pempeng-co, pempeng-mo, pempeng-nating lahat.

i never thought i'd ever mention charice pempengco here. i have a strong dislike to singers who measure their skills by belting. if i want to assault my ears with loud noise, i would prefer that it doesn't contain lyrics dripping with sappy, masochistic sentimentality.

i was at the parent's house sunday afternoon. and of course they would be tuned to a weekend local showbiz talkshow featuring the uninteresting lives of local celebrities. a feature came up about miss pempengco singing the star spangled banner in some baseball game and how everybody seems to proud of her great achievement.

predictably, the host interviewing her asked her how it felt like singing that song to the crowd. despite my dislike for the girl, i was hoping she'd say something like, "i hope i'd be invited to sing the (philippine) national anthem in the future." i mean, given how a lot of filipino adores her eardrum splitting vocal stunts, wouldn't it be a more significant gesture for her to sing her country's anthem? didn't her manager have the foresight to remind her talent that if the question should come up in an interview, she would make sure to include that in her answer.

sadly, she never did.

and i would've given her some respect if she said, "hey, i want to sing lupang hinirang." that wouldn't mean i'd like her, but i'd give her respect nonetheless. i felt just a little bit let down because i didn't hear the answer i would have liked.