4th Impact make waves in the UK
Sisters Almira, Irene, Mylene and Celina Cercado flew to the United Kingdom last summer to audition for The X Factor, where they eventually finished fifth overall. 4th Impact are the first Filipino act to reach the finals on the British programme. Their audition video, featuring a cover of the Jessie J/Ariana Grande/Nicki Minaj hit Bang Bang, topped YouTube's year-ender list of top trending videos in the Philippines. With more than 35 million views, it currently ranks as the fifth most-watched video in the show's history. The girl band are reportedly recording their debut album in London and recently hinted they are considering an international tour – with a stop in Dubai.
Pia Wurtzbach wins Miss Universe
“Winning Miss Universe will be my Christmas gift to all Filipinos,” Pia Wurtzbach told reporters before boarding her flight to Las Vegas, where the beauty pageant was held on December 20. The 26-year-old actress and model did end up taking home the crown, becoming only the third Filipino to win Miss Universe and the first for more than four decades. Her victory made headlines after pageant host Steve Harvey misread the results card and initially announced Colombia’s Ariadna Gutierrez as the winner.
Most acclaimed film: Taklub
The year's most critically acclaimed Philippine movie is Taklub (Trap), directed by Brillante Mendoza. The film made the rounds in the world's most important film festivals, including Cannes, where it took home a jury prize. Headlined by superstar Nora Aunor, it tells the story of three families who survived the devastating typhoon that hit the Philippines in 2013. Taklub was also the only Philippine film screened at the recent Dubai International Film Festival.
Breakthrough film: Heneral Luna
The independent film Heneral Luna was the year's surprise hit. A historical biopic about a Filipino commander during the Philippine-American war of 1899, it was selected as the country's entry to the Best Foreign Language Film category of the Academy Awards. Audiences were reportedly applauding at cinema screenings – an uncommon sight in the Philippines. The film's success has encouraged its producers to plan a sequel.
Fan favourite: A Second Chance
A sequel to a 2007 hit, the romantic drama A Second Chance set a box-office record by becoming the highest-grossing film in the Philippines' history. Released worldwide in November, including 21 theatres across the Emirates, the film has earned 556 million Philippine pesos (Dh43m) as of mid-December, according to its production studio Star Cinema. Lead actress Bea Alonzo and writer Vanessa Valdez were in Dubai last month to promote the film.
Philippine Pavilion wows at Venice Biennale
The Philippines returned to the Venice Biennale after a 50-year hiatus. The wait was worth it: the country's pavilion was cited by Art Radar as one of the 10 must-sees at the international art exhibition, while Christie's selected it as one of its top 11 picks among the 88 national pavilions. The Philippines entry featured a newly restored version of the classic 1950 Filipino film Genghis Khan, presented alongside works by multimedia artists Mariano Montelibano III and Jose Tence Ruiz.
AlDub become a national sensation
Two people communicating solely through a split-screen frame and through the dubbing of audio samples of pop songs have become the biggest cultural sensation the Philippines has seen in years. That's AlDub, a supercouple who appear on a romcom segment on the noontime programme Eat Bulaga! A combination of the duo's names – Alden Richards and Yaya Dub – AlDub made history by setting the world record for the most-discussed single topic on Twitter. Richards's singing career has taken off, too: his debut album placed on Billboard's top 10 global charts. He is only the third Filipino singer, and first Filipino male artist, to make it on Billboard.
Cyrus Villanueva wins The X Factor Australia
A 19-year-old Filipino-Australian student emerged as the winner of this year's edition of The X Factor Australia. Cyrus Villanueva, who learnt to perform from his Filipino father Jo, released his debut album Stone earlier this month, which topped both the Australian and Filipino charts. Last year's edition of The X Factor Australia was also won by a singer with a connection to the Philippines: 16-year-old Marlisa Punzalan's parents immigrated to Australia in the 1990s.
Rachelle Ann Go impresses on West End
Filipino singer Rachelle Ann Go moved to London last year to star in the West End revival of Miss Saigon, where she played the role of Gigi Van Tranh. After impressing audiences and critics with her powerful voice and acting prowess, the show's esteemed producer Cameron Mackintosh tapped the 29-year-old to star as Fantine in his revival of Les Misérables, which debuted last summer. Les Misérables is heading to Manila for a series of performances this coming March, with Go returning to perform for a home crowd.
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