Latest news with #Filipino-Australian
GMA Network
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- GMA Network
Catriona Gray attends ‘Mayhem' concert in a Lady Gaga-inspired look
Catriona Gray was among the celebrities who did not miss catching Lady Gaga's 'Mayhem' concert in Singapore, the only Southeast Asian stop on the pop star's world tour. On Instagram, the Miss Universe 2018 shared her glam for the concert, which was inspired by Lady Gaga's look in the end scene of the 'Paparazzi' music video released in 2009. Catriona's look featured a blonde bob cut wig styled by Paul Nebres and a smoky mug with glitter falling off her eyes, cosplaying as tears. 'Hala, iiyak nanaman siya, this time in glitter,' Catriona wrote in the caption. In a separate post, the Filipino-Australian beauty queen shared her outfit for the concert: a little black dress adorned with a panel of gold metallic fringe that runs vertically down the front. Aside from Catriona, other Filipino celebrities who did not miss out on Lady Gaga's concert were Julie Anne San Jose, Rayver Cruz, and Vice Ganda, to name a few. The 'Mayhem' concert is Lady Gaga's first Singapore concert in 13 years. She last performed in the Little Red Dot in 2012 for her 'Born This Way' tour. — Hermes Joy Tunac/LA, GMA Integrated News
The Age
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
The Aussie TikTok crooner with a ‘weapons-grade' talent
This story is part of the May 3 edition of Good Weekend. See all 14 stories. SPOTLIGHT / Smooth operator If you've recently found yourself despairing of the listening habits of the à la carte TikTok generation, Grentperez may just be music to year ears. The Filipino-Australian crooner (real name: Grant Perez) has been singing his heart out since he was 13, posting covers to YouTube of everyone from Adele to Olivia Rodrigo and organically building up what's now a sizable international fan base. 'They're incredibly talented,' says Perez of his fans. 'I often receive handmade gifts when I meet them, whether something crocheted or a drawing. They're very wholesome.' This direct approach paid dividends when his career launched in earnest a few years ago, his success made all the more sweet by the winsome, old-fashioned nature of his music. Perez, who writes pillowy love songs with modern production stylings, is perhaps best known for his show-stopping voice, which features what one reviewer called 'weapons-grade melisma'. As much indebted to classic 1970s R&B as it is to more contemporary exponents – such as Britain's Rex Orange County or Dutch troubadour Benny Sings – Perez's long-awaited debut album, Backflips in a Restaurant, channels Herb Alpert and The Carpenters. Independently released, it comes off a banner year for Perez that includes back-to-back tours of the US, fashion magazine features and an ARIA debut at No.3. Not a bad showing for music that your kids will dig as their grandparents tap their toes to it, too. Jonathan Seidler What do we do, now that we know? That's the question Kate Grenville, one of our finest writers and author of the iconic The Secret River (2005), poses to non-Indigenous Australians in Unsettled ($37), her new non-fiction book. How do we respond to the knowledge that we live on stolen land which the original owners fought a bloody war of resistance to defend? Grenville (once again) delves deep into her own family's history in her search for an answer as she drives north from Sydney, retracing the steps of her forebears. An unforgettable reimagining and retelling of history that is, in turns, intimate, unsparing – and confronting. Nicole Abadee
Sydney Morning Herald
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
The Aussie TikTok crooner with a ‘weapons-grade' talent
This story is part of the May 3 edition of Good Weekend. See all 14 stories. SPOTLIGHT / Smooth operator If you've recently found yourself despairing of the listening habits of the à la carte TikTok generation, Grentperez may just be music to year ears. The Filipino-Australian crooner (real name: Grant Perez) has been singing his heart out since he was 13, posting covers to YouTube of everyone from Adele to Olivia Rodrigo and organically building up what's now a sizable international fan base. 'They're incredibly talented,' says Perez of his fans. 'I often receive handmade gifts when I meet them, whether something crocheted or a drawing. They're very wholesome.' This direct approach paid dividends when his career launched in earnest a few years ago, his success made all the more sweet by the winsome, old-fashioned nature of his music. Perez, who writes pillowy love songs with modern production stylings, is perhaps best known for his show-stopping voice, which features what one reviewer called 'weapons-grade melisma'. As much indebted to classic 1970s R&B as it is to more contemporary exponents – such as Britain's Rex Orange County or Dutch troubadour Benny Sings – Perez's long-awaited debut album, Backflips in a Restaurant, channels Herb Alpert and The Carpenters. Independently released, it comes off a banner year for Perez that includes back-to-back tours of the US, fashion magazine features and an ARIA debut at No.3. Not a bad showing for music that your kids will dig as their grandparents tap their toes to it, too. Jonathan Seidler What do we do, now that we know? That's the question Kate Grenville, one of our finest writers and author of the iconic The Secret River (2005), poses to non-Indigenous Australians in Unsettled ($37), her new non-fiction book. How do we respond to the knowledge that we live on stolen land which the original owners fought a bloody war of resistance to defend? Grenville (once again) delves deep into her own family's history in her search for an answer as she drives north from Sydney, retracing the steps of her forebears. An unforgettable reimagining and retelling of history that is, in turns, intimate, unsparing – and confronting. Nicole Abadee
The Age
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
For years, I rarely saw my culture in the media. The Wiggles helped change that
While scrolling on Instagram recently, I saw John Adamo Pearce – the purple Wiggle – teaching kids how to sing Bahay Kubo, the Filipino song I sang as a child that names vegetables growing in a backyard. Pearce, a proud Filipino-Australian, often showcases his culture through fun Instagram reels with his mum, Flordeliza. When I see my culture represented in the media, I still experience a 'pinch-me' feeling. Growing up in the '70s and '80s, it was rare to see it depicted in mainstream Western media. But that's gradually changing. Two years ago, Sesame Street introduced TJ, the first Filipino-American Muppet. Arvin Garcia, a Filipino nurse from Melbourne, won the reality cooking show The Great Australian Bake Off last year. And in the 2023 season, MasterChef Australia featured Filipino-Australian chefs, including Ross Magnaye, cooking traditional dishes (both Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay have dined at Magnaye's Melbourne restaurant, Serai, with Ramsay hailing Magnaye's taco sisig as the best dish he's tasted in years). There's more: the Good Food Guide (produced by Nine, publisher of Sunday Life) awarded one hat to Askal, a Filipino restaurant in Melbourne. The owners of Askal have also opened a bar called Inuman (Filipino for 'drinking session'), making it the first rooftop bar in Australia that serves cocktails using ingredients such as lemongrass, durian, lambanog (Palm liquor), ube (purple yam) and pandan. Representation matters. It is empowering for children of any non-white background to see their culture showcased in the media. It is not just about cultural pride; seeing someone in the media who looks like them sends the message that they, too, can succeed. In 2022, there were 320,300 Filipino-born people living in Australia, up from 206,110 a decade earlier. This makes us the fifth-largest migrant community in the country. But that fact hasn't stopped me from sometimes feeling isolated. As an exchange student in Perth in 1994, I was the only Filipino in my dorm. A Singaporean roommate said to me, 'You're the first Filipina I met who's my equal.' I don't think she meant to be disrespectful. But the only people from my culture she encountered in Singapore in the '90s were domestic helpers. I am mighty proud of these women; they are often teachers who make the sacrifice of working abroad to provide financially for their families at home. I am often mistaken for Vietnamese, Malaysian, Thai, Singaporean or Chinese. At university, many Spanish-speaking students assumed I'd be Latina because of my surname. Recently, an Australian neighbour told me, 'You're not like the other Asians. You don't use chopsticks, right?'
Sydney Morning Herald
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
For years, I rarely saw my culture in the media. The Wiggles helped change that
While scrolling on Instagram recently, I saw John Adamo Pearce – the purple Wiggle – teaching kids how to sing Bahay Kubo, the Filipino song I sang as a child that names vegetables growing in a backyard. Pearce, a proud Filipino-Australian, often showcases his culture through fun Instagram reels with his mum, Flordeliza. When I see my culture represented in the media, I still experience a 'pinch-me' feeling. Growing up in the '70s and '80s, it was rare to see it depicted in mainstream Western media. But that's gradually changing. Two years ago, Sesame Street introduced TJ, the first Filipino-American Muppet. Arvin Garcia, a Filipino nurse from Melbourne, won the reality cooking show The Great Australian Bake Off last year. And in the 2023 season, MasterChef Australia featured Filipino-Australian chefs, including Ross Magnaye, cooking traditional dishes (both Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay have dined at Magnaye's Melbourne restaurant, Serai, with Ramsay hailing Magnaye's taco sisig as the best dish he's tasted in years). There's more: the Good Food Guide (produced by Nine, publisher of Sunday Life) awarded one hat to Askal, a Filipino restaurant in Melbourne. The owners of Askal have also opened a bar called Inuman (Filipino for 'drinking session'), making it the first rooftop bar in Australia that serves cocktails using ingredients such as lemongrass, durian, lambanog (Palm liquor), ube (purple yam) and pandan. Representation matters. It is empowering for children of any non-white background to see their culture showcased in the media. It is not just about cultural pride; seeing someone in the media who looks like them sends the message that they, too, can succeed. In 2022, there were 320,300 Filipino-born people living in Australia, up from 206,110 a decade earlier. This makes us the fifth-largest migrant community in the country. But that fact hasn't stopped me from sometimes feeling isolated. As an exchange student in Perth in 1994, I was the only Filipino in my dorm. A Singaporean roommate said to me, 'You're the first Filipina I met who's my equal.' I don't think she meant to be disrespectful. But the only people from my culture she encountered in Singapore in the '90s were domestic helpers. I am mighty proud of these women; they are often teachers who make the sacrifice of working abroad to provide financially for their families at home. I am often mistaken for Vietnamese, Malaysian, Thai, Singaporean or Chinese. At university, many Spanish-speaking students assumed I'd be Latina because of my surname. Recently, an Australian neighbour told me, 'You're not like the other Asians. You don't use chopsticks, right?'
