Subic Beach Bodies 2008

Subic Beach Bodies, the most prestigious bikini championship in town is now on its 7^th year. I’ve always been eager to watch it since the pilot show but didn’t know reasons good enough to convince my parents to let me go. First, my folks are rather conservative and second, it’s usually held on a Saturday night and lasts until past midnight hence is a no-no for a churchgoer on Sunday morns.

Few days after seeing a poster for the screenings, my officemate and I bumped into Gigz, the organizer who pioneered the event. I half-jokingly asked for complimentary tickets and to see the outcome of the photoshoot. What he said surprised us: that complimentary tickets are no problem but we could get involved if we want to. So that’s where my volunteer work started. I was tasked to produce the tickets which, despite being instructed to keep simple, I still tried to make it look worth its price. Of course I wouldn’t let my tickets look the worst sold in 7 years of the event! 700 commercial and 200 complimentary tickets were produced – I was hands-on from design to printing and purchase of paper to cutting accounting to 90% of the labor.

As if that isn’t a lot of work yet, I also made the visuals which started with selecting from 1,000+ photos, the five best shots of each contestant. Surprisingly, my parents didn’t make negative remarks when they saw me browsing photos of sexy people in skimpy swimwear. My mom even helped me decide on few good shots. Next is conceiving a design to match this year’s native motif. Thanks to Google photo search, I found beautiful photos of a palm leaf and a native wall décor perfect for the slide design.

Making the slideshow involved sleeping late and waking up before dusk for few days. The draft printout of the slides immediately got the thumbs up of the members of the production. Even the photographer in charge of the pictorials at the yacht club whom I just got acquainted with for the event was impressed with the design and the choice of photos. Four slideshows were made: the females, males, sponsors credits and event banner

The preparations required meeting with the other staffs and some sponsors almost daily after office hours.

The finals were held on a stormy night hence the sudden need to transfer the venue from the beach front to the theater-type arts center. From the original lineup of 24 pairs, only 14 females and 19 males competed in the finals. Many were not yet onboard during the pictorials while several who where in earlier later withdrew from the competition.

My first personal encounter with the candidates was during the pre-finals of the ladies held 2 weeks earlier than the guys’ which was held a day before the grand night. I also judged the males during the pre-pageant. I did have my own all-time favorites while there were some who just impressed me in a particular category. Generally, the candidates are more gorgeous in person than in photos but most of them are short with only two or three of the same height as mine considered to be the tall ones in the group.

I had also learned and witnessed several crises of the event such as withdrawn sponsorships and conflicts among organizers, talent handlers and the models themselves. I very much wanted to investigate the backstage happenings but I had to man the laptop to make sure that the credits roll during breaks.

Overall, the show was a success. Every eye had its full of the pretty faces, chiseled torsos and whistle-worthy curves that made the audience forget the wind howling outside at strength signal number 3.

I did have a generous share of freebies including two sponsored shirts, and an extra bikini exactly what the male candidates wore which for now could only serve as a motivation until it fits me gorgeously too. However, what is most rewarding is the chance to meet new people who are equally creative and kind – Ahl, Jomar, Lloyd, Donny, Benson, and the others – and the compliments I received for a job well done.

Photoshoot at Subic Bay Yacht Club by Donny Danasco

Tickets

Some slides

A short break while the credits roll

More photos from gallery of Boris Torneros, professional and official photographer

Females - Denim
Males - Denim
Females - Choice Swimwear
Males - Choice Swimwear
Females - Finals
Males - Finals
Awarding


(This is what kept me occupied during the few weeks of May that I haven’t posted in this blog)

Night Swimming

The gorgeous protocol volunteers of the Philippine Advertising Congress made waves once again quite literally during our reunion cum victory party held in Ocean View Beach Resort two weeks after the AdCon concluded.

As if having imbibed the Congress industry’s way of life, we took advantage of Friendster bulletin and SMS to ‘advertise’ the event. Through the social network of a fellow volunteer whose family owns an established printing business in the city, we had booked the beach for half the price.

If I construed it right, it was our etiquette mentor, Sir Albert - err… Albert rather (he hates the ‘sir’), who spearheaded the idea before setting back to Manila hence that Sunday afternoon, he, together with Cam (the only protocol volunteer who’s not a resident of the city) traveled back to join us. Albert took care of almost everything; food was lavish as well as liquor leaving to us the cooking of rice and few fishes only.

Some arrived and prepared things around lunchtime while most came by sunset. Everybody had fun chatting, splashing in the water and of course our common favorite, posing for the camera that is. Few of the girls who didn’t plan to swim due to their period hadn’t resisted the inviting water which was a bit chilly.

Unfortunately, many failed to come for various reasons and some left early due to exams. Before we left, Albert talked to me things about being a good person and an achiever, pursuing my dreams and being happy with whatever I do although there’s this thing which he cannot describe properly but seems similar to my tendency to be stubborn and snobbish. Whatever that he’s trying to say, whether he’s right about it or he just misinterpreted me, I know his intentions are good and that is for me to become a better person. Just as how he put it, “whatever”.

(Credits to all owners of these photos)

Pretty People, Courtesy, Meal Stubs and the New Order (Part 3)

The New Order: A Personal Interpretation

The theme of the 20^th PAC honestly didn’t make much sense to me when I first saw the TVC with a tribe of aetas doing a native dance while inspired with the thought of conceptualizing and producing ads just like modern advertisers do. It was through the message of Ms. Yolly Ong, Overall Chairperson for the 20^th PAC, during the venue launch and a similar one that was printed on the maiden issue of the Congress’ publication that I was able to fathom somehow the idea behind “The New Order” – advertising today must extend beyond the typical audio, visual, and print media consumers are accustomed with thus advertisers must be more creative, innovative and aggressive to stay competent. Further, to produce an effective ad today needs a different number of manpower as compared to yesteryears.

All of us Protocol Volunteers started as individuals aloof from each other. Diverse personalities and maybe academic conflict draw the line among us all. In fact, we didn’t even have the chance to be acquainted with some of our schoolmates before; we were but mere faces to each other. The 4-day Congress provided a great opportunity for us to try reach out to each other and pull down the social barriers. We worked as a team and despite the differences, everybody was willing to adjust and share him/herself thus making the experience fun and worth all the exhaustion. The promise of a lasting friendship can be felt in our farewell hugs and kisses. As we return to our respective academes, we’ll show people that camaraderie can spring between people wearing different school uniforms and this is the new order.

We were chosen to be protocol volunteers with our good looks as the obvious advantage. The Congress made us more beautiful people with refined manners, meek attitude and extended patience thus the new order.

We have experienced how difficult it is to please people and moreover, to stay pleasant at all times despite discomfort. The next time we visit a fast food or a department store and the service/sales crew greets us, try returning the favor; that doesn’t add up to our bill anyway. This could be a new order.

Finally, we must be grateful for the wonderful people who helped us all throughout – our stylists, groovy nanay who pressed all our uniforms, our couturier, etiquette mentor, and the rest of the Protocol bosses and staffs – they were equally diligent and never ceased to give us a hand. We should draw inspiration from their selflessness and serve others to our greatest extent. Let this be a new order.

The 20th PAC used a snowglobe for its official logo. The whole experience shook us all in different ways. But as how it is every time we shake a snowglobe, every particle swirls around and settles at the bottom in a new order but indeed it is beautiful. May we continue the new order of friendship, hospitality, perspective and quality service. Go ahead, smile and greet the world, “Have a great day everyone!”

MGGM