By GIL C
CABACUNGAN
ACROSS the
country, Filipinos will hear more of Gangnam Style, the phenomenal hit of
Korean rapper PSY, with the start of the election campaign for the midterm
elections.
The song that
has garnered more than one billion hits on YouTube is emerging as the favorite
campaign song of candidates.
At least two
candidates, former President Joseph Estrada, who is running for mayor of
Manila, and former senator Ernesto Maceda, who is hoping to return to the
Senate, are planning to use it in their sorties.
Representatives
Teodoro Casiño of Bayan Muna and Joseph Victor Ejercito of San Juan City,
senatorial candidates, said that PSY’s decision to put aside his rights to the
global hit song and video had made it easier for candidates from senators to
governors and mayors to use it in their
campaign.
“It’s a no brainer that we will have ‘Gangnam
elections,’ especially since the songwriter has waived his copyright to his
song and allowed the public to use it as it wishes and this includes the
candidates,” said Casiño.
The Bayan Muna
party-list lawmaker noted that Gangnam Style would probably eclipse previous
campaign anthems as Spaghetti Song of the Sex Bomb Girls and Mr Suave of
the band Parokya Ni Edgar.
Catchy Gangnam Style is catchy, upbeat and memorable. It is what a campaign
song should be,” Casiño said.
But Ejercito said he “decided to look for another song in order to have
my own mark” because PSY’s song was open to everybody.
MCA Records
head Ricky Ilacad, who owns the rights to PSY’s “Gangnam Style”, said in a text
message: “We have not allowed use FOC (free of charge).” He did not elaborate.
The Department
of Health used Gangnam Style as its song for its antifirecracker campaign last
month.
“A campaign song is a powerful tool in any
campaign. It’s the last-song syndrome and it stays with you even after you’ve
heard it,” said Ejercito.
He noted that
rights to foreign songs would cost an average of US$30,000 each.
Ejercito’s camp
has come up with a jingle, Call Him JV, a parody of the hit song Call Me
Maybe of Canadian singer Carly Rae Jepsen.
Casiño is still reviewing samples
made by his supporters.
Estrada’s
spokesperson, Margaux Salcedo, said the former President was maintaining his Jeep Ni Erap campaign theme, which he used in the 1998 elections, but he had
already approved the use of PSY’s song as one of his jingles in his run for
Manila mayor.
“He was given a
CD mix of Gangnam Style as a campaign jingle and he liked it. I’m not sure if
he will dance Gangnam on stage although I know that Manong Ernie has already
danced to it. We’ll see,” said Salcedo in a phone interview.
The Philippine
Daily Inquirer asked several senatorial candidates about their campaign song
but only two replied as of press time.
Sen. Francis
Escudero said he would use Pagbabago of Quest, while Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano
would settle for Don Mclean’s 1970s American Pie.
Sen. Gregorio
Honasan II said he had yet to make up his mind on a campaign jingle although
his daughter, singer-songwriter Kai, might come up with one for him.
The campaign
for senatorial candidates and those taking part in the party-list election
begins on Feb 12 and ends on May 11.
For those
running for a seat in the House of Representatives, and candidates for
governor, mayor and other local elective posts, the campaign starts on March 29
and ends on May 11. - Inquirer
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