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For the past 17 years, The Filipino Express has provided the Filipino American community the best news, arts and entertainment coverage from around the United States and the Philippines.
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This website includes selected articles from this week's edition of the Filipino Express. Not all the stories published in the printed version appear on this site.
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CBGB’s --- one of the most famous clubs in the United States, and the acknowledged birthplace of punk, where mega artists from the Ramones to the Strokes have stomped and made their names, is on the brink of closure due to lease problems.
But before it does leave the physical universe and be relegated into a mere afterthought or a legendary footnote, let me stress the fact that a lot of Filipino American bands had their time at the mythical rock joint at the Bowery. Sadly, though, the club not only delivered Punk into our world, it also gave access to the unfair practice of concert producers known as “pay-for-play”.
Pay-for-play is a marketing system, forced upon starting bands by club owners or concert producers, to maximize profits and minimize expenses and use of resources. It capitalizes on the eagerness of amateur bands to play a big-time venue, so they could type it down into their band résumé.
Here’s how it usually works: A producer will set up a gig at a famous venue like the CBGB’s and call on a number of amateur bands to play the show. For a starting band, there is nothing more ego boosting than playing on a stage where legends were born. Imagine the thought of playing a club where, Oasis, David Bowie, The Talking Heads, The Sex Pistols have played. For a new band, it is hard to imagine, yet, here comes a producer willing to give flesh to that imagination.
So, the producer, after making calls, has collected quite a number of acts to grace his show. He then lays down his ‘pay-for-play cards, which often goes like this: “Each band is responsible to sell 20 tickets for $10 each, to be able to participate in this “once-in-a lifetime” opportunity.“
At first hearing, the deal doesn’t seem shady. Besides, if a band were a quartet, selling 20 tickets would mean, 5 tickets per band member and that would not be difficult to sell. 2 tickets for mom and dad, one for a cousin, one for a sister, and one for a friend, voila! Sold.
But the real darkness of this deal appears when one would look at the whole picture, which is painted with malice and exploitation.
In this scheme, say the producer booked 10 bands to do the “pay-for-play” show; he already has a guarantee to rake in $200 per band, and a whooping 2 grand for the whole show. Given that the club would charge a cover or a band guarantee for around $700, the producer would come out of the show, $1300 richer without spending a single cent; a drop of saliva, maybe. But still, it’s an easy way to make some dough, right?
Now, consider a $40 dollar-a-ticket show featuring a “big” band from the home country.
For the new bands, it’ seems like a double winner. They get to play a world-famous club, with a hot and popular Filipino band. If that wouldn’t upgrade a band’s résumé, I don’t know what will.
So, again, in a 10-band, 20-ticket, “pay-for-play” setup, the producer will get a gross of $800 per band, and a staggering, $8,000 for the whole event. Deduct the cover and a bar guarantee of $700 and the “Main Act’s fee of, say, $5,000, that is a still $2,300 net profit. Not bad at all. And there’ not even a great need to promote the show because, with the 200 tickets already deemed sold, courtesy of the “pay-for-play” system, the show has completely sold out on its own without even a single poster shouldered by the producer.
Most shows involving a hot Pinoy band, usually involves a big overall producer, who brings in the hot band, paying for their travel expenses and whatnots. The big producer then, licenses the shows to local producers across the nation, and gets, either a cut from the total ticket sales, or a cut from the hot band’s overall take; either way, the local producer still gets a 4 digit net profit from the entire production. Everybody wins? Oops, Not so fast.
In any “pay-for-play” situation, the amateur bands lose. Unknowingly, they themselves “produced” the show with hardly any monetary profit, except that bold letters in their résumés that says, once in their band life, they played CBGB’s with the Eraserheads. These bands sell the venue out without a single cent of profit.
What then if the bands fail to reach the 20 ticket quota? What if they come up short, say, only 18 tickets sold? Sadly, the bands don’t get to play at all. Sometimes. producers let these “short-on-sales” bands play, but only for a couple of minutes; 3 songs at most.
Isn’t that horrible? These bands use all their strength and effort to sell the tickets, but fall 2 tickets short, and what they get is punishment instead of a pat on the back for selling 18 tickets: 3 songs only. For new bands, a 3 song set in a famous venue is like a split second peek at Katya Santos’ dessing room - they don’t get the full exposure.
I really hope and pray that with the inevitable closing of the legendary Bowery joint, the practice of “pay-for-play” goes with it.
Author’s note: This case example was not taken from an actual “pay-for-play” case, but was based on a typical “PFP” setup. The Eraserheads in the article was used only for emphasis as being the first Pinoy band, to successfully tour the US in the late 90’s and early 2000’s and by no means being implicated in a “PFP” scheme.
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Ted Reyes is a musician, composer, record producer and journalist based in NYC. If you have any comments you can visit his website at www.tedreyes.com or email him at tedreyes@mac.com
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MANILA --- Is Gretchen Barretto going sexy again?
After settling down with partner business tycoon Tonyboy Cojuangco, Barretto recently surprised the public with her sexy pose on the billboards of a clothing line that she endorses.
This is the first time that Barretto was seen in daring poses after she semi-retired from showbiz, and left her throne as the queen of the “ST” (sex trip) era. The sexy pose brought questions to show biz reporters if she is indeed returning to reclaim her crown.
Playing with the media’s curiosity, Barretto said of her return: “[It would be] very sexy, better than before.”
Barretto, however, said that for now she is still busy with her modelling career. Her next project is a TV commercial that would also feature her in a sexy stint.
Her decision to go sexy at this point, she admitted, surprised her daughter, Dominique. “She said, ‘Oh my gosh...Mom,’ “ Barretto said.
Asked about her secret for staying beautiful and fit, Barretto said that other than exercising regularly, it is her positive disposition that keeps her look and feel good.
“It is my choice to stay happy,” she said.
Barretto surprisingly did not evade answers in addressing the gap between her and sister Claudine.
Without giving details, she said both she and Claudine have already forgiven each other.
“Forgiveness? Yes, there was forgiveness. If God can forgive, why can I not forgive?” Barretto said.
She, however, has yet to see her younger sister, but because of Claudine’s upcoming wedding, she is optimistic that their feud would soon be resolved finally.
“I’m ready, I’m always ready... maybe in God’s time, I’ll wait,” Barretto said. (MNS)
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MANILA --- Heart Evangelista, who seemed to have transformed from a teeny-bopper to a svelte young woman overnight, revealed that she will not take it nicely should her “Panday” leading man Jericho Rosales decide to date other girls.
During the huge and elaborate press conference held last Tuesday at the Fernwood Gardens in Quezon City for the ABS-CBN cineserye “Panday” (set to open on the first week of November), Heart revealed that, “siyempre mao-offend ako kapag nagdate siya ng iba. I am not that kind of girl. Kapag meron akong nakakasundong lalaki, I don’t look for other guys to date.”
Heart said she and Jericho didn’t agree to exclusively date each other but, “he could go ahead and date other girls if he wants, I won’t stop him but he can’t be friends with me again. It’s a choice that he has to make. For me kasi, that kind of action will show a lot about his character. About what kind of a man he is,” she said.
The young lady, who is essaying her first mature role as the leading lady of Jericho’s “Panday” said she has changed a lot in perspective since doing the series and being with the actor. “Iba na ang pananaw ko ngayon. I really have changed a lot. Kung dati medyo impulsive ako, now it’s different because I stop to ponder on things now. Kung dati pagdating sa love, kilig lang okay na yan akala ko real thing na, now it’s different. I have learned to stop and take some time to think.”
Heart said that she and Jericho, they have discovered, are so alike in so many ways that it scares her. “Sobrang weird kasi sa workshop pa lang namin, may mga questions that we were asked to answer independently. Later on, we will find out, pareho kami ng isinagot sa mga tanong. Minsan naman, we were eating, and then we started to talk, tapos we have the exact same words to say. We even had identical dreams one time. I dreamt about my father, and when we spoke the following day, he told me about his dream and it was the same dream that I had. Sobrang weird.”
Before acting together in “Panday,” Heart said she just knows Jericho as one of her co-ABS-CBN talents who is a bit older than her. “Hi, hello lang kami. But when we got to know each other better, we discovered our friendship has shifted to a different and deeper level.”
Heart said she has discovered Jericho to possess some qualities that she has been looking out for in a man. “I like a guy who has a free spirit, happy-go-lucky type who wouldn’t care about his looks. Gusto ko kahit magulo ang buhok, walang pakialam. Ganun siya,” she said referring to the apple of her eyes right now, Jericho.
Right now, Heart said they are happy with the kind of relationship that they are enjoying between them. “Masaya kami. Comfortable kami with each other. It is nice, really,” she ended stressing the fact that she will not stop anybody from drawing his own conclusion based on what he sees from them and their special friendship. (MNS)
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MANILA --- Award-winning actress Lea Salonga is seven weeks pregnant, according to her publicist.
Salonga, who is married to Robert Charles Chein, a Singaporean, was told by her obstetrician of her condition last week but he had advised her not to make any official announcement and wait for further confirmation.
“It was during her last consultation with the OB this week when they heard the heartbeat of the baby for the first time,” publicist Shirley Pizarro said.
Pizzaro said Salonga would continue her professional commitments for the remainder of the year. She and her husband had just left for New York, where Salonga is set to headline a concert at the Carnegie Hall. The couple will return to Manila in November. She’s scheduled to star in a major concert in December.
Salonga, 34, married Chein in January 2004. This will be the couple’s first child. She first gained national prominence when she starred in a local production of the musical Annie in the early eighties. A decade later, she gained international stardom when she was chosen to play the title role in the blockbuster musical Miss Saigon, for which she won the Laurence Olivier and Antoinette Perry (Tony) awards for Best Actress in a Musical.
Her most recent stage musical in Manila was Baby, in which played a college student who gets pregnant. (MNS)
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MANILA --- Some quarters say Michael V. is now the country’s number one comedian as his “Bitoy’s Funniest Videos” continues to reign supreme in the ratings game as the comedy-prank show tops all the comedy shows and lands third in the over-all top ten programs in Mega Manila, eclipsing its rival “Quizon Avenue.” But Michael V. remains humble despite his success. “Hindi pa rin mawawala ang respeto ko kay Tito Dolphy,” he says. “He remains to be our King of Comedy. But I’m really thankful that the viewers continue to watch my show faithfully.”
Based on the surveys posted by the AGB Philippines for the third quarter this year, “Bitoy’s Funniest Videos” holds the number one spot in the comedy genre and the third place among the top ten most watched evening programs in the country with 35% ratings following GMA’s primetime shows “Darna” and “Encantadia.”
Every Saturday, get a dose of Michael V.ís uproarious punchlines, pranks and disguises as “Bitoy’s Funniest Videos” features funny video clips from “America’s Funniest Home Videos” about babies, stunts and parties. (MNS)
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