The FHM Year That Was 2011

FHM has played an integral part in my life and now, on my blogging. Most of my sites’ views are either from incoming search terms regarding FHM, referrals from FHM Bullboard and Jinri Park.

2011 has been a good year for FHM. They had 10 new cover girls and 3 returning cover muses over the past twelve months. Their articles have been better than ever. The 100 Sexiest campaign vote turn-out was overwhelming. And their covers for this year are impressive altogether.

I actually scored 11/12 issues, only missing the June 2011 issue with Stef Prescott on the cover.

Below is my review (nitpicks) for the issues FHM released this year in a nutshell.

#126: Carla Humphries on FHM January 2011

“Desert Fox”

PH: Doc Marlon Pecjo

HIGHS:

• Nice cover shoot concept
• The 2011 Forecast

LOWS:

• A not so explosive start for the year
• Thin issue
• The inside babes
• The free calendar

#127: Misa Campo on FHM February 2011

“Happy Camper”

PH: Xander Angeles

HIGHS:

• Misa Campo’s almost impossible cover appearance
• The stunning cover
• The articles (47yo Virgin, Philippine History myth busters)
• Inside babes (Sachie Sanders, Aya Alonzo)

LOWS:

• The cover price increase
• Thin issue

#128: Solenn Heussaff on FHM March 2011

“Bon Vivant”

PH: Mark Nicdao

HIGHS:

• Solenn’s photos
• Tourism via the Bikini Special
• The articles (Death of Pinoy Rock, Dog Breeds)

LOWS:

• The cover
• An underwhelming anniversary issue
• That crazy Premiere Condom page

#129: Regine Angeles on FHM April 2011

“Total Recall”

PH: Xander Angeles

HIGHS:

• Some of Regine’s Photos
• The articles (Myth Buster about certain body parts, Azkals)
• Given Teves

LOWS:

• A less daring Regine Angeles
• The cover

#130: Rich Asuncion on FHM May 2011

“Packed”

PH: Doc Marlon Pecjo

HIGHS:

• The cover
• Jinri Park
• Nika Madrid’s photo shoot
• OPM Songs

LOWS:

• Rich’s underwhelming photo shoot

#131: Stef Prescott on FHM June 2011

PH: Doc Marlon Pecjo

#132: Eula Valdez on FHM July 2011

“Full Circle”

PH: Xander Angeles

HIGHS:

• Eula’s photo shoot
• Inside babes (Nathalie Bee, Linda Persson)
• Female Imperfections
• Thick issue

LOWS:

• Eula looking ‘mad’ in most layouts
• The 100 Sexiest Women supplement’s layout

#133: Niña Jose on FHM August 2011

“Super, Super, Super Nice”

PH: Xander Angeles

HIGHS:

• Niña’s face
• More 3D pages
• Lingerie Special
• Articles (Php500 in 5 days challenge, the art of torture.)

LOWS:

• Niña’s noticeable weight gain
• PhotoShop

#134: Lovi Poe on FHM September 2011

“Her Royal Majesty”

PH: Mark Nicdao

HIGHS:

• The cover
• Some of Lovi’s photos
• Articles (The 90’s, Super Pinoys)

LOWS:

• Some of Lovi’s layouts
• The inside babes
• The FHM Collections

#135: Daiana Menezes on FHM October 2011

“All Yours”

PH: Xander Angeles

HIGHS:

• Pinoy Horror Death Match
• Inside babes (Chiaki Morita, Erica Bacani)
• Pizza

LOWS:

• The cover
• Daiana’s photo shoot

#136: Ornusa Cadness and Sanya Smith on FHM November 2011

“Deconstruction”

PH: Doc Marlon Pecjo

HIGHS:

• Sanya Smith
• The interview with the cover girls
• The comedy feature (Ramon Bautista, Jason Gainza, Tuesday Vargas)

LOWS:

• The cover girls’ solo spread
• Inside babes

#137: Sam Pinto on FHM December 2011

“Future Perfect”

PH: Xander Angeles

HIGHS:

• Sam Pinto
• The photo shoot’s concept
• Thick issue
• Act Your Age

LOWS:

• Other articles
• Some inside babes

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SPECIAL MENTIONS

Photographers who did the covers for this year were Mark Nicdao (March, September), Doc Marlon Pecjo (January, May, June, November) and Xander Angeles (February, April, July, August, October, December).

Cover of the Year:

Lovi Poe’s cover looking not like FHM. The cover looks expensive and oh, so exotic. The composition of the photo is very commendable as well as the positioning and the colors used on the texts.

Lovi Poe’s body, the elephant, Thailand and FHM. Whoa!

Inside Babe of the Year: Jinri Park

It’s a big deal when FHM features you on their pages. BUT it is a BIGGER deal when two months after they feature you, they feature you again.

Korean model Jinri Park first appeared on FHM in the May 2011 ish. Then she covered the 100 Sexiest supplement released on July of the same year. Her second spread then appeared the following month.

No wonder that she was voted number 79 sexiest woman of 2011.

She is now currently spreading love on the airwaves via Monster Radio RX93.1 late night show with DJ Tom Alvarez.

BEST ISSUE OF THE YEAR:

Stunning cover. Equally stunning cover muse and story. Interesting articles. Hot lineup of inside babes…

FHM’s February 2011 issue is their most loaded one this year. Although along with this issue wass the 15 pesos price hike in six years, FHM set the bar high on this issue.

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Here’s for a bigger, better 2012 for FHM!

MORE INTERESTING COVERS AND ARTICLES FOR 2012! I am hoping for fresh faces and long-time highly requested babes to pose for the country’s leading magazine. More risque concepts, too. And more traffic for my blog here.

See you next year!

Follow @gigadom

#135: Daiana Menezes on FHM October 2011

I have to say that this month’s cover star has got to be the most Pinoy among the many Brazilian imports making their names on local entertainment industry. How can we not adore these Westerners? They are undeniably good-looking. Almost god-like. Just the right amount of  ‘mestizo’ most (but not all. I tell you) Filipinos are looking up to.

What sets Daiana Menezes apart from her kababayans is her surprising Pinoy appeal. It helps that her career jump-started via Eat Bulaga!. I mean, what can be more Pinoy than Eat Bulaga when we talk about the entertainment industry? And in case you haven’t noticed yet, she speaks our language like she has been using it all her life. She even sounds more Pinoy than other full-blooded Filipino.

Her humour is also undeniably that of the masang Pilipino. Loud and animated. She’s one bubbly character.

And if things stay as they are, I believe Daiana is in it for the long run. Undeniably mestiza features, cute Filipina accent, doll-like appearance, masa appeal and all that jazz made her win the hearts of every dabarkads.

COVER

The FHM covers for 2011 looks better compared to that of the yesteryears. The cover looks good although this one’s  not the best.

The cover photo itself looks over the top. Add to that the awkwardly positioned texts.

COVER STORY

Daiana’s interview is short and sweet. I can say that she has totally embraced the Filipino culture, even the people, yes.

Her photos, are a bit disappointing, though. Her assets were not emphasized well. I mean her well-defined rear end was not, uhm, put into good use.

The photos with the silk cloth looked better compared to the latter layouts.

It wasn’t really that bad, it’s just that FHM has set the bar high with their previous issues and they have been out doing themselves more often than not as the year unfolds.

And I repeat my sentiment last month: put EB Babe Saida on the cover.

FEATURED GIRLS

I have nothing much to say about the girls this month. Their photos look better compared to that of  last month’s. One thing noticeable though is the decrease of the number of photos for the girls’ spreads.

My favorite girl has got to be Chiaki Morita followed by Erika Bacani. The other girls are Kaiyar Trinidad and Mariel Sorino.

Jerico Montemayor and Paul Ticzon are among the newer FHM photographers I look up to. They have been doing an amazing job in presenting the girls. I’m just wondering why Jay Tablante has yet to do another cover shoot as of late. His last cover, I guess, was with Ehra Madrigal for the June 2008 issue.

This month’s incoming babe is named Barbie and the GF’s a cat lover named Apple.

This year’s Premiere vixen search is nearing its conclusion. I have to say that last year’s girls are better. I mean, they have made some sort of impact to the readers and their bunch is more diverse. Last year’s photo shoots for the Vixens are more impressive.

Ayumi Sogawa, Dorina Groh and Linda Persson are the top three Vixens of this year’s Premiere search. I thought Kyoko Amano would be the runaway winner, but I guess I’m wrong. I’m for Linda Persson. Or Ayumi Sogawa. Dorina Groh’s poses are amateur. And her body looks… yeah… Go last year’s Vixens!

FEATURED ARTICLES

This month’s reads are a mixture of entertaining, useful and mouth-watering.

The one about the Pinoy monsters (supernatural and fictional characters of terror) is very entertaining. The write-up is good and the illustrations are amazing.

The (very) useful one is about future-proofing one’s life. I haven’t read that one, otherwise I wouldn’t be blogging this one anymore. Yeah. The future can wait.

The mouth-watering one is about pizzas. Enough said. The visuals on this article are very, very convincing.

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This month’s issue can qualify as one of those issues you may not purchase. It’s beautiful but not really special. But still, all of the covers for this year, so far, look promising. And Daiana is one lovable and funny girl. Lucky director, that director guy.

**cover image from FHM.com.ph