell Choir Category. Batanes: Julian Aftermath by Erma Dianne Decena gained Special Commendation in the Multi-Percussion Solo Category.

For the Solo Piano Groups, Etude for Wrist Articulation by Lawrence Parcon was accorded a Special Jury Prize for Group A.  Bottle in the Ocean by Ralph Joseph Dauz was bestowed Special Jury Prize for Group B.  Ang mga Itim na Nota by Mark Jericho Pacia emerged winner in Group C Category.

 (VII) Variations on a Filipino Folk Tune by Alejandro Consolacion II clinched the Solo Organ Category while Fantasia by James Willy Canoso earned the Special Jury Prize.

The Solo Rondalla Category generated the most winners, namely, Kalikasan: Guho ng Bukas at Kahapon by Jerome Quejano (Special Jury Prize), Sinfonietta for Solo Bandurria by Cloyd Robinson Calucag (Special Commendation), Pantomina by Joy Wendell Arco (Special Commendation), and Idlak sang Bito-on (Gleam of the Stars) by Gezer Santiso (Special Commendation).

For Solo String Category, Gahum by Patrick Paul Roxas emerged champion,  while Journey of a Hopeless Romantic by Alejandro Luis Del Corro was recognized with a (Special Commendation)

Poong Matayog by Jouie Anne Reyes won in the Solo Wind Category.

Following the awarding ceremony, the NCCA will also launch the World Premiere Concert Series featuring  five winning pieces from the 2024 NCCA Composition Prize. Both events will be held on 13 August at Tanghalang Leando V. Locsin in Intramuros.