BBC, Reader’s Digest, Spotify join #AlDub bandwagon

Even the rest of the world is taking a closer look at #AlDub.

No longer confined to the entire country, the phenomenal #AlDub love team of Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza is also beginning to capture the imagination of foreign media.

One day after InterAksyon tried to make sense of #AlDub, BBC News Online, the most frequently accessed news website of the United Kingdom, posted the news story “’AlDub’: A social media phenomenon about love and lip-synching” Wednesday (Thursday, Manila time).

Written by Heather Chen, the piece also tries to put #AlDub in the proper perspective as it offers “everything you need to know about lip-synching, being in love with somebody you have never met and how to break records on Twitter.”

The story includes interviews with TV host and blogger Daphne Oseña-Paez as well as BBC presenter Rico Hizon who confesses to being a fan of the “Kalyeserye” segment of “Eat Bulaga” where #AlDub began as a split-screen love team.

It also cited several local reports, including InterAksyon’s own piece on Maine Mendoza being in the same league as Taylor Swift and Katy Perry as among the fastest growing celebrities on Twitter.

Aside from the BBC, Reader’s Digest is also jumping on the #AlDub bandwagon. Alden and Maine are set to grace the cover of the December issue of the Asian edition of the 93-year-old general interest magazine that originated in New York in 1922.

Like the BBC, Reader’s Digest is also considered an institution and to date, continues to have a strong presence in print media.

The “globalization” of #AlDub does not end there as the popular music streaming service Spotify recently created its own “#AlDub: Happily Ever After” playlist featuring such tracks as Lou Bega’s “Mambo No. 5” which is now known as the entrance theme song of Lola Tinidora (Jose Manalo), Bryan White’s “God Gave Me You” and Alden Richards’ latest hit single, “Wish I May”.

Spotify has currently over 75 million users worldwide.

source: interaksyon.com

Monty Python to reunite for new show after 30 years

LONDON--British comedy veterans Monty Python are set to reunite for a new show in their first major collaboration in 30 years, member Terry Jones revealed on Tuesday.

"We're getting together and putting on a show -- it's real," Jones told the BBC.

"I'm quite excited about it. I hope it makes us a lot of money. I hope to be able to pay off my mortgage!"

The BBC reported that the new collaboration -- the first major project since the 1983 film "Monty Python's The Meaning Of Life" -- would come in the form of a theatre show.

Surviving Pythons John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Michael Palin and Jones -- who are all in their seventies -- are set to formally announce the new project at a press conference in London on Thursday.

The troupe won a cult following with their zany TV series "Monty Python's Flying Circus" between 1969 and 1974.

They went on to make several hit films including "Monty Python And The Holy Grail" (1975) and "Monty Python's Life of Brian" (1979).

The final "Meaning Of Life" film in 1983 was the last time the group appeared with their sixth member Graham Chapman, who died of cancer six years later.

The remaining Pythons have not appeared together since 1998 when they performed at the Aspen Comedy Festival in the United States.

But a spin-off musical "Spamalot", based on the "Holy Grail" movie, has proved a hit on both Broadway and London's West End over the last decade.

source: interaksyon.com

Pioneering British broadcaster David Frost, famous for Nixon interview, dies

LONDON - British journalist David Frost, best known for interviewing former U.S. President Richard Nixon, died of a heart attack on Saturday at the age of 74, the BBC said on Sunday.

Frost is most famous for a 1977 interview during which Nixon apologized for the Watergate scandal - when his Republican party staff bugged the opposition Democrats' offices.

"Sir David died of a heart attack last night aboard the Queen Elizabeth which is a Cunard (cruise) liner where he was giving a speech. His family are devastated and ask for privacy at this difficult time," the BBC quoted from a family statement.

Immortalized in the 2008 film, Frost Nixon, he was a pioneer of broadcasting for more than half a century, including the satirical program "That Was The Week That Was," and appeared in several British television programs in recent years.

Prime Minister David Cameron paid tribute to him on Sunday.

"My heart goes out to David Frost's family. He could be - and certainly was with me - both a friend and a fearsome interviewer," Cameron said on Twitter.

September - British broadcasting great David Frost has died of a heart attack aged 74, his family said in a statement Sunday.

Frost, remembered for his celebrated interviews with former US president Richard Nixon, died Saturday on board the Queen Elizabeth cruise liner.

source: interaksyon.com

New Dr. Who named

LONDON - Scottish actor Peter Capaldi, best known as the abusive spin doctor in satire "The Thick of It," was on Sunday named as the new eponymous star of cult British series "Doctor Who."

The BBC unveiled the 55-year-old Glaswegian as the 12th Time Lord during a live program on Sunday evening.

"Being asked to play the Doctor is an amazing privilege. Like the Doctor himself I find myself in a state of utter terror and delight. I can't wait to get started," said Capaldi, who will replace outgoing Doctor Matt Smith.

"It's so wonderful not to keep this secret any longer, but it's been so fantastic," he added.

Executive producer and lead writer Steven Moffat said an "incendiary combination" had been forged.

"One of the most talented actors of his generation is about to play the best part on television," he added.

Capaldi hit the big screen in 2009, playing the Machiavellian Malcolm Tucker in political comedy "In The Loop," where he starred alongside the late James Gandolfini.

The science fiction adventures of the Time Lord -- a time travelling, humanoid alien who traverses the universe in Tardis spacecraft -- have maintained a loyal following since they were first aired in 1963.

source: interaksyon.com

BBC blasted for compromise over Thatcher's 'Witch' song

LONDON- Britain's public broadcaster came under fire on Friday for compromising over the song "Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead" that was sent flying up the UK charts by a campaign to celebrate former prime minister Margaret Thatcher's death.

The song from the 1939 film "The Wizard of Oz" is vying for the No. 1 slot in the UK's weekly list of the top 40 best-selling singles that are usually played in full on a BBC Radio 1 chart show on Sunday.

As pressure mounted from some politicians and members of the public to ban the "disrespectful" song, the BBC said it would air the track on Sunday but only a short clip as part of a "news item" explaining why the song is in the charts.

"The BBC finds this campaign distasteful but does not believe the record should be banned," the BBC said in a statement.
The furor was seen as a critical test for the new head of the BBC, Tony Hall, appointed after a sex scandal involving the late TV presenter Jimmy Savile threw the broadcaster into turmoil and raised questions about the organization's ethics.
The publicly-funded BBC was criticized for a slow and unconvincing response to revelations that Savile was a serial pedophile abusing children over decades.
BBC Radio 1 controller Ben Cooper acknowledged the decision to air a clip of the Wicked Witch song was a compromise.
"You have very difficult and emotional arguments on both sides of the fence and let's not forget you also have a family that is grieving for a loved one who has yet to be buried," he said in a statement.
But the reaction not to play the song in full like other chart hits sparked criticism of the BBC caving in to political pressure over the 87-year-old leader who died of a stroke last Monday.
Even some Thatcher supporters, including the former Conservative MP Louise Mensch, said the BBC should air the song.
"Thatcher stood for freedom," tweeted Mensch.
Media lawyer Mark Stephens from London law firm HowardKennedyFsi said the BBC should play the song.
"She was a controversial figure and its chart position represents the views of a section of the community," he told the Independent newspaper.
Prime Minister David Cameron steered clear of the debate on Friday, having struggled all week to find a unified approach towards handling Thatcher's death and her funeral on Wednesday.
Earlier in the week he described so-called death parties by her detractors as "distasteful" and a spokesman on Friday said he had no further comment to add over the Wicked Witch song.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrat Party, said it was not for politicians to tell the BBC what to play even though he did not feel the online campaign was "in very good taste at all".
The BBC has banned other songs in the past, including the Sex Pistols' "God Save The Queen" which was released in 1977 at the time of the Queen Elizabeth's Silver Jubilee

source: interaksyon.com