Robert Blair Carabuena vs the MMDA traffic enforcer. John Paul Encinas vs the resto cashier. “Amalayer” vs the female guard. These examples of bad behavior all had one thing in common: YouTube. With every phone now equipped with a camera, in HD to boot, you have to always be on your best behavior lest someone upload your spectacular hissy fit on YouTube. But then, we are always supposed to be on our best behavior and the fear of being YouTubed shouldn’t be the main motivation for us to behave in public.
Call Me Maybe
“Call Me Maybe” was like gum on your brain-it stuck and no amount of baby oil could remove it from your frontal lobe, and you found yourself wishing for a lobotomy after watching the nth group of people dancing to it on YouTube, your work colleagues and high school friends included.
Gangnam fever
“Call Me Maybe” was then replaced by Psy’s “Gangnam Style,” a song that exploded on YouTube and became an anthem for Christmas party attendees everywhere, whether they liked it or not. The song isn’t showing any signs of disappearing soon—not with Psy’s supposed Manila concert early next year.
Sotto: ‘Meme’ of the year
Tito Sotto’s blatant acts of plagiarism and breezy nonchalance about the whole matter spread like wildfire on the Internet and would also be the precursor to a ridiculous amendment in the hotly contested Cybercrime Prevention Act. Sotto’s fondness for lifting huge chunks of material sans attribution would turn him into the Pinoy netizen’s favorite meme star. The best part about him making headlines this year? It’s certainly going to affect how people are going to vote in 2013.
‘Fifty Shades of Grey’
It was the fan fic that took over the world. EL James’ “Fifty Shades of Grey” became a crazy huge success, spawning a new genre called mommy porn. (It’s so huge even my grandma wants to read it. “Gusto ko ’yung “Painting the Town Grey.”
Maganda daw eh,” she said to me on the phone.–Pam) This isn’t the last we’ve seen of the S&M-loving Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele yet – people are still waiting to hear the final movie casting.
The first film based on Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy finally came out. It was a huge success – it didn’t matter if they were Team Peeta or Team Gayle (we’re Team Katniss!), fans just loved it. We can’t wait for Catching Fire.
End of ‘Twilight’
It was a sad year for Twi-hards the world over as the final installment of the Twilight films was released this year. This year also saw the temporary dissolution of the relationship of reel/real couple Kristen Stewart & Rob Pattinson when KStew was caught by the paparazzi being sweet with a married man (all is forgiven now, though).
XOXO forever, Gossip Girl
This December, after six years of making teenage Upper East Siders squirm, the omniscient “Gossip Girl” was finally revealed and the six-season long drama featuring rich New York kids was finally put to rest. Hardcore fans enjoyed the twist and the happy endings that the show rewarded its longtime viewers with.
Celebrity endorsers
2012 was a huge year for celebrity endorsers, with Filipino companies Bench and Penshoppe adding even more international stars to their rosters. Bench’s lineup now includes Adam Levine, Bruno Mars, Liam Hemsworth, Lee Min Ho, Lucy Hale, Joe Jonas and Michael
Trevino, while Penshoppe has Zac Efron, One Direction, Ed Westwick, Leighton Meester, Ian Somerhalder and Mario Maurer in their All-Stars campaign, thrilling their huge legions of Filipino fans.
Sad good-byes
In 2012, we said good-bye to Whitney Houston, Donna Summer, Nora Ephron, Neil Armstrong,
Vidal Sassoon, Robin Gibb, Tony Scott, Andy Williams, Dolphy and Sec. Jesse Robredo, whose passion for service continues to inspire us.
Big imports
Much-awaited brands finally opened stores in the country to the delight of Pinoy shoppers. Uniqlo and Cotton On are finally here—does that mean H&M will follow soon? And how can we forget J.Co Donuts? It’s been months and months since it first opened and people still patiently line up just to get a taste of those delicious
Alcapone donuts. (And we couldn’t blame them.
The moustache invasion of 2012
Folks, it’s not just “Movember.” The great moustache movement of 2012 was so huge that we began seeing moustaches everywhere—and not just our fathers’ faces. They’re on socks, accessories, shirts, straws, stickers, tumblers, nails and more. And strangely, we’re not sick of it yet. We’re pretty sure this facial hair phenomenon will continue until 2013.
Zombies!
And we don’t just mean the kind you watch on AMC’s The Walking Dead (although they were big too – they smashed ratings records in the US this year). The bath salt zombie attacks in the US led some people to believe that the zombie apocalypse was upon us. Luckily, we haven’t heard of any similar attacks in the Philippines yet.
Superheroes on the big screen
It was a great year for superhero-loving movie fans. Films like “The Dark Knight Rising,” “The Amazing Spider-Man,” and “The Avengers” hit the big screen. We’re still blaming “Avengers” for our insatiable shawarma craving.
Concerts—major concerts
So who went to the country for a concert? The question should be, who didn’t? Sting, Elton John, Jennifer Lopez, Lady Gaga, The Fray, Keane, Snow Patrol, Super Junior, Cobra Starship, The Cab, The Jonas Brothers, Smashing Pumpkins, Maroon 5, Katy Perry, the American Idols, Lifehouse, David Guetta, LMFAO, Dashboard Confessional, James Morrison, The Cranberries, even the Backstreet Boys and the New Kids on the Block—all these musical acts and more rocked the Philippines this year.
The Phantom of the Opera
The haunting tale of love and music won even more hearts as Andrew Lloyd Weber’s “The Phantom of the Opera” was staged at the CCP for a couple of months from August to October. Jonathan Roxmouth was a fantastic Phantom, receiving standing ovations practically every night.
‘I Do Bidoo Bidoo’
It’s no secret—we love musicals. So we were thrilled when Chris Martinez bravely took on the challenge of creating a great Filipino musical film using the songs of the Apo Hiking Society. He was triumphant. The film I Do Bidoo Bidoo was a delightful ride—one we’d like to watch again and again.
‘Honey Boo Boo’
Year 2012 was the year Honey Boo Boo and her sketti-gobbling family (and their pig Glitzy) invaded our televisions. Reality show cameras have been following the pageant child from Toddlers and Tiaras and her family around their small town as they swim in mud, shop in dumpsters and stock up on toilet paper. It is as weird and as fascinating as it sounds.
Beyonce’s baby
Blue Ivy Carter is R&B royalty and she probably set a record by already dropping a duet at just a few days old (Glory by Jay-Z feat. Blue Ivy Carter—look it up). That’s what happens when you are the firstborn of Beyoncé and Jay-Z.
Admit it—you spent a huge chunk of 2012 taking pictures of random things (your dinner, your dog, your nails, your bottle of beer) and choosing the perfect filter before uploading them to Instagram. That’s okay, we did too. Some people are threatening to quit using the app though—after Facebook bought Instagram and Instagram updated its much-debated terms of service. We’ll see if those people will still be posting in 2013. (We probably will.)
YOLO
Yes, we know, You Only Live Once. Enough already.
‘Hashtag’
The almighty hashtag became even mightier this year. Pinoys put it to good use during and after the habagat to spread word about relief and rescue operations. Brands continue to harness their hashtag power to prove they can trend on the social networks.
But people, save it for Twitter and Instagram. It’s #funny #when #people #text #like #this.
The apocalypse
But it didn’t happen.