Maine Mendoza broadens her horizons beyond AlDub

If there’s anyone who understands that fame is fleeting, it’s Maine Mendoza.

The 22-year-old actress knows what it feels like to be a total unknown one moment and on top of the world the next — as a result of her onscreen love team with actor Alden Richards. She knows the process could go the other way just as quickly.

But two years after she became an overnight phenomenon, Maine is still overwhelmed by the blessings that continue to come her way.

“I never dreamed of being in this position. Everything happened so fast for me and Alden. I still could not fathom what people saw in me. It’s a question that I honestly still could not answer,” Maine said in mostly Filipino during the recent launch of CDO Funtastyk Young Pork Tocino’s “Forever Young” campaign.

Maine insists that a lot of people may not be aware of it but much of AlDub’s success is a product of hard work.

“Some people think that what we do is easy, that it’s all glitz and glamour and everything is very relaxed. But the truth is, there’s a lot of downside to being an artist, a celebrity,” the reluctant superstar pointed out.

Although AlDub remains a daily trending topic on Twitter, the frenzy has somewhat settled down as Maine and Alden are taking well-deserved respites while waiting for their next big projects after their successful teleserye, “Destined to be Yours,” and their blockbuster movie, “Imagine You and Me.”

Even so, Maine is still trying to find ways to broaden her horizons and reveal sides of her that not too many of her fans have noticed before.

“Just like in most things, once you reach the top, you just want to maintain your ranking,” Maine noted.

Early this year, she was included in Mega magazine’s 25 Iconic Women list. Last month, she landed on the cover of the 20th anniversary issue of Cosmopolitan magazine and just recently posted several photos from her recent vacation at the Maldives that also showed her sexy side, which might explain her Top 10 ranking in the last update of FHM’s 100 Sexiest Women list.

But while Maine is not likely to shed her wholesome image anytime soon, most of her activities are geared towards showing her fans that she’s enjoying whatever she has while she still has it.

Maine admits that she’s inspired by the success of CDO Funtastyk Young Pork Tocino, considered as the country’s number one tocino.

“I’m very impressed with the unique concept of their ‘Forever Young’ commercial. We began the campaign with me just saying, ‘Iba talaga pag forever young’ which had people wondering if this is about a new beauty product until we revealed that it’s about food, about CDO Funtastyk Young Pork Tocino. I think this is the kind of campaign that will look and sound fresh for consumers.”

Maine says she’s personally fascinated by the idea of being “forever young” which for her also serves as a reminder to keep her feet firmly planted on the ground.

“Fame may not last forever but at least when it comes to tocino, you can have something that’s forever young,” she quipped.

source: interaksyon.com

Rapper Psy wants fans to dress in white for April 13 concert

SEOUL – South Korean rapper Psy wants his fans to turn up in white at his April concert where he will launch a new song that he hopes will cement the success of his “Gangnam Style” Youtube hit.

“See this pic and let’s be white on 0413″, Psy tweeted on his @psy_oppa Twitter feed on Wednesday, referring to the April 13 concert to be held in the South Korean capital of Seoul.

The chubby rapper, who shot to fame with over a billion Youtube hits in 2012, subsequently poses in a variety of white clothing, ranging from a spacesuit to tennis whites and even a bridal gown and skimpy figure-skating dress.

His stylist says the 35-year old is more likely to reprise a concert style based on the suit used in “Gangnam Style” than anything more racy.

Psy has not yet revealed what song he will release.

source: interaksyon.com

Cross-dressing Chinese grandfather finds fame

BEIJING--A 72-year-old Chinese man who became an Internet sensation after his granddaughter used him as a cross-dressing model to promote her clothing store was delighted at his new-found fame, she said.

Lu Qing, who lives in southern China's Guangdong province, posted pictures of her grandfather dressed in an array of pink skirts, red tights and fur-lined women's jackets to promote her online fashion outlet Yuekou.

The images of Liu Xianping have since gone viral and seen him branded the "world's coolest" grandfather by Internet users for his slender legs and modelling poise. They have also boosted his granddaughter's bottom line.

"Since the pictures came out, we've had a huge number of website visitors, and are selling five times as many clothes as before," Lu told AFP. "Previously, we sometimes sold less than 10 items a day, and were feeling depressed about the business."

Lu said her grandfather was "surprised" by the reaction to the photos and at least three other stores had asked him to pose for them, but he was unlikely to accept.

"He doesn't see modelling as a way of making money, its just about having fun with his relatives," she said, adding she hopes to use his services again.

Liu "had a young heart", she said, and enjoys visits to parks and zoos, as well as playing games on his mobile phone. "He thinks bringing people's attention to the elderly is great, so he's been very happy recently."

The Offbeat China website, which tracks Internet developments in the country, said Liu's modelling illustrates the transformation it has undergone.

"It is stories like this when one can get a sense of what a diversified society China has changed into in the past 40 years, especially for someone like Liu who has lived through one of the most rigid times in China's history," said a post on the site.

Liu, who has worked as a teacher and a farmer, did not need prompting to take up modelling, Lu said.

"My grandfather saw some new stock one day and thought some of the colours were pretty... he wasn't embarrassed to model because we're all very close to him," she said, adding that his favourite item was a red women's coat.

source: interaksyon.com

‘Gangnam Style’ second most-viewed YouTube video, could surpass Bieber’s ‘Baby’ in a month

SEOUL – South Korean pop sensation Psy’s “Gangnam Style” has become the second most-watched YouTube video of all time with more than 620 million hits as the quirky rapper continues to take the world by storm.

The 34-year-old singer, whose real name is Park Jae-Sang, rocketed to international fame after “Gangnam Style” — a techno ode to a trendy Seoul neighbourhood — became a worldwide hit following its debut in July.

The video went viral online with its goofy signature horse-riding dance and on Friday ousted singer Jennifer Lopez’s dance hit “On the Floor” from second place. But it still trails behind Canadian teenage heartthrob Justin Bieber’s “Baby”, which has had over 795 million hits.

John Hirai, head of music at YouTube’s Korea-Japan branch, told a conference in Seoul that Psy would pass Bieber on YouTube’s most-watched list in about a month.

He thinks the secret of Psy’s success lies in the speed at which the singer uploaded a sequel video on his official website, as well as footage of the making of his video and interviews, for users wanting to know more about him and “Gangnam Style”.

“It comes like a total package at the end, so it just generated views,” Hirai said, according to Yonhap news agency.

“I’ve been in this music business for 25 plus years and I’ve never seen anything like this and I’ve never imagined anything like this would come out of Asia. It’s just unbelievable but it’s overwhelming,” he said.

Psy has also remained at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 music chart in the United States for a sixth straight week after topping charts in countries including Britain and Australia.

The popularity of the song and video, which spawned hundreds of parodies and tribute videos across the world, has helped the singer land a contract with Bieber’s management agency.

Psy, currently on a promotional tour in the United States, last week performed on ABC’s “The View” talk show, after his appearances at the MTV awards and other prime-time programmes last month boosted his profile.

The star is already a music veteran at home with six albums under his belt and next week he will begin a promotional tour in Europe that includes a speech at the Oxford Union and an appearance at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Germany.

In another sign of his international reach, Psy was featured on the front cover of the latest issue of US weekly music magazine Billboard, which analyses factors that have helped the singer succeed and hails him as “a ready-made star”.

The story also examines how Scooter Braun, the music executive known for discovering YouTube sensations-turned pop stars like Bieber, ended up signing Psy for the US market.

The rapper recently unveiled plans for his next song in an interview on the US cable network CNN, saying the lyrics will be a mix of English and Korean.

source: interaksyon.com

What's next for the Rich Kids of Instagram?

(CNN) -- They have money, youth, ample amounts of free time and now a bit of fame. So what's next for the much maligned people featured on the hit site Rich Kids of Instagram? Some are grounded from over-sharing on the Internet, others embarrassed by the attention and some might be heading for TV.

The Tumblr blog sprung to life on July 13 and was an instant hit. It is a collection of photos found on Instagram that capture young wealthy people enjoying a life of minimally employed opulence: They're on lavish vacations, taking the most expensive modes of transportation, showing off designer belongings and doing all manner of things with and to champagne. Mixed in with the fun (seriously, who wouldn't want to water-slide off a yacht?) are less creative attempts to brag, like sepia-shaded photos of exorbitant restaurant receipts.

"A few glasses of wine and some misspelled Instagram searches led to its creation," the anonymous brains behind Rich Kids of Instagram, or RKOI, told CNN. Many of the images featured on the Tumblr were tagged with keywords on Instagram that made them easy to find, like #wealth, #mansion and #yacht. There's a Hilton, a Trump and a Brant in the mix, but many of the smartphone-photography enthusiasts are relatively unknown, for now.

While the reaction to the Tumblr has been largely one of disgust and anger -- "Pretty sad how those Rich Kids of Instagram will never know the value of a hard days OH MY GOD I HATE THEM SO MUCH," tweeted Josh Hara -- some of the kids are enjoying the attention. The blog's creators said they've had requests from people who want to be featured on the site. Many Instagramers are unselfconsciously tagging their photos with the #rkoi hashtag, hoping to get featured on the blog.

"I believe that the people who are outraged may be a little jealous," said Tom Ierna, a 19-year-old self-described "entrepreneur, New Yorker, blogger, mogul." Ierna's photos have been featured on RKOI multiple times -- one shows him in front of a large yacht in the Hamptons and another is an image of a Versace gold-plated AK47. (He does not own the gun; he just snapped a photo of it in an East Hampton boutique.)

The public's fascination with these kids has not gone unnoticed by Hollywood, where wealthy personalities are a huge draw on shows like "Keeping up with the Kardashians" and the "Real Housewives" series. Naturally, a reality TV casting agent has been reaching out to many of the blog's subjects.

"They seem to have huge personalities and would be amazing on TV," said Lexi Shoemaker, a casting agent who has worked on hits like "The Biggest Loser" and Bravo's "Tabatha's Salon Takeover." She would not share any details about her current project, but said the kids she had contacted had been receptive so far.

"I would consider doing a reality show, it would be a very smart business decision," said Ierna, who said he has been offered a spot on a reality TV show in the past but turned it down. He did not say if he was contacted by Shoemaker.

Not everyone is interested in the fame. The Tumblr's creators have received a few requests to remove images and other photos have been deleted from Instagram by their owners. Luckily, most of the originals live on in all their gilded glory on the RKOI site.

"My friends and I don't want to be associated with this. This is very embarrassing," Annabel Schwartz told "Good Morning America." The 19-year-old posted an image of herself and four friends in front of a helicopter while on vacation in Saint-Tropez. She has not deleted the public photo from her Instagram.

Alexa Dell, daughter of Dell CEO Michael Dell, had her social media presence quickly scrubbed from the Internet after a photo of her brother on a private plane to Fiji, feasting on a spread of fruit 3-feet deep, made it to the RKOI blog. Bloomberg Businessweek dug into a Dell regulatory filing and reported that the Dell family pays approximately $2.7 million a year for personal security. Between her active Instagram and Twitter accounts, Alexa Dell was leaving a trail of information, including locations and timing of trips, that could have been used by kidnappers or burglars.

Andres Morales,15, thinks being on the blog is a chance to promote his real passion, being a pilot. "Aviation is my life," Morales told CNN. In his RKOI Instagram photo, he is standing in front of a Quest Kodiak airplane, which typically costs about $1.7 million. It's not his, but he is checking it out "for future interest." Though only in the 10th grade, Morales has spent much of his life perusing aviation and flying, starting when he was eight. He is proud of his hobby -- he has 300 hours of flight experience and wants to be a commercial airline pilot when he's older. He's also proud of his lifestyle.

"Yes, my lifestyle is a jet-setter lifestyle," he said. "I travel a lot and love to fly private and in first class." Morales thinks the interest in the Rich Kids of Instagram blog is because "people cant find anything else to do with their lives so they stalk other people's photos and make a big deal out of it."

Ierna speculates the blog has become popular because people are "intrigued to see how the 1% lives." He said he was amused with all the attention at first, but that it has become a headache.

Ierna has family money -- both his father and grandfather were successful businessmen -- but he also has his own brand and career plans. He'd like to attend NYU and study business, eventually opening high-end nightclubs, restaurants and clothing boutiques around the globe.

"I think it accurately represents my lifestyle to some extent," said Ierna of his photos. "For the most part I live a very normal life."

source: CNN