“In every language on the planet, from prison yards in the Philippines to Thrilltheworld.com, that will be the beautiful, grand legacy of Michael Jackson.”

That was how Quincy Jones, the legendary record producer and artist who produced Michael’s monster hit albums, ended his beautiful tribute to the late entertainer that came out Tuesday, June 30, in the Los Angeles Times. In using the word “that,” Quincy was referring to Michael’s music. Quincy wrote, “It’s no accident that almost three decades later, no matter where I go in the world, in every club and karaoke bar, like clockwork, you hear ‘Billie Jean,’ ‘Beat It,’ ‘Wanna Be Starting Something,’ ‘Rock With You’ and ‘Thriller.’ ”

So take a bow, all 1,400 inmates of the Cebu provincial jail whose version of Michael’s “Thriller” video is an Internet sensation. Obviously, the man who guided Michael in recording “Thriller” and who wrote a personal, heartfelt ode to him in the LA Times piece, has seen the jailbirds’ video too. The inmates recently recreated the dance as a tribute to Quincy’s talent and dear friend.

By Ruben Nepales

OUR interviews over the years with Fil-Am actor Alec Mapa, whether by e-mail or in person, have always been laugh riots. At the pre-show reception of the recent Filipino American Library’s “Jazzmopolitan: A Celebration of Music” at the Aratani Theatre in LA’s Little Tokyo, we were just shooting the breeze with the star of “Ugly Betty,” many TV shows, films and stage productions when our colleague, Peter Gonzaga, turned on his video camera and mike. The resulting video clip is just a sample of the sassy wit of Alec, whom my wife Janet and I admired since we first saw him in his acclaimed monologue, “I Remember Mapa.”

Watch Alec Mapa with Ruben & Janet Nepales in Entertainment Videos |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Alec came on time to the event which raised funds for the laudable Filipino American Library (FAL), which is located in the historic Filipinotown of LA. The actor, who is committed to various charities and foundations, was going to be awarded FAL’s Role Model Award.

Well, many hours and several glasses of wine later, and after terrific performances by Becca Godinez, Mon David, Charmaine Clamor, Three of a Kind, Tateng Katindig, Michael and Rene Paulo, Alec finally got to go onstage and accept his award. Alec’s hair has gone askew and despite having the tough task of delivering an acceptance speech after those excellent musical numbers, he still managed to entertain the crowd and keep the momentum. Toward the end, he invoked his favorite anecdote about how his mother, now deceased, motivated him when he was just starting in show business and was not making headway. “What’s stopping you?” Alec’s mother asked him. That made him pause. Nothing has stopped Alec since then.

By Ruben Nepales

ON my drive away from the Greek Theatre where my wife and I just watched our kababayan Arnel Pineda and his Journey bandmates stage the first of two very successful shows in LA, I stopped by a gas station.

As I pumped gas into our car, a young white woman approached me and asked if I just came from the concert. When I said yes, the woman said she watched the show too. Then she peppered me with questions, the gist of which boiled to one thing: she wondered if the many Filipinos who trooped to the Greek Theatre that Sunday evening knew the songs of Journey.

Although the lady said she knew that Neal Schon first saw Arnel when the former came across a video clip of Arnel singing a Journey hit on YouTube (back when he was doing Journey tribute songs in the Philippines), she appeared baffled that people in the Philippines know Journey. I told her that I was familiar with those Journey anthems in the 1980s. She asked me if I was born in the US or in the Philippines. I said I was born and raised in the Philippines and I was back home when I first heard those Journey tunes.

(Editor’s note: Here’s one of the video clips on YouTube that perhaps got Journey’s attention.)

I gave her the benefit of the doubt — the woman appeared to be simply ignorant about the Philippines. Having come from the concert where she must have been struck by the presence of so many Filipinos, she was now very curious about Filipinos and the Philippines. She said, “It was nice to meet you” and walked back to her friend.

[Read the rest of this entry »]

It is almost too good to be true: a Filipina actress, Marife Necesito (see photo), has been plucked from relative obscurity to star in an international film with Michelle Williams and Gael Garcia Bernal. “Mammoth,” written and directed by Swedish wunderkind Lukas Moodysson, was shot in New York, Sweden, Thailand and the Philippines. With Marife in the photo at the film’s press conference in Sweden are Sophie Nyweide, Michelle Williams, director Lukas Moodysson and Gael Garcia Bernal.

Sounding humble in our interview via e-mail, Marife peppered every sentence with “po” — we felt like we were being addressed by Nora Aunor. For brevity’s sake, we deleted all the “pos” in Marife’s answers in our interview which appears in our column. Read her account of how she landed the role — it’s a fascinating story.

PARK CITY, Utah–Robert Redford welcomed the opening night crowd of Sundance 2008 last night (Thursday) with an extemporaneous speech.

The theme of change was on the mind of Sundance Institute’s founder, who took over this festival in the late 1980s. He told the crowd before Colin Farrell’s dark comedy, “In Bruges,” began: “Artists are really agents of change. They are the first responders. They document change as it is occurring in the world around us.”

Editor’s note: Photo by Ruben V. Nepales