Philippine Nursing Board Exam (November 2008) - Results are in!!

The Philippine Nursing Board Exam (November 2008) Results are in... and out of the 39,455 board passers, one of them is my agent, Ronald Sara.

He's not yet planning to quit his job @ the call center we work for, thank God. He's one of the 3 most responsible people in my team (guess who the other 2 are) so I'd hate to see him go. But, I'm so happy for him. He's now officially an RN. A call center RN. No surprise there. But, I wanna thank him for not being absent on the day he found out the results. I'll give him a li'l something on Monday. It'll be a li'l surprise unless he reads this blog religiously.

If you wanna check if a friend or a loved one made it to the list of board passers, click here.

CONGRATULATIONS, RON!!!

My li'l bro will be graduating this October. He'll be taking the board exam maybe next year 'coz he wouldn't have enough time to review for the November board exams. Anyway, I'm really hoping he'll be one of the topnotchers. But, if not, passing the board exam will be fine. I wanna go to London very soon! Woohoo!!

Here's a photo of him w/ his schoolmates, 2nd from the left.

GOOD LUCK, BRO! SEE YAH IN OCTOBER!
We won't miss your graduation!

Again, if you wanna see the list of board passers, click here.

Image by Chris

American Idol - Final 36 First Performance Night - Who Got Eliminated? Who's in the Top 12?

More American Idol posts (Updated regularly)

We just watched American Idol Season 8 first performance night and honestly, it was a disappointment. We had high hopes for our faves in the first group but they didn't give any memorable performances.

The American Idol Top 36 contestants were grouped into 3, each singing weekly. Only 3 of them will get through each week - 1 girl and boy with the highest votes, then, 1 more based on the # of votes. The last 3 will be picked from the Wildcard round. Interesting, huh?

Well, scroll down if you want to know who got eliminated on the first performance night of American Idol.

Group 1

Alexis Grace did pretty well. She was the only female who got positive comments from the judges. We loved her, too.
I think Ann Marie did good, too. But it wasn't enough to get her through... for now.
Casey, Jackie and Stevie sucked. Really. What were they thinking?!
Tatiana was lovely! But she's all demure, which I was kinda expecting. Me and Mai were disappointed to see that side of her 'coz we miss the crazy Tatiana. Yeah, I know. That is even crazier.

The guys did way better than the gurls. Anoop was so lovable! Me and Mai were watching him sing "Angel of Mine" like we're teenage girls drooling over Sanjaya. Okay, not a good comparison but, hey, Mai has a big crush on Anoop. Well... hope he makes it to the Wildcard round. Oopss.
Brent was... wait, did he perform? Who is he? Yeah, forgettable.
Danny Gokey - no surprise there. He was last to perform and he did well. I was kinda on the edge of my seat 'coz he sang "Hero" by Mariah Carey. I'm like, David Cook the 2nd?! Yeah, kinda looked like he was trying to be like David, which made me a li'l irritated.
Michael Sarver is one of my faves but I don't know why he chose to sing a song ("I Don't Want To Be") like that when he's supposed to show off his vocals. Argh. Made me root for Anoop this time.
Ricky was surprisingly okay. Didn't see him featured during the auditions but he was actually good... but no personality.
Stephen made another mistake. Never choose a Michael Jackson song if you can't sing like him. Sheesh. They never learn.

THE VERDICT
You wanna know the results of last night's votes?
(After the jump...)

So, Alexis Grace is in, along with Michael Sarver and Danny Gokey.
No surprises there. Well, I would've wanted Anoop to get through over Michael but he was just beaten by 20,00 votes.

I hope Anoop makes it to the Wildcard round and he joins the Final 12.
Or Mai will throw a fit... hehehe.

Here are next week's performers:

I'm not really expecting anything great from this group but we'll see. I think a guy will win again this season.

American Idol Season 8 - Top 36 Revealed - Joanna Pacitti is Disqualified

The Top 36 of American Idol Season 8 has been revealed and I'm quite happy because most of the contestants I'm rooting for made it... but there were still some, just like in past seasons, who were great but still didn't make it because the judges chose some who are more "entertaining" (read: funny, can make the show interesting).

This season seems to be really interesting, with all the new twists that they put in the show, it kept me excited. First, they add a new judge, Kara Dioguardi. Then, they have the contestants sing in the Kodak theater, possibly because they really want to see who fits in the whole finale thing. And then, they bring back the group performances. Lastly, they have the American Idol judges mansion and the sing-for-your-life gig. I hope the performances and the talent are really better this year.

Hollywood week was really tough for the contestants. And it really disappointed me to see my early fave Emily Wynne-Hughes go just because she forgot her lyrics. Dammit! Don't they learn from previous seasons?!?! Alright, her nerves got the best of her but that cost her the opportunity of her life. I just hope she'll be back next season... better prepare. Eat lots of nuts to boost your memory, Emily. LOLz. I would've loved you this season! Tsk tsk.

Anyway, right after the telecast of the Top 36, Fox announced that Joanna Pacitti (one of the original Top 36) has been disqualified or deemed ineligible. Why? Because she had record deals before and American Idol is supposedly for amateurs only. I'm just wondering why they had her go through everything and then end up disqualifying her. News reveal that there were HUGE amount of negative feedback from bloggers and fans of the show complaining why she was even given a ticket to Hollywood even though the judges knew she had a record deal already. Tsk tsk. Poor Joanna. I hope this will result to a break that she really deserves. Joanna Pacitti is replaced by Felicia Barton, who I don't really know and care about. I can't imagine her chances of winning, really.

Another surprising cut was Jamar Simmons, Daniel Gokey's best friend. I'm not sure why he didn't make it. I loved his performances! I would've loved seeing him and Daniel this season. It was interesting that Kara said he didn't make it this season. Is that an indirect invitation to try out again next year? Maybe they thought Jamar didn't have any chances winning this year with his best friend (or others who made it) around. I really hope he'll try out again next year. I agree with the decision because if he makes it to Top 36, he can't audition again next time.

Some of those who made it were really disappointing. Take for instance these people:

Tatiana Del Toro
She's plain weird. But, yeah, she's got some voice in there but I don't think that's the reason they put her through.
I guess they just want her because she'd make the show interesting, with all that crazy giggles and drama.
I really hope Tatiana can stay sane during her stay in American Idol. She's pretty, though.



Von Smith
I don't understand why he made it and Jamar didn't. I completely agreed with Simon when he said that Von sang like how a kid would - all that yelling pretending to actually be singing is really irritating.
I hope he doesn't do any of that during the contest proper. I hope he gets kicked off early.
Hmmm... maybe that's why he's there. Like in other seasons, they have people who made it just so there'll be early eliminations that won't be big disappointments for the audience.


Enough of them who I don't like. Here are the American Idol Season 8 Top 36 contestants that I'm rooting for:


Daniel Gokey
I love, love, love him! He looks like Robert Downey, Jr. - but better, way better. He auditioned along with his best friend Jamar Simmons but he's the only one who made it. I hope he goes far, in the finals even.
He reminds me a little of David Cook, last year's winner.
I hope he makes it to the finals.





Michael Sarver
I almost thought he won't make it even after his amazing performances in his audition and Hollywood week.
He doesn't look like the typical American Idol contestant because he's too big. I like him better up-close, like this picture over here. Heheh.
Going back to his voice, he's really got the talent.
I hope he makes it to the top 12.





Anoop Desai
Mai officially has a crush on him. He's handsome for his race.
He's smart but he doesn't act and look like a nerd.
But, his performance can sometimes be boring.
I hope he'll do better now that he's in the Top 36.
He's part of group 1, by the way, so I can't wait to see him perform.





Taylor Vaifanua
She reminds us of Jordin Sparks in Season 7.
But, I love Taylor's voice more. I loved, loved her audition!
She seems really promising.
I hope she'll be part of the Top 12.





That's it. There were others who I also like but these 4 are on top of the list. Let's see if they'll stay there once I've seen their Top 36 performances. I just hope these 4 will make it to the Top 12.

After the jump, you'll see all the photos of the Top 36 contestants.

Who are you rooting for?

Archive

Please scroll down for my Blog Archive so you can look back at what I've blogged about so far.
Thank you.

My Top 10 Entrecard Droppers for January 2009 & My Entrecard Advertisers

This is the first time that I'm posting my Top 10 Entrecard droppers on time - right after the last day of the previous month.

I want to thank the following people for "dropping" by...

TOP 10 Entrecard Droppers for January 2009





Also, I will start posting everyone who advertised on my Entrecard monthly as my "Thank You" to them. To start...


First 4 Entrecard Advertisers for February 2009



Thank y'all for "dropping" and for advertising!