Philippines

Coordinates: 13°N 122°E / 13°N 122°E / 13; 122

The Philippines (ⁱ/ˈfɪlᵻpiːnz/; Filipino: Pilipinas [ˌpɪlɪˈpinɐs]), officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (Filipino: Republika ng Pilipinas), is a sovereign island country in Southeast Asia situated in the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of about 7,500 islands that are categorized broadly under three main geographical divisions: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The capital city of the Philippines is Manila and the most populous city is Quezon City; both are part of Metro Manila.

To the north of the Philippines across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan; Vietnam sits west across the South China Sea; southwest lies Malaysia in the island of Borneo across the Sulu Sea, and to the south the Celebes Sea separates it from other islands of Indonesia; while to the east it is bounded by the Philippine Sea and the island-nation of Palau. Its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire and close to the equator makes the Philippines prone to earthquakes and typhoons, but also endows it with abundant natural resources and some of the world's greatest biodiversity. At approximately 300,000 square kilometers (115,831 sq mi), the Philippines is the 72nd-largest country in the world.

Got Talent

Got Talent is a talent show television format conceived and owned by Simon Cowell's SYCOtv company. A pilot was made in the United Kingdom in 2005, hosted by Paul O'Grady, but after O'Grady's split with ITV, the series was postponed, resulting in America's Got Talent – the first full series of the format.

It has spawned spin-offs in over 58 countries (as of April 2014), in what is now referred to as the Got Talent format, similar to that described by FremantleMedia of the Idol and The X Factor formats. In April 2014, the format was named the world's most successful reality TV format ever by the Guinness World Records.

History

Got Talent was an invention by The X Factor creator Simon Cowell, with comedian and talk show host Paul O'Grady producing a pilot for ITV in 2005 under the provisional title Paul O'Grady's Got Talent. O'Grady left the network after disputes with ITV, resulting in Cowell moving the concept to the United States while he and ITV searched for a new show host.

Due to these issues, the Got Talent franchise ended up debuting first as America's Got Talent on NBC on 21 June 2006, with judges David Hasselhoff, Brandy Norwood, and Piers Morgan. The show's original series was hosted by Regis Philbin. In 2016, the judging panel consisted of Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum, Melanie Brown, and Simon Cowell, and hosted by Nick Cannon, who has been the presenter since 2009. The grand prize on America's Got Talent is $1 million, and, since season 3, a chance to headline a show on the Las Vegas Strip. America's Got Talent proved extremely successful for NBC, pulling in high ratings in both total viewers and the younger 18-49 demographic. The show's initial success in America is credited with the eventual launch of the British series, and the overall global launch of the Got Talent franchise.

Pilipinas Got Talent

Pilipinas Got Talent is a Filipino reality talent competition show on ABS-CBN network that began on February 20, 2010. It is based on the Got Talent franchise, a British TV format conceived and owned by Simon Cowell's SYCO company. "Pilipinas" is the Filipino word for Philippines. Anyone can join and showcase their talents in the audition. At the sound of three buzzers from the judges, the auditionees are asked to stop their act. With at least two yes from the judges, they are automatically in the list for Judges Cull, where judges have to pick only 36 acts that will move to the semi-finals. Acts will compete against each other in order to gain the audience support to win the prize money and the title of Pilipinas Got Talent winner.

ABS-CBN acquired the Got Talent franchise, advertising it as "the first nationwide talent reality show in the Philippines," although other talent shows from other networks are aired with a similar format, such as Talentadong Pinoy on TV5.

Rodrigo Duterte

Rodrigo "Rody" Roa Duterte (born March 28, 1945), nicknamed Digong, is a Filipino lawyer and politician of Visayan descent. Duterte is among the longest-serving mayors in the Philippines. He has been mayor of Davao City, a highly urbanized city on Mindanao island, for 7 terms, totalling more than 22 years. He has also served as vice-mayor and congressman in the city.

On November 21, 2015, Duterte declared his candidacy for President of the Philippines in the upcoming 2016 election after a period of banter.

Early life

Duterte was born on March 28, 1945 in Maasin, Leyte in the Philippine Commonwealth to Vicente G. Duterte, who served as Governor of (the then-undivided) Davao and Soledad Roa, a native of Cabadbaran, Agusan who was a school teacher and a civic leader. Duterte's father Vicente, prior to being provincial governor of Davao, was once a mayor of Danao in Cebu. Rodrigo's cousin Ronald, on the other hand, served as Cebu City mayor from 1983 to 1986. Ronald’s father, Ramon Duterte, also held the position from 1957 to 1959. The Dutertes consider the political families of the Durano and the Almendras clan as relatives.

El Gamma Penumbra

El Gamma Penumbra is a Filipino, all male, shadow play group, best known for being the winners of the first season of Asia's Got Talent.

Etymology

El Gamma Penumbra comes from two Latin words: Gamma and Penumbra, which roughly translates to "the ray of light (behind) a man's shadow".

History

Early career

El Gamma Penumbra was first founded in 2003 as a hip-hop boy group, competing in dance contests in Tanauan, their home town in the province of Batangas, in southwest Luzon (about a 3-hour drive from Manila). Before joining Pilipinas Got Talent, however, they changed their act, thinking that there will be lesser chance of winning due to too many hip-hop dancers in the Philippines. Upon deciding to do shadow play, believing it is new and unique, they started practicing in a basketball court near Tanauan, using a tarpaulin and a halogen light as an improvisation.

They decided to produce an all-male group members, meaning females are not included, due to the "extreme body movements and contact required of their routines."