ock band Hale's sophomore CD, "Twilight," though set for release on Sept. 30 under EMI Music Philippines , has already scored a Number One single via carrier single "Waltz."

The song was premiered on radio mere days back and now counts itself sixth in an unbroken string of Hale chart toppers that include "Blue Sky," "Broken Sonnet," "Kung Wala Ka," "Kahit Pa" and "Toll Gate."

Considered by many as the other flag bearer of the current band explosion together with Bamboo, Hale vocalist Champ Lui-Pio says they were not at all pressured to surpass the success of their eponymous debut album that clinched Triple Platinum status.

"A big reason is EMI giving us longer deadline to put together this one which totaled two months with a week-long break thrown in prior to release. Our debut was recorded in just one month with us going inside the studio everyday then proceeding to promote it even before we could breathe," says he.

Champ adds that EMI Music Philippines so gave them artistic freedom that label executives only got to hear the 14 tracks that comprise "Twilight" after these were recorded. Hale, in turn, was so confident of their latest output that they gave EMI Music free hand to choose the carrier single since "any of the songs in the album is single-material anyway."

Describing "Twilight" as a more straightforward record lyrically and arrangement-wise, Champ compares the process of putting together the album to writing "a bigger, better diary."

"Treating our stuff as musical chronicle of what we were into at the time of recording is what differentiates our albums from each other," says he. "‘Hale' was about who we were in 2005 coming into the scene as complete nobody's while ‘Twilight' reflects us dealing with experience of having some measure of success. As we change, so, too, our albums."

‘Some measure of success,' of course, is understatement. Hale brings "Twilight" to fore with trophies and citations from major award-giving bodies including Awit Awards and MTV Pilipinas Music Awards.

Their breakthrough single, "The Day You Said Goodnight" was unanimously named Song of the Year by the Top Five FM pop radio stations last year.

"Despite these, nothing has changed— we are the same people as before. Only now, we are able to help our respective families financially. The awards are welcome but that pales beside young people telling us how they are inspired by our music" says Champ.

Awards Hale so consider mere icing on the cake that they have actually desisted from encouraging fans to vote for them in categories where winners are determined by sent SMS.

"Naaawa kasi kami sa fans especially when we don't win," they say. "Ang laki ng ginagastos nila kaka-text when, at the end of the day, there's still politics involved in naming winners. We believe the best validation will always be album sales. Given the price of a legitimate CD, minimum wage, piracy and easy access to download on the internet, you really have to like it to spend that much for it," says Champ.

When asked to explain the reason behind the CD title, Hale cites beauty in ambiguity.

"Twilight is that time when the sun has just set and the sky is either colored pink or orange. But when captured in photo, no one can say for sure if what they're seeing is pre-sunrise or post-sunset. Is the picture sad or happy? That depends on whoever's looking. Are the songs sad or happy? That depends on whose listening. Yet whatever it is they see, we hope they agree with us that twilight is beautiful sight to behold," says Champ.

Completing the track list of "Twilight" are "Last Song," "Fire In The Sky," "Empty Tears, Empty Hearts," "The Ballad Of," "Hide & Seek," "Eyes Wide Shut," "Liham," "Shooting Stars," "7,8," "Elegy," "Dahil Sa Yo," Sa Himig Ng Aking Gitara," "Starting Over" and the instrumental track, "Brother."

The new Hale album is being supported Pony Let's Get It On, JB Music, Baang Coffee, Discovery Suites and Manila Bulletin.

What's next for Hale?

"The usual promotion stuff. We're also thinking of holding a major concert in a big venue by next year. We look forward to doing that because we want to give our supporters a treat before we take a break next year from recording to take care of personal things. We don't see ourselves doing this forever so we'd like to do things when we still can," ends Champ.

Other members of Hale are Roll Martinez, Sheldon Gellada and Omnie Saroca.

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Controversy hounds Miss World pageant

The Miss World pageant is by far the most controversial international beauty contest, the first to have dethroned winners – in 1973 when USA's Marjorie Wallace was accused of "immorality" (her first runner-up, the Philippines' Evangeline Pascual, politely declined to take the crown); in 1974 when England's Helen Morgan (first runner-up to Spain's Amparo Muñoz in that same year's Miss Universe pageant held in Manila) was confirmed to have a baby (exposed after the Miss U contest but it didn't stop Morgan from still joining the Miss World contest), replaced by her first runner-up Miss South Africa; and then in 1980 when Miss Germany posed nude in a pictorial, replaced by her first runner-up Miss Guam. (So far, only one winner has been dethroned by the Miss Universe pageant, Russia 's Oxana Federova, for non-compliance with her duties, replaced by her first runner-up, Panama 's Justine Pasek. In 1996, Venezuela 's Alicia Machado was almost dethroned because she became overweight.)

In 2002, the Miss World pageant sparked a bloody riot in Nigeria generated by protest against beauty contests (in general), forcing the organizers to evacuate the 90-plus contestants in the dead of night to London where the coronation night was held, with Miss Turkey taking the crown and the Philippines ' Katherine Anne Manalo landing in the Top 10. Similar violent anti-beauty-contest rallies marred the pageant when it was held in India a few years earlier.

These Miss World tidbits were mentioned by Funfare's "beauty experts" Felix Manuel, Joey Cezeare, Gery Yumping and Francis Calubaquib as the 2006 Miss World pageant nears its grand finals tomorrow (Sept. 30 Philippine time) in Poland, where the Philippine bet, Anna Maris Igpit (from Bohol), is among the standouts in a field of more than 100 beauties from around the world. Will Anna bring home one of the only two major international beauty titles (the other being Miss Earth) not won by a Filipina? Hope springs eternal. (The three other major international crowns are Miss Universe, Miss International and Miss Tourism Queen International whose current holder is the Philippines ' Justine Gabionza.)

Here's the rest of the "beauty experts'" report:

The Philippines first sent a contestant to the Miss World pageant in 1966. Local franchise holders of the pageant changed yearly. From 1969 to 1976, the Philippine representative to Miss World was chosen through the Miss RP ( Miss Republic of the Philippines ) pageant. In 1977, the franchise was transferred to the Mutya ng Pilipinas pageant which selected the official Philippine delegate until 1991.

In 1992, the Bb. Pilipinas Charities, Inc. (organizer of the Binibining Pilipinas Pageant) of Stella Marquez de Araneta acquired the local franchise to choose the Philippine representative to the Miss World Pageant.

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