JK Labajo's 'Buwan' Revs Up My Year-End OPM Top 10

I embraced new music and new artists in my OPM chart in 2019. Only Kyla, Tim Pavino and Shanti Dope have had hits in my OPM countdown prior to 2019.

Juan Karlos Labajo's 'Buwan' was a slow burn for me.  I did not initially like the song since it was arranged in a rock manner, but as I played it again and again in my phone, I realized how interesting the song was, lyrically and in the way it was arranged.  If JK continues to write songs like these, he is going to be a major OPM talent - and an authentic one at that - since he can compose his own songs - and have total creative control!

OC Dawg's 'Pauwi na Ako' was a Zumba favorite for me and it ends the year at #2 in my yearend OPM countdown.  It's a cute song and I totally understand why young people dig it!  This song shows how rap can easily be created using Filipino.  Mas grabe ang diin if an OPM song is sung in Tagalog.

Maris Racal's 'Love is Easy' is a beautiful ballad arranged in a sweet manner that puts Racal's voice and charm front and center.  I love her voice here!  I haven't heard her do this live though.  She hasn't really done any live shows in the local club circuit.  Her song ends at #3 in my year-end OPM countdown.

I felt very privileged to have seen Tim Pavino perform "Ulap" live during the OPM Playlist Festival in BGC.  He released an album during this period and it has many other interesting songs.  'Ulap' ends at #4 in my year-end OPM Top 10 countdown.

Maymay Entrata's 'Kakayanin Kaya' ends at #5 in my year-end top 10 in 2019. I love how she sings this ballad.  She has a very expressive voice although I do not know if she can pull this off live.  

Here are my ten favorite OPM songs for the year 2019 -

#1 Buwan
      Huwag

#2 Pauwi Na Ako
      OC Dawg

#3 Love is Easy
      Maris Racal

#4 Ulap
       Tim Pavino

#5 Kakayanin Kaya
      Maymay Entrata

#6 Amatz
      Shanti Dope

#7 Sana
      I Belong to the Zoo

#8 Huling Muli
      Kyla

#9 Intergalactic Gugma
      Tony Alfonso / Kaye Dinauto

#10 Dahil Mahal Kita
        Chocolate Factory

#1 Song for the Decade 2010-2019 - Ben Platt - For Forever (from Dear Evan Hansen

My #1 song for the decade 2010-2019 - from the Broadway play Dear Evan Hansen - For Forever as sung by Ben Platt (a Best Actor Tony awardee - very well-deserved)

Suicide and mental health have gone front and center as things discussed openly nowadays.  Today's kids are so lucky.  

The Tony-award winning play Dear Evan Hansen touched me so much when I first heard it. I was weeping listening to the songs.  My God, if they stage it here, I would have to bring lots of tissues, because I might be bawling watching the musical!

Nobody talks about suicide and killing themselves when I was young.  The stupid priest just told me curtly "You will go to hell!" And I promptly said back "Fuck you Father, I am already in hell, you heartless asshole". Some priests never listen. They are in their ivory towers, forgetting that we are just human and we have moments of weakness.

When I wanted to jump off a UP building in my third year in college, I had to process all my feelings of depression and failure all my own. I never told a soul because it was too embarrassing to admit to people that I was a failure and my young life then was falling apart.  

Tell it to my family? Patawa! I come from such a high-achieving family, failure is not an option. Failure is for losers. Or so I thought in my young innocent head.

Buti na lang I was a vain faggot and son-of-a-bitch that I didn't want a disfigured and mangled face and body on my coffin, so I decided, fuck it, just go to Vinzon's and face up to your failures.  It's not the end of the world.

And buti na lang I did not kill myself, LOL.  I wouldn't have seen Madonna live in London and sing 'Crazy For You' along with her or bump into Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams in Wimbledon.  Or say hi to Patrick Swayze and Juliette Lewis in the West End.

Life is strange. Sometimes, you are down in the dumps, and sometimes the Lord rewards you with experiences you can only dream about!

So to young people who want to kill themselves. Just hang in there.  

All your dreams will come true and much much more.  God will give you amazing experiences if you only work for it.  He is incredibly generous and loving. 

I know it's such a cliche, but when you are down, the only way is up.

My FABE Music Top 10 Countdown: December 27, 2019

Indonesian singer Rizky Febian becomes the first singer from his country to top My FABE Music Top 10 countdown.  Thanks to my Indonesian language classes, another language opens up their musical influences to me.

Here are my ten favorite songs by international artists for the week ending December 27, 2019 -

#1 Kesempurnaan Cinta (#2) *1 week
      Rizky Febian

#2 Mine Right Now (#3)
      Sigrid

#3 No New Friends (#4)
      LSD

#4 Happy With You (#5)
      Paul McCartney

#5 Harmony Hall  (#6)
       Vampire Weekend

#6 Megatron  (#7)
      Nicki Minaj

#7 Memories (#9)
      Maroon 5

#8 Blessing  (#10)
      Laura Story

#9 The Man (NEW)

      Taylor Swift

#10 NASA (NEW)

        Ariana Grande

Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift has 31 top 10 hits in My Weekly Top 10. Twenty-three of them went all the way to #1.

This week, Call It What You want moves to #1, making it the second #1 hit from her Reputation album.

2006 - Tim McGraw (#1)

2006 - Teardrops on My Guitar (#1)

2008 - Love Story (#1)

2008 - You Belong With Me (#1)

2008 - Fifteen (#1)

2008 - Fearless (#1)

2008 - White Horse (#1)

2010 - Mine (#1)

2010 - Sparks Fly (#4)

2010 - Back to December (#3)

2010 - Speak Now (#1)

2010 - Mean (#1)

2010 - The Story of Us (#1)

2012 - We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together (#1)

2012 - State of Grace (#1)

2012 - 22 (#1)

2012 - The Last Time (with Gary Lightbody) (#1)

2012 - Everything Has Changed (with Ed Sheeran) (#1)

2012 - I Knew You Were Trouble (#5)

2012 - Red (#3)

2016 - How You Get the Girl (#1)

2016 - New Romantics (#1)

2016 - Wonderland (#8)

2017 - Look What You Made Me Do (#9)

2017 - Ready For It (#1)* 1 week

2018 - Call It What You Want (#1)* 1 week

2019 - Delicate (#1) *1 week

2019 - Babe (with Sugarland) (#1)*1 week

2019 - Me (with Brendan Urie) (#8)

2019 - You Need to Calm Down (#8)

2019 - I Forgot That You Existed (#1) *1 week

My FABE Music Top 10 Countdown - December 20, 2019

Taylor Swift tops My FABE Music's Top 10 countdown this week - making it the first #1 song for the 2020 calendar for this chart, which starts Christmas weekend of the previous year.

Here are my ten favorite songs by international artists for the week ending December 20, 2019 -

#1 I Forgot That You Existed (#2)
      Taylor Swift

#2 Kesempurnaan Cinta (#3)
      Rizky Febian

#3 Mine Right Now (#4)
      Sigrid

#4 No New Friends (#5)
      LSD

#5 Happy With You (#6)
      Paul McCartney

#6 Harmony Hall  (#7)
       Vampire Weekend

#7 Megatron  (#8)
      Nicki Minaj

#8 Never Really Over (#10)
      Katy Perry

#9 Memories (NEW)
      Maroon 5

#10 Blessing  (NEW)
         Laura Story