The First Battles, The Voice of the Philippines

The blind audition has ended.  And tonight, the battles begin.

Team Apl started the show.  It was a battle between the Lorenzaga siblings and Tristhan.  The performance was signed and sealed but did not really deliver.  I personally preferred the Lorenzagas but Apl chose Tristhan.

Team Kawayan followed.  Lee Grane vs Dan.  Dan outsang Lee Grane. But Bamboo might have already made a choice from the moment he paired the two.  Too bad for Dan.  Despite producing a shifty performance, Lee Grane moves on and makes a promise of doing better next time.

Team Sarah's turn.  Battle of the pretty belters - Lecelle and Morisette.  The time allotted wasn't really enough.  The two started with quiet power and then exploded into an energetic performance of Enough is Enough.  Best battle thus far with Morisette winning.

Team Lea is last to perform.  Heart's Alone.  Mitoy and Chien.  Chien gave it her all and produced some powerful vocals. But Mitoy, a guy, sang in the same range as Chien and hit all the right notes.  It was the best match performance of the night but in the end, as expected, Mitoy emerged victorious.

I am really excited to see the rest of the battles next week!

wimbledon finals

I hate disappointments.  I hate the feeling of a broken heart. So I am preparing myself for the worst. Tonight is the Men's Finals at the most prestigious tennis championships - the Wimbledon.  It's going to be a contest between the top 2 players right now - Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.  I believe in Novak's talent and I support him with all my heart, which is why I am distancing myself from this match and preparing my heart to accept that tonight, Britain might have its first ever Wimbledon Champion since Fred Perry via Andy.  The time is right. He is as prepared as he can be.  Everyone is behind him and probably invoking the support of all gods for his win.

In my heart of hearts, I desperately want to Novak to win.  Even as I type this post, I cannot help but pray that he really ends up the champion.  But I don't wanna get my hopes up and have them extinguished later on. Yes, anything can happen. But the pessimist in me is overactive right now and has been buzzing in my ear, telling me that Andy will win. I am giving in but still not letting go.

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dancing again

I am learning a new dance, a challenging one, for me at least. This is something that I haven't done in quite a while now. It's tough. But it's fun. And exciting. And painful. And I am loving every second of it.

My knees are sore from all the kneeling that's required in the dance. My back is aching from all the arching and contracting that I have to do. My neck hurting from whipping my head left and right, up and down. But despite all these aches and pains that I feel, I am still excited, very much looking forward to the next dance session on Tuesday.

Four nights! I still have to wait four nights to learn the choreography to the next part of the song. 

Nothingness

We are always in a rush. We set our alarms very early in the morning. Get up. Prepare. Have breakfast. Shower. Dress up. Commute to work. Plan our day. Attend meetings. Write reports. Instruct staff. Follow up previous orders. Report to the boss. Have lunch. Go back to work. Attend more meetings. Make more reports. Answer emails. Answer calls. Make calls. Reprimand inefficient staff. Call for a meeting.  Prepare to go home. Commute. Go to the gym. Prepare dinner. Eat dinner. Watch the news while cleaning up. Prepare for the next day. Shower. Go to bed. Read reports and transcripts. Sleep. *Repeat*

wimbledon 2013

It was a shocking Wimbledon this year so far, to say the least.  The first day alone brought out a lot of 'Oh my God's' as reaction to Nadal's first round elimination courtesy of a relatively unknown player ranked past 100.  The second round was even more outrageous as seven former world number ones got eliminated - Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova, Caroline Wozniacki, Viktoria Azarenka, Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Lleyton Hewitt.  Each day, a number of seeded players fall until only but a few remained standing to face the second week in SW 19. Serena Williams, Agnieszka Radswanka, Li Na, Petra Kvitova, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, David Ferrer, Tomas Berdych, Juan Martin Del Potro were able to avoid the plague that seemed to befall the top seeds.  But not for long.

first elimination, SYTYCD 10

They changed it last year, in season 9.  They were only given one night every week for the show.  Same goes for this year. Just one night to showcase all these dance talents! But they changed the order of presentation.  They moved the elimination to the beginning of the show. And that changed everything. It changed the mood. It changed the dynamic. It changed the feel of the entire episode.

On the one hand, the professionalism of the dancers was brought to light. On the other hand, it was quite a challenge for everyone to contain their emotions after learning the news and still managed to give it their best, as they should.