PINOY pop (P-pop) group SB19 made it to the all-time favorite boy bands list compiled by Teen Vogue that came out this month.
In the article written by De Elizabeth for the magazine, SB19 is described as: “Josh, Pablo, Stell, Ken, and Justin are the five members of the Filipino boy band known as SB19. They were formed in 2016 after winning a talent search, going on to release a studio album along with eight singles. They’ve continued achieving heights of popularity in early 2022 with the release of their hit ‘Bazinga.’”
Among the boy bands included in the list are BTS, Boyz II Men, The Beatles, One Direction, *NSYNC, 98 Degrees, The Jackson 5, New Kids on the Block, O-Town, New Edition, Hanson, Jodeci, Menudo, 5ive, B2K, Westlife, EXO, Jonas Brothers, Monsta X and Backstreet Boys, among others.
SB19 debuted in 2018 after undergoing training under ShowBT Philippines (the Philippine subsidiary of ShowBT Group in Korea), and is the first Filipino and Southeast Asian group to be nominated in the Top Social Artist category of the Billboard Music Awards and enter the top 10 of Billboard Social 50 weekly and year-end charts.
While its first single, “Tilaluha,” received lukewarm reception from the public, its succeeding efforts became social media and chart hits starting with “Go Up,” which was released in 2019.
In 2020, the group released its debut album, “Get in the Zone,” which spawned multiple chart hits in Billboard’s LyricFind Global list.
The following year saw more hits from the album enter the LyricFind Global charts. 2021 also saw the group release “What?,” “Mapa” and “Pagsibol” – the first two were pre-releases for their extended play (EP), while “Pagsibol” is the EP.
SB19 was nominated as Best Southeast Asia Act at the 2021 MTV Europe Music Awards. In late November 2021, the group’s song, “Bazinga,” entered the newly-launched Billboard Hot Trending Songs, marking the first time for a Filipino artist to debut a track on the chart. That song eventually reached number one in the Hot Trending Songs chart, spending the most weeks at the top position.
Aside from their chart hits, SB19 has performed in locally and internationally, including representing the Philippines at the 2021 ASEAN-Korea Round Festival and an international live performance at the Expo 2020 in Dubai, as well as headlining the first P-pop Convention at the Araneta City (2022) and a live solo concert at the Araneta Colisum (2022).
Among the groups that SB19 has cited as their inspiration include B2ST, Got7, Bing Bang, VIXX and BTS.
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It’s a job swap that people did not see happening – an actor going behind the lens to photograph portraits of directors whose movies are entered in a film festival.
But this is exactly what happened at the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival where actor John Lloyd Cruz was confirmed as the event’s official photographer who will take the photos of the 11 filmmakers in the competition.
According to Cinemalaya, it invites a photographer every year to take the portraits of the filmmakers who are participating in the competition.
“This year, in an extraordinary opportunity, an actor will hold the camera to take the photos of the directors. Yes, it’s the big swap we didn’t see coming!” the festival announced in revealing that John Lloyd is the event’s official photographer.
The announcement included, “Dalawang araw nakasama ng mga CINEMALAYA 18 filmmakers ang aktor na si JOHN LLOYD CRUZ para kuhaan sila ng portraits. Sino kaya sa mga filmmakers ang qinilig?!”
It continued with, “Ugh! I don’t get jealous, I can’t be jealous, I’ve never been jealous – ngayon lang!” This part of the announcement was a line from the John Lloyd-Sarah Geronimo movie “You Changed My Life.”
According to an article in the Philippine Star, it was painter-photographer MM Yu, a recipient of 13 Artist Awards from the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) who had recommended John Lloyd to Cinemalaya.
The actor’s photos will on display the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival opens on August 5 at the CCP.
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Luiz Manzano recently revealed in a YouTube vlog of Francine Diaz that he has had moments where he thought about quitting showbiz.
“Yes,” he answered quickly when asked by Diaz, although the lie detector test seemed to contract the TV host.
He confirmed it by saying, “It’s true… other people don’t know what goes on in the industry. What they see most of the time is the glitz and glamour, the finished product of how sweet it is to be an artist, the nice income. But if they only knew how… and I mean I won’t play around with words as I am matured already… how dirty the industry is, what really happens.”
“People will never understand. They think it’s easy to talk about other people. People have no idea how easy it is to ride (or pile along) on an issue. And that’s what people don’t understanding – it’s easy to do, enjoy, talk with other people and the other stuff,” he added.
“If you don’t have a strong heart and mind, it will eat you up. When negativities are raining down on you, you get to thinking, ‘Why did I not choose to live a normal, peaceful life?’,” he further stated.
When he begins to have these thoughts, Luiz thinks how blessed an opportunity he has to be able to give joy to his fans.
“At the same time, you realize that what has been given to us is a blessing, and that other people don’t have this kind of opportunity. That when you just smile for the camera, or you take one picture like when someone asks to take a photo with you in the mall, with the 10 seconds you give to them, whatever problems they may be having that day they will forget [for a time] because of you,” Luis said.
“For me, that’s what I return to when I start thinking about quitting or taking a sabbatical,” he added.
