#132: Eula Valdez on FHM July 2011 + The 100 Sexiest Women in the World 2011

The day has come. I have finally made my FHM 100 SEXIEST 2011 aka the July 2011 issue (with no less than Eula Valdez on the cover) purchase. The story of how I ended up buying this issue only a couple of hours back is rather complicated and boring. And I strategically planned not to buy the June issue just to catch the early release o this issue, but fuck plans. As the FHM Sexiest season comes to a close, I would like to call this entry my last ‘hurrah!’ for the year of sexy that was 2011.

 July 2011 ISSUE

My, oh my. It’s THE Eula Valdez on the golden cover of FHM. She and the dripping water on the background. She and her leather boots. She and her breasts, defying the laws of nature.

Having Ms. Valdez on the cover for the FHM’s sexiest (and biggest) month is a wise move. Fans will surely buy the magazine with delight while cynics will be left with no choice but buy, then become a fan.

Is it just me, or  is there an unconscious urge to compare the July 2011 Eula to the May 2006 Eula. I’m talking about her photo shoots, eh. Of course, signs of her aging are quite visible (let’s admit it). But 5 years is 5 years. And she has aged gracefully. Some shots are just, WOW! While others seem to be lacking something (OR maybe these photos were overdone), everything’s still beautiful, though. I think both Eula’s FHM pictorial were amazing.

As or this month’s featured girls, all their pictorial were wonderful. Linda Persson’s looked like it was done for Rouge (sorry, FHM. Their photos are classier and artsy-fartsy-er). Nathalie Bee looked fantastic. Everything’s fine with a girl of intelligence and beauty. Jed Montero looked like the love-child of Gaby dela Merced and Jef Gaitan should they decide to hook up and defy science. If she always looked like that, then forgive me. I’m not into volleyball and Willie Revillame. She and her photo shoot were beautiful, though.

The articles, I haven’t read thoroughly. Although the one about female imperfections was a good one. The driver’s guide was relevant, though not everyone (including me) can relate to it. And the illustrations on the course about rescuing are way too cute.

It’s a nice issue, overall. Hot cover girl, nice set of photos for all the girls, informative articles, thick issue. You get your money’s worth.

FHM 100 Sexiest Women in the World 2011

Oh yes, the sexiest list on the land. After two and a half months of voting and after over 30 million votes cast, FHM presents the 100 sexiest women in the land as seen on the supplementary booklet covered by Korean model, Jinri Park.

Ok, FHM, the layout was tacky. Some photos are smaller beyond belief and a lot of photos were used over and over. We understand that the turn-out was overwhelming and all and producing this booklet is no easy job. Make the booklet better next year. You are still everyone’s favorite.

Allow me to comment on some girls. May be it about their photo, their rank, or just simply about them.

(My predictions were right!)

100. Mercedes Cabral – You should’ve, at least, squeezed her photo together with the others. Nakakapanibago.

99. Jem Milton
98. Gwyenth Ceridwen
97. Mocha Uson
96. Nadine Samonte
95. Ryza Cenon – she needs an FHM cover to boost her lukewarm career.
94. Chariz Solomon – her brand of comedy is too slapstick-y.  I like Sheena Halili’s better.
93. Maui Taylor
92. Jamilla Obispo
91. Alex Gonzaga – the funnier and prettier Gonzaga
90. Kylie Padilla
89. Kitty Girls
88. Alodia Gosiengfiao
87. Saicy Aguila
86. Rufa Mae Quinto
85. Jessie Mendiola – a better photo of her should’ve been used.
84. Jen Rosendahl
83. EB Babes – TIP: dissolve these girls on the list, give EB Babe Saida a solo feature, the world will become better.
82. Sheree
81. Maegan Young – one of the prettiest
80. Sheena Halili

79. Jinri Park
78. Maria Ozawa – everybody understands the Maria Ozawa adoration. But I guess this pot should belong to girls other than Maria.
77. Bela Padilla
76. Alyssa Alano
75. Abby Poblador
74. Alessandra De Rossi – LARGER PHOTO PLEASE
73. Paw Diaz
72. Julia Clarete
71. RR Enriquez

70. Aze Sasaki – I don’t know why I ended up Googling Ase Sasaki during the past few days. Oh, I wanted to know how she looks apart from her FHM photos.

69. Isabelle Daza
68. Jahziel Manabat
67. Andi Eigenmann
66. Rachel Ann Go
65. Jennica Garcia
64. Maureen Larrazabal
63. Regine Velasquez – this year’s worst dropper. (Dropping from the 8th spot last year)
62. Stef Prescott
61. Shaina Magdayao
60. LJ Reyes – her photo looks the smallest. ugh. I guess her full-page photo last year made up for this.
59. Paulene So
58. Karylle
57. Jean Garcia

56. Rachel Donaire – heartbreakingly small photo.
55. Megan Fox
54. Jacq Yu
53. Wendy Valdez – heartbreakingly small photo.
52. Paloma
51. Niña Jose
50. Carla Abellana – posing for FHM won’t hurt her goody-two-shoes image. She started out as a mature actress plus people would love her more should she decide to do us an FHM cover.
49. Kristel Moreno
48. Jef Gaitan
47. Janna Dominguez
46. Eula Valdez
45. Iza Calzado

44. Daiana Menezes

43. Georgina Wilson -FHM material. Beauty, brains and body. And yes, you should’ve used a better photo. (The photo above should be the one)
42. Gwen Zamora – Beautiful but surprising rank, still.
41. Rosie Huntington-Whiteley

40. Pauleen Luna – She should pose now. Remember that awful photo of hers on the 2009 booklet (Check that photo above) and how it was strategically placed next to Bangs Garcia’s magnificent May 2009 outtake. We know she could show more, she just have to do it while she’s still relevant.
39. Rich Asuncion
38. Erich Gonzales
37. Sarah Geronimo
36. Maja Salvador
35. Bea Alonzo
34. Aubrey Miles
33. Carla Humphries
32. Misa Campo – HIGHER!!
31. KC Concepcion

30. Ornusa Cadness – one of them real models. Beautiful, exotic and mysterious. I Google her to find out how she really looks like.
29. Toni Gonzaga
28. Priscilla Meirelles – highest climber despite a not so flattering photo shoot for the August 2010 issue. (last year’s number 96)
27. Kris Bernal – yes, Kris Bernal fans, too high. Fandom – 1 : Better Judgment – 0
26. Mariel Rodriguez
25. Michelle Madrigal < Ehra. hehehe.
24. Heart Evangelista

23. Diana Zubiri – Oh, the intriguing photoshopped Diana Zubiri photo. We were fooled. Or FHM should be more careful.
22. Kim Chiu
21. Bianca King
20. Rhian Ramos – I thought she would be gracing FHM based on the write-up for her last year. Everybody’s looking forward to that day.

19. Regine Angeles
18. Bianca Manalo
17. Anne Curtis – Again, she failed to re-enter the top 10 this year despite the hefty amount of exposure’s she’s getting. Could it be that people are getting tired of waiting for her?
16. Iya Villania – I still don’t get it, she said yes to a liquor calendar, but not FHM.
15. Lovi Poe – another lady taking her time before she says yes to FHM. You can ogle her anywhere other than FHM: billboards, movies and other magazines but not FHM. Well, not yet.
14. Valerie Concepcion
13. Angelica Panganiban
12. Ehra Madrigal – the casualty of my prediction. I still root for her, though. Lose weight and go back to shape, then we’ll see her 2012.
11. Bangs Garcia

10. Ellen Adarna – Virtually unknown before her GMA stint, NOT REALLY. 2010 Cover of the Year as voted by the same people (including me) who placed her on this year’s top 10.

9. Jackie Rice – Her FHM debut is still one of the best and most successful. Her sun-kissed Boracay photos saved her from the cusp of being a forgotten pretty face.

8. Iwa Moto – The heir-apparent to Katrina Halili when everything seems to go down for the then prime contravida. Her piercing eyes have it but her palengkera quips and bad acting were oftentimes off. As of late, she’s been dragged by her whirlwind affairs. Hopefully she picks up. And hopefully, she would look ‘healthy’ the next time she decides to grace the cover again.

7. Jennylyn Mercado – Her FHM standing is somehow a reflection to her career. She entered the list in 2004 on the 9th spot, then she dropped a spot the following year. Her career skyrocketed on 2006 as she peaked at number 6 on the list, she kept her strong hold on the top 10 when she nailed the 8th spot the following year. Everything went downhill after her unexpected pregnancy, she then dropped to the 14th spot and reaching her all-time low in 2009 when she ranked 17th. Her career started to pick up last year and now she’s back to the top crust, a place where someone as strong as Jennylyn belongs.

6. Katrina Halili – The only woman who made her mark by being synonymous to FHM. She holds the record of being the back to back Philippines’ finest. When everybody thought she’s bound to just be forgotten, FHM rallied behind her and consistently place her among the top babes of the land.

5. Solenn Heussaff  – Although I’ve said that I’m good as long as either Sam or Solenn tops this list. I lied, it was Solenn I was looking forward to see on top. But Sam’s fine. Maybe Solenn is just too busy being her multi-faceted self that she didn’t find too much time campaigning. That, or maybe Solenn just couldn’t care too much about her rank. She’s too busy being 2011’s breakout star. Or put it this way, Solenn knows what she’s got that she needs no verification from her fans just to prove her greatness. Solenn, herself is one, if not the finest, specimen of a woman.

4. Cristine Reyes – She’s a dream. She’s unreachable. Despite all her ‘regular human being’ characters on her shows, there’s a glow that sets her apart from the others. Some people may call her catty or bitchy on some instances, very human of her. Very imperfect of her. Very normal but immaculate, still.

3. Angel Locsin – It’s hard to imagine Angel going down. It’s hard to picture her forgotten by many. She has been a household fixture for only God knows how long and she looks like she’s here to stay. It’s hard to imagine primetime TV without that Angel Locsin who started it all. Not even weight issues can bring her down.

2. Marian Rivera – It’s actually a love-hate thing with Marian. I’m either turned off by her brashness or totally impressed by her honesty. It takes a lot of composure and a strong support group for a person to come out unscathed by all that negative press. That’s enough for her to gain respect.

1. Sam Pinto – THE QUEEN. This year’s sexiest. I voted for her not because she told me so, I voted for her because she’s beautiful. If some of you are not convinced by her, then watch her TVCs then be converted. All the possibilities are in Sam’s favor from now on. She knocked on stardom’s door, and we happily opened it for her. All I could see for Sam now are nothing but possibilities bigger than big.

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images used are property of FHM.com.ph

#130: Rich Asuncion on FHM May 2011 + FHM 100 Sexiest 2011 Partials

I know, it’s better late than never. I wasn’t really all giddy about buying this issue. Maybe it’s due to the mixed reviews I read about this one from the FHM bullboard. But I bought it, anyway. And it wasn’t really a knockout. Part of this judgment is due to the fact that I bought books along with this magazine. I’m more excited with the fact that I have new books.

I was actually hinting about Rich Asuncion gracing FHM for May on my last FHM post. Her camp released publicity reports of her doing an FHM shoot in Boracay. Oh, well.

COVER

The cover is stunning. It has the same effects as Misa Campo’s- simple, crisp, clean. This issue’s good as far as the cover’s concerned. Yes, better than last month’s cover.

COVER STORY

May is the last month of summer and FHM decided to end summer on a beach, with Rich Asuncion, nonetheless.

Rich is beautiful, no questions about that one. She actually looks like a much younger Dawn Zulueta.But the concept used on her is overused and bland. Her poses are redundant. There are girls who can pull-off a good beach pictorial, but Rich didn’t. Her photoshoot could have been better, a-la Jackie Rice’s FHM cover. Sayang lang.

I get that they chose colorful articles of (non)clothing and a calm back drop to get a mabango and malinis effect. They achieved that. I just feel like Rich is not well-motivated. I mean her poses and facial expressions are bland.

Her interview’s fine. She knows what she has and what she can do with it. Rich also knows what she want. I have always admired her wisdom. And yes, she’s talented- more talented than her Starstruck contemporaries Kris Bernal and Jewel Mische.

It wasn’t really that bad, it’s just that they can do WONDERS with Rich. Again, sayang. Hope she’ll do FHM once more to make up for it.

FEATURED READS

One for the Donaires, one for basketball, one for OPM and one for vegetables.

I never thought I would enjoy reading about the Donaires, but for some reason, I did.

Nonito is a good boxer. Intelligent boxer nga daw. He and his wife has good communication skills, evident to some TV interviews they had.

FHM did well on covering not just Nonito’s boxing life, they also presented him as a photography enthusiast. It’s just saddening that his issue with his family was blown out of proportions.

The basketball article was good, as well as the vegetables. Those article were accompanied by nice illustrations. It’s fun to know more about the bahay kubo.

The one about OPM songs was almost good. They should have given that one more space. The lay-out of the article itself was a bit tacky. Warren Espejo, on the other hand, did well on the collage. He’s responsible for the good artworks on spot.ph.

FEATURED GIRLS

These girls own a star on this issue. Their photoshoots are better than the cover girl’s. It would’ve been better had FHM made Rich do a concept like any of these girls’ photoshoot.

Jinri Park, oh Jinri Park. She is just lovely. Chinita, silky smooth skin, nice lips. Plus she’s a full-blooded Korean with Filipino values, like radio and tv godesses Sam Oh and Grace Lee. Lovely.

I think she appeared on GMA’s Comedy Bar. She’s one of those ‘beer-gins’ who sheds clothes before serving food and drinks to live studio guests.

FHM veteran Nika Madrid made a splashing comeback on this issue.

Need I say more? I really hope that FHM do a cover with this kind of concept. It would be amazing even if the cover girl would want some ‘cover’ on.

Other babes featured are Bench Body model Barbara Baretto and Tahiti Cora as the May Girlfriend.

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It wasn’t really a good issue, not also a bad one. It’s the type that won’t make you really worried if you failed to purchase. The featured girls are the best part of this issue.

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It has been almost two month’s since FHM opened the voting for the 100 Sexiest for 2011. Unless you are living under a rock, you probably know that FHM releases updates every week via their newsletter called the Bullpen. Showbiz news reports also uses the same FHM updates to inform non-FHM readers and subscribers about the ongoing poll.

Here’s the rundown of the updates:

UPDATE 1

UPDATE 2

(Cristine Reyes takes the 3rd spot.)

UPDATE 3

UPDATE 4

UPDATE 5

It’s always a neck to neck battle on the top 5 of every partial results to date. It has always been the same names in there.

Angel Locsin grabbed the top spot  on the first update which covers the first nineteen days of voting. She has since failed to maintain her standing up until the most recent unofficial tally.

Marian Rivera grabbed the lead from Angel on the next update which covered an additional 10 days after the first one. She has maintained her lead up until the 4th update.

Cristine Reyes, although considered a strong contender, has yet t grab the top spot on any of the updates.

Sam Pinto has shown a strong potential during the first four updates. And she even grabbed the top spot on the most recent update. Kudos to Sam and her fans.

Solenn Heussaff (and her fans) seems to be a little quiet about this poll. She peaked at number 4 during the 3rd update but she holds the 5th spot on the other updates. I hope her fans would pull off a surprise and provide more votes for Solenn on the weeks to come.

Jennylyn Mercado has been on the sixth spot for four consecutive weeks until Valerie Concepcion grabbed the spot on the recent update. I am still surprised that Valerie has been on the top 10 for three weeks now. I never knew her fan base is that strong. It helps that she’s appearing on two TV networks.

Ellen Adarna is considered as an underdog on this list. She is well known by FHM readers and netizens but not  by the greater mass. Still, she holds a firm position on the top 10.

Katrina Halili‘s fans still love the two-time sexiest woman, although not with the same flare as before. She has been on the bottom of the top 10 for 3 weeks but still holding on, while contemporaries Iwa Moto and Ehra Madrigal figured in on the 29th and 24th spot, respectively, on the third update. (Ehra figured in on the 10th spot during the first update)

Non-FHM cover girls Rhian Ramos, Anne Curtis and Lovi Poe also figured in on the top 10 at some point. With Rhian staying on for three weeks, peaking at number 7. Anne Curtis entered the top 10 on week 2 at the ninth spot and has yet to appear on the updates that followed.  Lovi, on the other hand, holds the ninth spot on the two most recent updates.

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I am glad that Sam Pinto grabbed the lead this week. That opened up the opportunity for someone new to be the Philippines’ Finest. I mean Angel, Marian and Cristine are sexy in their own ways but it’s about time to have someone new up there. Enough of making history like three-time sexiest, two-time sexiest without posing for FHM and the like. I am still for SOLENN and SAM. They might pull off a surprise in the weeks to come.

Voting is open until June 15th. Yeah, vote wisely.

**images from FHM.com.ph and FHM’s Facebook

Partial and Predictions (FHM 100 Sexiest 2011)

So here’s the first of the many updates FHM would be giving with regards to their 100 Sexiest poll. (You have to subscribe to the FHM Bullpen to have the updates delivered to your e-mail.)

As the partial results show,  this year’s front runners are the very same girls we have seen lead the list for several years now. Voting ends on the 15th of June, so anything could happen. I’m glad that 5 girls whom I’ve been voting for (via FHM.com.ph) everyday made it to the top 10.

Will Angel rule the list again?

Will Cristine or Marian reclaim the crown?

Will someone ‘new’ claim the top spot this year?

It’s too early to tell, right?  Who knows?

While we’re at it, allow me to give some predictions for this year’s 100 sexiest list. I’ll add more predictions as FHM updates us with more partial results.

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PREDICTION #1: Jennylyn Mercado will still be the sexiest mom…

that is if nobody else keeps a child from the public. I mean, she will still hold the highest rank among the moms on the list. She is on the 12th spot last year and the mom nearest her rank is Valerie Concepcion at number 26. Based on the partial tally above, Ms. Mercado shows no sign of being dethroned as the sexiest mom.

PREDICTION #2: A lot of ‘new entries’ will hold a spot on the upper half of the list.

See, new timers Solenn and Ellen made it to the top 10 during the first serving of the partial results. And they’re fans show no sign of letting their idols down. Let’s not forget Bianca Manalo, Jef Gaitan, Carla Humphries and Misa Campo who made their own impact to the FHM Nation with their cover appearances.

PREDICTION #3: Some ‘regulars’ might drop from the Top 10.

I’m thinking about Iwa, Ehra and Katrina (not the three of them all at the same time). They have been on the top 10 of this list for quite some time now and it wouldn’t hurt that much if they fail to earn a spot on the higher part of the list. Add to that the fact that they are not among the top guns of their network as they used to be, hence the lack of exposure. Plus the newer FHM babes have stronger chances this year.

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You can still vote for your favorites. Just go to FHM.com.ph, register and vote for your top 10 once a day, everyday.

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*images courtesy of FHM Philippines and Google Images