Filipino fans to hear A1's 2012 version of "Like A Rose" live

British-Norwegian group a1 is expected to churn out their familiar tunes at their Manila concert on the evening of February 25, 2012. But one thing their Pinoy fans should look forward to is their new, exciting rendition of their smash hit “Like A Rose,” which arguably is their biggest song in the ears of fans this side of the globe.

Member Ben Adams who wrote “Like A Rose” is thrilled to announce their performance of the said version. “We have just updated it for a brand new version for 2012, which was amazingly fun to do! Very excited for you all to hear it!”

He recalled, “I wrote it when I was 16 years old on my old upright piano at my parents house. I haven't told anyone this really as most people assume it's a love song, but it was actually originally written for my mom!”

 A1 started making a big splash when their first single, “Be the First to Believe,” entered the UK charts at #6 in early 1999. They had a huge amount of success worldwide with two #1s and eighty top 10 hits. Some of their other hits are “Take On Me”, “Ready or Not / Everytime”, “Same Old Brand New You”, “Caught in the Middle” and “Make It Good”. Their newest single  After All It’s Christmas is currently being played on top radio stations in Manila.  Watch out for their new album which will be released soon under MCA Music.

Joining a1 for the Wilbros Live February concert at Smart Araneta Coliseum are contemporaries Blue and Jeff Timmons, lead vocalist of the now defunct 98 Degrees. Fans can expect for these guys to sing their biggest hits and surprise cuts in the triple-treat concert dubbed "The Greatest Hits Tour: Blue, Jeff Timmons of 98 Degrees and a1 - Live in Manila 2012."

Asked about his favorite 98 Degrees song, Timmons, who has remained faithful to his group’s tracks even as a solo performer, noted, “Out of all the hits, Invisible Man is my favorite.  It is the most soulful of our radio songs, and it was the first song we ever heard of ourselves on the radio.”

He added, “We recorded "I Do" in Nashville with mega-producer Keith Thomas. I remember being there right after finding out about my ex-wife being pregnant with our daughter.”

The group's unforgettable R&B, soul, urban and contemporary pop sound lives on especially with major hits like “Because of You”, “The Hardest Thing”, and “My Everything”.

The English vocal group Blue comprised of Simon Webbe, Lee Ryan, Duncan James and Antony Costa, is set to paint the town red by singing live their hits such as “All Rise”, “Too Close”, “If You Come Back”, “Fly By”, “One Love”, “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word”, “Guilty”, and“Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours)." 

 For ticket inquiries, contact TicketNet Box Office at 911-5555 or Wilbros Live at 374-2222.

The Hottest Hits...Ever!

MCA MUSIC ARTISTS HONORED AT 24TH AWIT AWARDS

Sabrina

MCA Music artists took home honors at the recent 24^th Awit Awards held at the Music Museum. One of the top honors went to King of Acoustic Pop Nyoy Volante who bagged the Best Performance by a Male Artist for the song “Someday”. The single is included on his album “In You”, his debut album under the multi-national record label.

Asia’s acoustic sweetheart Sabrina was the recipient of the International Achievement Award for achieving Platinum and Gold status in Indonesia and Thailand for her albums “I Love Acoustic”, “I Love Acoustic Too” and “I Love Acoustic 3”. She was also awarded as I-Gateway Mobile Philippines Inc. as the “Most Downloaded Artist for 2010”.

R&B artist Kris Lawrence also walked off with 2 digital awards: EGG's Allhits.ph Most Downloaded Song for 2010 for "Careless Whisper" and the Most Downloaded Artist for 2010. His cover of the Wham! Original is included in his album “Moments of Love.”

The wacky trio of Boys Night Out (Tony Toni, Slick Rick and Sam YG) got the “Best Novelty” award for the song “Shawarma”. The song, produced by Francis Guevarra and sung by Shivaker, is in their self-titled debut album under MCA Music. 

The Awit Awards is a prestigious award-giving body, spearheaded by PARI (The Philippine Association of the Record Industry, Inc.), that gives recognition to Filipino performing artists and people behind the making of Filipino recorded music.

“90S MUSIC COMES ALIVE WITH SAMSUNG GALAXY S WIFI 5.0” “90S MUSIC COMES ALIVE WITH SAMSUNG GALAXY S WIFI 5.0”

What do you remember most about the 90s? Gadgets like the Discman on which you listened to music, the Tamagotchi which served as your pet, or those big cellular phones? Was it the movies, like when you watched “Titanic” three times (or more), got “Clueless” with Alicia Silverstone, or melted over the line “You had me at ‘hello’,” from “Jerry Maguire”? Or was it the TV shows, like when you got hooked on “Friends”, “Beverly Hills 90210,” or “Melrose Place”? Or was it the music? Of course, there has to be music.

That is why MCA Music, in cooperation with Samsung’s ultimate MP3 evolution, the Samsung Galaxy S WiFi 5.0, gives tribute to the music that defined a generation via the album “90s Music Comes Alive,” featuring MCA artists’ take on hits from the 90s.  It is bannered by “Unbelievable,” an EMF original given new life by one of the country’s top bands, Chicosci.

 

The album is packed top-to-bottom with a spectacular lineup of signature 90s tracks re-imagined by today’s artists. Take, for example, the Madonna original “This Used To Be My Playground” reinterpreted by Urbandub, or Radiohead’s “Fake Plastic Trees” reengineered by Franco. There’s also Paula Cole’s “I Don’t Wanna Wait” by December Avenue, The Cranberries’ “Linger” by Miguel Escueta, Keith Sweat’s “Twisted” by Typecast, Radiohead’s “Creep” by Tanya Markova, Indigo Girls’ “Power of Two” by Nyoy Volante, Eric Clapton’s “Change The World” by Krissy & Ericka, Lisa Loeb’s “Stay” by Toto Sorioso, Blind Melon’s “No Rain” by Sabrina, Sugar Ray’s “Someday” by The Lamars, Natalie Imbruglia’s “Torn” by Solenn Heussaff, and Lou Bega’s sassy “Mambo No. 5” by Richard Poon.

Reminisce over the good times, or simply savor a fresh take on music from before the new millennium with “90s Music Comes Alive.”

And to make it come even more alive, listen to it digitally on the Samsung Galaxy S WiFi 5.0. With proprietary SoundAlive 3D surround sound technology, you get a fully-immersive on-the-go music experience in an astonishingly compact device. While its expansive 5-inch touchscreen and powerful 1GHz processor deftly let you plow through your other favorite forms of entertainment (from the 90s, or otherwise) like full HD movies and thousands of games from the Android market.

“90s Music Comes Alive” is now out in CDs at leading record stores under MCA Music, and is presented by Samsung Galaxy S WiFi 5.0. To download the music of “90s Music Comes Alive” to your mobile phones, just text NINETIES to 3456. Catch these artists as “90s Music Comes Alive” will be having a grand launch this January 13 (Friday), 7pm at Eastwood Central Plaza and January 14 (Saturday), 7pm at Venice Piazza at McKinley Hill.

SABRINA’S “I LOVE ACOUSTIC 4” IS GOLD IN INDONESIA; PERFORMS ANEW IN SINGAPORE

Sabrina proved once again that she is Asia’s acoustic sweetheart as her latest album “I Love Acoustic 4” is now certified GOLD in Indonesia. Her previous albums “I Love Acoustic” and “I Love Acoustic Too” reached DOUBLE PLATINUM selling over 20,000 copies while “I Love Acoustic 3” also went PLATINUM this year in that country. She also achieved multi-platinum success in Thailand and Singapore.

“I was just thankful that my albums were released in Asia but to reach Gold for my new album is such a wonderful blessing,” Sabrina said.

She recently performed in Singapore at the Suntec Convention Hall last November 28 for the Bookfest@Singapore 2011 where she also signed autographs for her album “The Best of I Love Acoustic” which is exclusively available in the Lion City and will be soon released in Malaysia. Sabrina was the only Filipino singer invited for the said event which was also graced by Chinese and Singapore celebrities. She was invited to do a promo tour in Singapore last year to promote her albums “I Love Acoustic” and “I Love Acoustic Too.”

“I felt so proud and pressured in a good way because I was determined to make a good name for Filipinos in Singapore,” Sabrina said. “And I’m so touched that Singaporeans and even some Filipinos came all the way to see my show.”

In Thailand, “I Love Acoustic 4” topped the international charts of retail store B2S beating the likes of Adele and KPop artists Girls Generation and Super Junior.  Here in the Philippines, the album debuted at #1 at Astroplus and #9 at Odyssey charts on its first week of release. It features the carrier single “Who Says”, her cover of the Selena Gomez original. Produced and arranged by Sunny Ilacad, “I Love Acoustic 4” also includes her acoustic versions of current hits like “Price Tag”, “Edge of Glory”, “On The Floor”, “Moves Like Jagger”, “Last Friday Night (TGIF)”, “California King Bed”, “Hold It Against Me”, Rolling In The Deep” and many more.  She also collaborated with Indonesian singer Calvin Jeremy for “Just The Way You Are” and our very own Richard Poon for “Lucky” in this album.

“I Love Acosutic 4” by Sabrina is now out in CDs under MCA Music (Universal Music Philippines). To download Sabrina’s single “Who Says” text WHSAY and send to 2728 for Smart and Talk N Text subscribers, text KL367 and send to 2332 for Globe/ TM or text  5493167 and send to 2300 for Sun Cellular subscribers. For more of Sabrina’s music, just text SABRINA to 3456 or check out www.facebook.com/mcamusic. 

The Greatest Hits of Blue, 98 Degrees and a1 together at the Big Dome

The day shall be marked as the 26th year anniversary of EDSA Revolution 1. Some people will surely relive the moments of that evening when it was announced 'it was all over.'

 

Interestingly, local fans of top-selling boy-groups Blue, 98 Degrees and a1 have more reasons to reminisce and celebrate. Count out the political placard displays or screaming streamers. Count in sure-fire ear-friendly music, live celebrity glitter as a back-to-back-to-back concert of international heartthrobs happens inside the historic Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City come the evening of February 25, 2012.

 

Topnotch concert promoter Wilbros Live has just announced the staging of a star-studded concert entitled, "The Greatest Hits Tour: Blue, Jeff Timmons of 98 Degrees and a1 - Live in Manila 2012." The spectacle is taking place at the Big Dome, 8 pm, on the memorable day.  

 

Witness members of these marquee boy-bands perform and serenade you in their flesh.  The English pop vocal group Blue is set to deliver their hits, such as “All Rise”, “Too Close”, “If You Come Back”, “Fly By”, “One Love”, “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word”, “Guilty”, and “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours)." The group, comprised of Simon Webbe, Lee Ryan, Duncan James and Anthony Costa, will surely paint the town red. 

 

British-Norwegian group a1 is expected to churn out their familiar tunes. Name it, “Like A Rose”, “Take On Me”, “Ready or Not / Everytime”, “Same Old Brand New You”, “Caught in the Middle” and “Make It Good”. This pop ensemble started making a big splash when their first single, “Be the First to Believe,” entered the UK charts at #6 in early 1999. They had a huge amount of success worldwide with two #1s and eighty top 10 hits. No wonder music fans have believed! Watch out for their newest Christmas track After All It’s Christmas which will hit the airwaves very soon.

 

For fans of 98 Degrees, you won't see the group performing. Yet, that shouldn't matter much as its main vocalist Jeff Timmons is showing up. The group split up years back but its unforgettable R&B, soul, urban and contemporary pop sound lives on through its founding member. He is sure to sing many of their hits like “Invisible Man”, “Because of You”, “The Hardest Thing”, “I Do (Cherish You)” and “My Everything”.

 

Mark the date, February 25, 2012, and celebrate an evening worth-watching. For ticket inquiries, contact TicketNet Box Office at 911-5555 or Wilbros Live at 374-2222.