By the numbers: American Idol
It’s finale week, a good time to take a look at the collection of data and stats released by Nielsen.
- The average American Idol participant voted via text message 38 times in April 2008. Female voters submitted 44% more text-message votes than their male counterparts.
- There were 3,291 product placement occurrences in the first three months of 2008 alone.
- American Idol’s highest viewership was Season 5, where more than 30 million people watched on average, compared to 12 million the first season and 27 million this current season.
- Chris Daughtry is the third highest selling American Idol contestant in terms of digital downloads, after Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. Clay Aiken is third in album sales, also after Clarkson and Underwood.
View full release here.
In their words: Pinoy postgraduates in Europe
Pinoy Erasmus Mundus is a blog by Filipino students and alumni of different universities across Europe under the Erasmus Mundus postgraduate programme. Find out more about the scholarships and the experiences of Pinoy EM students here.
European Higher Education Fair, Manila
In college, my blockmate and I dreamed of postgraduate study abroad. Now I’m only a few months away from getting my Master’s degree, and I’m still thinking of research and further studies. (Maybe I’m a little extreme.) But if you’ve ever considered going back to school, drop by the European Higher Education Fair and find out about different programmes offered by various universities, including information on scholarships (I wouldn’t have survived without one). It could be your turn to hit the books and experience Europe.
Need to be a bit more convinced? Try this.
European Higher Education Fair
Rizal Ballroom, Makati Shangri-La Hotel
February 23 to 24, 11am to 6pm
Free admission
London Film Festival, day six
If you had a choice between supporting one of our own and celebrity spotting, which would you choose? I tried to do both, which doesn’t quite work out. Foster Child and Lion for Lambs red carpet on the same evening–ambitious, but worth a shot.
I’m not a fan but…
What is it about celebrity that makes people queue for hours for a glimpse of their favorite stars? I don’t know. I never thought I’d do that myself. But I thought, if the chance comes, I might as well take it. It’s not every day that you see someone from the movies face to face.
Though I didn’t go as far as shouting out her name when she walked down the red carpet, I must admit that I did get starstruck when all that separated us was a metal barrier. I felt sorry for her because she indulged the crowd so much. It’s part of the job description, but if you’re just an actress who wants to work and live like a normal person, it must be quite tiring.
Who, what, when, where?
On mobility and languages
“Where are you from?” For three days last week, I was asked this question several times at the European Parliament in Brussels. What was an Asian girl doing at European Youth Media Days anyway? I would explain that I am Filipino and that I was attending because I am studying in Europe. I was surprised by a Greek girl who knew a number of Tagalog words and the Irish girl who was a big Lea Salonga fan, but I disappointed the Spanish by saying I couldn’t speak their language.
What struck me most is that many of the 270 young journalists from all over the continent are also on the move and that the European language is not just English, but all the languages of the member countries of the Union. Perhaps the diaspora is not exclusive to Indians, Chinese and Filipinos, and the knowledge of English is not always enough.
Related posts:
St. John’s fire
It’s a bit unusual for a Protestant country to celebrate feast days, but Sankt Hans Aften (St. John’s Eve) in Denmark is probably more of a pagan rite commemorating summer solstice than a Christian one. Instead of splashing water, a bonfire is lit and the midsummer song is sung.
As the intermittent rain gave way to sunny skies, families flocked to parks to be part of the experience. Merry little bands touring Carlsberg Brewery and hitchhiking from Lejre Research Center: classic exchange student stories.
A different way of looking at taxes
Jesse Bachman is a DJ who blogs and makes gig posters. He also made this, a “visual guide to where your federal taxes go”. Click on the image to see the 2008 US version up close.
Isriya Paireepairit made one for Thailand:
Any Pinoys up to the challenge?
If it were 12 degrees outside and drizzling, would you wear this?
You gotta admire their spirit in this weather.
Yesterday was Pinse Karneval in Copenhagen. Instead of a pre-Lenten carnival, the samba schools did it in time for Pentecost/Whit Sunday. 2000 dancers and musicians paraded through the main shopping street up to the City Hall.
Maybe it’s no match for our Sinulog and bonggacious festivals (I wouldn’t know, actually), but it was still a lot of fun. I found myself bobbing up and down to the beat while taking photographs. Since I haven’t had my camera repaired (and maybe never will because talking to the other Pinays made me dread the Philippine postal system), half of my photos came out blurred, but there were still some good enough to upload.
“No pity, please”
Try painting that with your foot.
That’s exactly what Amado Dulnuan did. I remember interviewing him for a school project around ten years ago. My mom helped me find him through AMFPA, the Association of Mouth and Foot Painting Artists (AMFPA), which sends us greeting cards and calendars featuring works of artists without hands. Amado was born without arms but started painting with his foot at a young age, even taking up Fine Arts at the University of the Philippines-Diliman. For a married man with two daughters, his everyday life is surprisingly like a regular workday (except that he works from home and his artworks are seen by people all over the world).
