FIBA 3X3 U18 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP : JOSHUA SINCLAIR TO LEAD TEAM PHILIPPINES

After the successful defense of the SEABA U18 crown and getting the title in a pocket tournament in Thailand, Joshua Sinclair will lead Team Philippines in the 2016 FIBA 3x3 U18 World Championship in Astana, Kazakhstan on June 1 to 5.

Sinclair, who is dubbed as the next Kobe Paras, will be joined by Theo Joshua Flores, John Lloyd Clemente and Kyle Tan.

Sinclair is currently ranked no. 12 in the Philippines in the FIBA 3x3 ranking. He was first sighted when he bannered the Manila South team in the Manila leg of the FIBA 3x3 World Tour last year. The team qualified to the tournament after the MVP 3x3 Cup last year.

It will be a tough assignment for the 13th seed young Filipinos. They are grouped in Pool D with Hungary (4th seed), Brazil (5), defending champion New Zealand (12) and Spain (20). All teams in this bracket participated in last year's world championship.

Despite the low seeding of the Philippines, Sinclair's inclusion in the tema has created so much buzz in the official FIBA website. Sinclair is dubbed as one of the 10 players to watch out for in this tournament and the Philippines - New Zealand game is included in the Top 5 match ups to watch in the men's tournament.

The group stage schedule of the Philippines are as follows:

Jun 2 - 6:10pm - vs New Zealand
Jun 2 - 7:40pm - vs Brazil
Jun 4 - 6:30pm - vs Hungary
Jun 4 - 8:20pm - vs Spain

Only the Top 2 teams in each pool after the group stage will advance to the knouckout bracket stage.

Good luck to the Philippine U18 3x3 Team! Laban Pilipinas!

Image is from the FIBA 3x3 2016 World Championship website.

GILAS PILIPINAS : GILAS CADETS WINS THE 2016 SEABA STANKOVIC CUP

The Philippines remains to be the men's basketball champion in Southeast Asia.

The Gilas Cadets team bagged the 2016 SEABA Stankovic Cup in Bangkok, Thailand after sweeping the elimination round and beating Thailand in the Championship game, 97 - 80. The cadets team pulled out this victory even though they were only formed a few weeks before the tournament started.

The team is bannered by pro-ballers Troy Rosario of Talk N Text and Almond Vosotros of Blackwater Elite. The core of the UAAP champion team FEU is also in the team - Mac Belo, Raymark Jose, Mike Tolomia, RR Pogoy, Ken Holmqvist and Russel Escoto. Other members were Arellano playmaker Jio Jalalon, UST standout Kevin Ferrer, Ateneo's Von Pessumal and Batang Gilas U-18 player from Chiang Kai Shek College Jonas Tibayan.

Gold Medal for Gilas Cadets in the SEABA Stankovic Cup!

Read more: https://t.co/6lLHNU7zzz pic.twitter.com/yJLKGdKyaE

— Gilas Pilipinas (@smartgilasph) May 28, 2016

The championship game came 2 days after a very close game against Thailand in the eliminations, where the Gilas cadets escaped with a 66-65 win over the home team. The cadets came prepared this time in the championship, but Thailand started strong, leading most of the way in the first half. In the second half, the GIlas cadets started to pull away but ended the 3rd quarter in the lead by only 5 points.

In the last quarter, it was Mac Belo's 8 point run (with 2 three point shots and a put back) and Jio Jalalon's agressiveness to break the zone defense that prompted the team's breakaway run and never looked back after that.

The title was last won by Singapore in 2014 when Philippines did not participate in the tournament since Manila was the host of the 2014 FIBA Asia Championship and they automatically qualify for the tournament.

With this win, the Philippines does not only stamped its dominance in the region in terms of men's basketball but also qualified the team to the 2016 FIBA Asia challenge, which will serve as the qualifying tournament for the 2017 FIBA Asia Championship which will feature teams from Asia and Oceania.

Congratulations Gilas Cadets!

GILAS PILIPINAS : NIKE LAUNCHES NEW KITS FOR THE FIBA OQT

Sportswear global giant Nike launched the new kits that will be used by our very own Gilas Pilipinas national basketball team in the 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament here in Manila on July.

In an event in the newly opened Shangri-La Hotel in Bonifacio Global City, the launch started with a brief chat with Fil-Am NBA player Jordan Clarkson. Unfortunately, he will not be joining the squad in the OQT since FIBA has not yet given him the go signal due to his eligibility.

Most of the players in the current pool was there during the launch - LA Tenorio, Mo Tautua, Ranidel de Ocampo, Ray Ray Parks, Marc Pingris, June Mar Fajardo, Terrence Romeo and naturalized center Andray Blatche, who just arrived in Manila early Saturday morning after 2 weeks of personal leave due to the surgery of his mother.

The new kits were paraded by 5 other players in the Gilas 4.0 pool - Jeff Chan, Jayson Castro, Gabe Norwood, Calvin Abueva and Japeth Aguilar. You can see them in the photo below from the Sports5 Twitter :

LOOK | New Gilas Pilipinas uniform unveiled https://t.co/I5253qiLAb pic.twitter.com/XunfKhacSw

— Sports5 (@Sports5PH) May 28, 2016

Here is the video of the launch from Sports5 Facebook page :

DANCING WITH THE STARS : NYLE DIMARCO WINS THE MIRROR BALL TROPHY

America's Next Top Model winner Nyle DiMarco added another champion trophy on his resume. He has won the 22nd season of Dancing with the Stars and got the much coveted mirror ball trophy.

Nyle is partnered with professional dancer Peta Murgatroyd. This is Peta's 2nd win, after winning with NFL player Donald Driver in the show's season 14.

As we all know, Nyle is deaf and cannot hear the music, making it doubly hard to memorize the steps and the dance. Despite this, Nyle and Peta had performed several unforgettable routines this season. The most notable one was their Argentine Tango routine in week 9 (semi-finals) where Nyle danced some of the parts blindfolded.

The pair actually started shaky at the finale, getting a 27 in their quickstep routine, the lowest amongst the 3 first dances:

They got their groove back in the 2nd dance, scoring a perfect 30 in their lyrical freestyle dance which revolved around the struggle of being deaf.

Their last dance was also a perfect 30, with their fusion of tango and cha cha cha.

In the end, the pair beat the pairs of Broadcast meteorologist Ginger Zee and Val Chmerkovskiy and UFC fighter Paige Van Zant and Mark Ballas.

Here is their winning moment from the show's YouTube channel:

ABS-CBN REVEALS UPCOMING REALITY SHOW LINE UP

ABS-CBN reveals its upcoming line up of reality shows on this video shown during the finale of Pilipinas Got Talent Season 5 last weekend :

PART 1: Ipanalo ang talento, ang kwentong puno ng inspirasyon, at ang pangarap para sa pamilya! #PBBAuditions pic.twitter.com/igdRu1oHxU

— Pinoy Big Brother (@PBBabscbn) May 22, 2016

First to premiere will be The Voice Kids Season 3. The show will premiere on Saturday, May 28. This new season will look for new kid singers that will follow Lyka, season 1 winner and Elha, season 2 winner. It will be hosted by Robi Domingo, Luis Manzano and the new host, Kim Chiu. Mentors for this season will be Lea Salonga, Bamboo and new mentor, the Superstar, Ms Sharon Cuneta. The show started taping last week.

Auditions for the new season of Pinoy Big Brother is already in full swing. They are now looking for regular and teen housemates for its 7th season. It will be another season to look forward to, knowing the creativity of the staff, making each season very unique as compared to the previous seasons.

A new show will also be launched soon. La Banda, a talent show that aims to find the next Filipino boy band. This is another local adaptation of a reality show of the same title in the US. La Banda, which translates to The Band, is a reality show from Univision and was created by Simon Cowell and produced by Ricky Martin. In the US version, the top 12 contestants advances to the live shows but only the top 5 singers will form the new boyband. The first winner was the boy band CNCO, and here is a brief video on the show's last episode :

It was also shown that there will be auditions for Dance Kids Season 2 and Star Circle Kid Quest which will also come back after 5 years. 

SHAKEYS V-LEAGUE NOW TO BE AIRED BY ABS-CBN SPORTS AND ACTION

Shakey's V-League will now be aired by ABS-CBN Sports + Action starting with this upcoming season.

The league was previously being televised by the rival station's sister channel - GMA News TV. Unfortunately, not all games were broadcasted live. Only 1 game is shown live and the other games were shown on a delayed basis.

With the new partnership, games are reported to be shown live. Double header games are scheduled every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. First game will be at 4pm and the 2nd game will be at 6:30pm. Games will be broadcasted both on the free TV channel (Channel 23) and the HD channel in cable TV. Live stream will also be availablr in the ABS-CBN sports website.

For this season, 8 teams will be vying for the championship, namely Pocari Sweat, Bali Pure, Philippine Air Force, college teams NU and UP and provincial teams Baguio, Iriga and Laoag.

Games will start on Saturday, May 28. Here is the initial schedule as posted in the Shakey's V-League Facebook page :

AMAZING RACE ASIA WILL BE BACK!

After a 6 year hiatus, the Asian adaptation of the popular US reality show, Amazing Race Asia will be back this year for its 5th season.

Here is the announcement for application from the twitter account of AXN Asia:

Opportunity doesn't knock twice. Now is the time to be part of The Amazing Race Asia! https://t.co/cywuYO42k7 pic.twitter.com/QXnMaEeQko

— AXN Asia (@axnasia) May 24, 2016

Here is the right up on the website :

So excited to watch this season! Can't wait for the premier!

IT'S OFFICIAL - RAINY DAYS ARE HERE!

It's official! Summer is over and rainy days are here to stay.

PAGASA announces onset of rainy season https://t.co/OCf1g8fWoB pic.twitter.com/JURUNTVvNM

— ABS-CBN News Channel (@ANCALERTS) May 24, 2016

After several days of experiencing scattered rains in the afternoons and at night, PAGASA announced in a press conference that the rainy days have officially began.

Onset of rainy season pic.twitter.com/vrsvPZK4WK

— Dona Pazzibugan (@dpazzibugan) May 24, 2016

Time to bring your umbrellas to work or school,

Posts are from the Twitter accounts of ABS-CBN news and Dona Pazzibugan.

GILAS PILIPINAS : PAUL LEE IS OUT OF THE GILAS POOL FOR THE FIBA OQT

Rain or Shine guard Paul Lee confirmed this morning that he is out of the Gilas pool for the FIBA Olympic Qualifier in Manila.

Fresh from the successful championship run in the Commissioner's Cup in the PBA, Lee together with teammates Jeff Chan and Gabe Norwood are back in the Gilas training after being excused due to the championship and a 5 day break after the finals series.

Lee was part of the Gilas 2.0 team that competed in the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain.

Before the practice, Lee spoke with Coach Tab Baldwin about his knee injury.

Sad to report that injuries to Paul Lee has forced him to withdraw from Gilas pool. Said knee has hurt since Finals pic.twitter.com/qOg1kjYOnR

— Carlos Araneta (@chuck_araneta) May 24, 2016

According to the reports, the knee injury has been a concern even during the PBA championship series. He needed to drain fluids and was given limited minutes to manage the problem. Even with the injury, he managed to get the Finals MVP award.

Paul Lee, who is nicknamed as the Angas ng Tondo, is already the third player to withdraw from the pool due to injuries. Greg Slaughter and Matt Ganuelas Rosser also had to withdraw due to injuries. In this morning's practice, Jeff Chan only watched in the sidelines, also due to injury.

With Paul Lee gone, the guard post slots will be contested by LA Tenorio, Jason Castro, Jeff Chan , Terrence Romeo, Keifer Ravena and Marcio Lassiter, who also returned to the triaing pool today.

Image is from Chuck Araneta's Twitter page.

CANNES FILM FESTIVAL 2016 : JACLYN JOSE WINS BEST ACTRESS AWARD

Veteran and award winning actress Jaclyn Jose won as the best actress at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival in France. She won for her performance for the movie "Ma Rosa" which was directed by Brillante Mendoza.

With this feat, Jose becomes not only the first Filipino actress but also the first Southeast Asian actress to win such award.

Jose was very surprised as well when her name was called out and was almost rumbling all through out here acceptance speech. She received the award together with her director Mendoza and her daughter Andi Eigenmann who is also part of the movie.

Here is a post from the Philippine Star Twitter page showing Jose with her award :

Filipina. World-class. The entire nation is proud of your #Cannes2016 feat, Ms Jaclyn Jose! https://t.co/TQc7GXHYMz pic.twitter.com/hvCd1OA9EI

— The Philippine Star (@PhilippineStar) May 23, 2016

Congratulations again Ms Jaclyn Jose!

BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT : FILIPINA MOTHER AND DAUGHTER SINGING DUO MAKES IT TO THE SEMIS

Filipinos are on a roll and has continued to impress talent show judges around the world. The latest show to be invaded by Filipino talent is Britain's Got Talent.

The Filipina mother and daughter singing duo, Ana and Fia Almanda has made it to the semifinal stage of the contest. They gave a very emotional duet of Tell Him, originally sang by Barbara Streisand and Celine Dion.

Here is their very emotional audition from the show's YouTube channel :

The duo received a standing ovation from all the judges after their performance and was given 4 YES's to move on in the competition. The semis will happen this week from Monday to Friday and the finals will be on Saturday, May 29.

Let us pray that this Filipino act will make it to the finals.

PILIPINAS GOT TALENT : POWER DUO WINS PILIPINAS GOT TALENT SEASON 5

Finally, after singers dominated the first 4 seasons of the show, Pilipinas Got Talent finally crown a dance act as its grand winner.

Power Duo, an interpretative dance act from Rizal, beat 11 other acts and was crowned the winner. The real life couple Anjanette and Gervin won 2 million pesos as winners of the talent show. They were also the golden buzzer act of one of the show's new judge, Robin Padilla.

In fact, there is no singers in the top 3. The dance duo edged out fellow contestants magician Ody Sto. Domingo and fire act Amazing Pyra to win the title.

Here is the video of their winning performance from the ABS-CBN Entertainment YouTube channel :

Other finalists include dance groups Crossover Family, Mastermind and Power Impact; singers Kurt Espiritu and Next Option, kid band The Chosen Ones, acrobat act Dino Splendid Acrobat and Sto. Domingo Bulilit Generation, motorcycle exhibition act UA Mindanao.

The winner was decided via the combined scores from the judges, text and Google votes.

GILAS PILIPINAS : 2016 SEABA STANKOVIC CUP SCHEDULE

The Gilas Cadet team is currently competing in the 5th SEABA Stankovic Cup for Men in Bangkok, Thailand. Participating countries are the Philippines, host Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. The tournament will run from May 22 to 28, 2016 and will serve as the qualifying tournament for the 2016 FIBA Asia Challenge. The top 2 teams will advance to the said tournament. 

The Gilas Cadets team is bannered by 2 PBA players - Troy Rosario of Talk N Text and Almond Vosotros of Blackwater Elite. The core of the UAAP season 78 champions - FEU Tamaraws are also part of the team - Mac Belo, Roger Pogoy, Russel Escoto, Mike Tolomia, Ken Holmqvist and Raymar Jose. Other collegiate stars in the team are Von Pessumal of Ateneo, Kevin Ferrer of UST and Jio Jalalon of Arellano University. A member of the Batang Gilas U18 team who recently won the SEABA U18 title also made it to the team - Jonas Tibayan of Chiang Kai Shek College.

Here is the schedule of the games for this week :

Source : Mono 29 SEABA website