Filipinos love singing and singing contests. A couple of weeks ago there was a fiesta in the local area where I was staying (they love fiestas too) and one of the highlights was a singing contest in the local basketball court that went until some ungodly hour of the morning.
Apart from the inevitable Pinoy Idol on television there’s a show called Pinoy Dream Academy, which is a kind of a cross between Idol and Big Brother except it’s in a college … never mind, it’s easier if you watch it. And that in turn has a spin off called Little PDA, and the grand final was last Sunday night.
Here’s the winner. Two minutes before this clip he was jumping around the stage because he’d been announced as the winner. One minute before the clip he was sobbing as if his heart would break. Then he got up and sang.
I guess Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull - certainly Hetty Johnstone - would be appalled and disgusted at this blatant child abuse. How is a nine year old kid supposed to give informed consent to this exploitation on national television? Even worse: there were kids as young as six in the show (one was runner-up). Oh that such wickedness could be.
Me, all I saw was a bunch of kids and their extended families having the time of their lives, but I’m sure the pedos were lurking there somewhere. Thank god we have civilised first world politicians to keep our nation pure.
