ASPAUCULE

Sarah, ABS-CBNs recording stars sweep 2008s MYX Music Awards

By REYMA BUAN DEVEZA abs-cbnNews.com
Young singer Sarah Geronimo once again proved that she still reigns in the hearts of music enthusiasts as she bagged four awards at the 3rd MYX Music Awards held at Meralco Theater last Wednesday, March 26.
That evening was indeed one of Geronimos brightest nights as she named as the Favorite Artist, Favorite Female Artist, Favorite MYX Celebrity VJ and her song "Ikaw" won the Favorite Song award.
The awards night was a huge success with all the stars in attendance, the venue was also packed with fans and supporters of both music artists and celebrity presenters.
The audience enjoyed the night as bands and solo performers wowed the crowd with their astounding numbers of their own original and most popular hits.
But before the awards were given to the winners the night started out with cocktails and a red carpet moment for artists and members of entertainment media, dressed in their best take on fashionable rock star style.
The night and the crowd stayed alive with the special performances by Sandwich, Julianne, controversial couple singer-composer Ogie Alcasid and Asias Songbird Regine Velasquez, sexy singing group The Kitty Girls and Nancy Jane.
The presenters such as Pinoy Big Brother ex-housemate and endorser Jon Avila, actress Valerie Concepcion, actor Dingdong Dantes and ‘Racing Goddess Gaby de la Merced left the audience going wild.
Before the night ends everyone were ecstatic with the results of the prestigious music awards which was directed by Rowell Santiago.
But the most remarkable part of the night was when international artist, Filipinos gem Allan Pineda more popularly known as Apl De Ap of the popular hip hop group Black Eyed Peas presented one of the categories for the music awards and then afterward received a special citation for his unquestionable contribution to the music industry and to the country. Pineda arrived in Manila last March 25 just to attend the special event.

Below are the results of the 3rd MYX Music Awards.
CATEGORIES WINNERS FAVORITE MUSIC VIDEO “TULIRO” by SPONGECOLA FAVORITE MALE ARTIST ERIK SANTOS FAVORITE GROUP SPONGECOLA FAVORITE ROCK VIDEO CHICOSCI �“ VAMPIRE SOCIAL CLUB FAVORITE MELLOW VIDEO “ALAM NG ATING MGA PUSO” by RACHELLE ANN GO FAVORITE URBAN VIDEO “LIKE THAT” by BILLY CRAWFORD FAVORITE COLLABORATION “PAG-IBIG NA KAYA” by RACHELLE ANN GO and CHRISTIAN BAUTISTA FAVORITE REMAKE “LOVE WILL LEAD YOU BACK” by KYLA FAVORITE NEW ARTIST SAM CONCEPCION FAVORITE INDIE ARTIST UP DHARMA DOWN FAVORITE INTERNATIONAL MUSIC VIDEO “TEENAGERS” by MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE FAVORITE GUEST APPEARANCE IN A MUSIC VIDEO KIM AND GERALD FAVORITE MEDIA SOUNDTRACK “TULOY PA RIN” by SPONGECOLA FAVORITE MYX LIVE PERFORMANCE PUPIL FAVORITE MYX BANDARITO PERFORMANCE ZELLE MYX MAGNA AWARD GARY VALENCIANO SPECIAL CITATION ARNEL PINEDA a.k.a. APL DE AP

iRemit says remittance volume up 56% in Jan-Jul

iRemit Inc., the country's largest Filipino-owned non-bank money transfer company, on Thursday reported a significant growth in remittance volume for the first seven months of the year. In a statement, the company said remittance volume in January to July went up 56 percent to $630 million, outpacing the industry's 18.2 percent expansion. The demand for the remittance and fulfillment services offered by iRemit is steadily increasing, said company president and chief operating officer Harris Jacildo. We are very optimistic that our actual remittance volume will overwhelm the annual target. Jacildo said the firm has increased its remittance pick-up centers to 3,635 nationwide and outlets to 610 across the globe as it aims to capture more of the growing market. He said iRemit intends to open branches in new markets like Macau, Germany and Italy. The company currently operates in 25 countries worldwide through subsidiaries and tie-ups.

For the first semester, it realized a net income of P71.06 million, up 63.5 percent from P43.5 million in the year-ago period.

Pinoy jr. pool champ unbeaten in Mayors Cup

Jerico Ba�±ares, the Philippines' junior pool champion for 2008, remained undefeated as Day 3 of the Mayor's Cup in Mandaluyong City drew to a close Thursday. Ba�±ares was joined by seven other contenders in the list of unbeaten players that are slugging it out in the next round of play. The junior champ's third straight win Thursday came after he beat Chung Chien-Te of Taiwan, 9-5. Only 24 players are left in the original 64 who signed up for the event that began Tuesday at the Kaban ng Hiyas Auditorium of the Mandaluyong City Hall. Among the undefeated players are Thorsten Hohmann, Marlon Manalo, Antonio Gabica and Japanese standouts Keniji Taguchi and Tomoo Takano. Hohmann finished with an easy 9-4 ictory against Gerry Watson while Manalo cruised over Gerald Carbonera, 9-4. Gabica notched a victory against undefeated Courtney Symons of England, 9-4. Taguchi, meanwhile, defeated Alexius Nobleza, 9-6, and Takano lorded it over Raymond Faraon, 9-5. In another Philippines-Japan match, Allan Soliman beat Satoshi Kawabata, 9-5. Mario Tolentino, on the other hand, continued his romp after defeating Johnny Archer Wednesday night. Tolentino finished with a 9-5 win over Bernard Flores handily in the last match of the evening. From the losers bracket, several top players made their way back to contention. Archer bounced back by winning two matches, first against Bernard Lopez de Leon, 9-7; and then against Michelangelo Mengorio, 9-5. Leonardo Andam ousted Jeffrey de Luna in a tense afternoon match, 9-6. And then he inflicted defeat on Florencio Banar by the same score, 9-6. Still in top form is Edgar Acaba, former president of the Philippine Cue Artists Association. He won over Silverio Tulabing and Ace Tadigue with 9-7 each.

SingTel, Globe to bring iPhone to Asia this yr

Reuters

SINGAPORE - Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. and its mobile associates will bring Apple Inc's popular iPhone to Singapore, India, Australia and the Philippines later this year, Southeast Asia's largest phone company said on Monday.

SingTel said that it, Bharti Airtel Ltd, Globe Telecom Inc. and Australian unit Optus had signed the agreement with Apple.

Torre bows to Georgian GM at PGMA Cup

Grandmaster Eugene Torre suffered a loss in the hands of third seed GM Mikheil Mchedlishvili of Georgia Thursday with just one round to go in the 3rd President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Cup chess tournament at the Duty Free Fiesta Mall in Parañaque City.

Torre, Asias first GM, absorbed his first loss in a crucial game against Mchedlishvili, who beat him in 41 moves.

With the loss, his total score remained at 6.5 points. He now shares the top spot with Zhong Zhang of China who closed the gap after vanquishing Murtas Kazhgaleyev of Kazakhstan in 32 moves.

Before the loss, Torre beat last years champion Li Chao in the seventh round. He also split the point with Zhang Tuesday night.

The final and the most important round is slated on Friday where a switch a places between Torre and Zhang could cost the Filipino the title.

Torre has been on the lead of the tournament up to the seventh round. However with his loss in the eighth, Zhang could potentially upset the Filipino GM. Dennis Gasgonia,