THIRD PLACE MIGHT AS WELL BE LAST, by Chelo
Written on November 26, 2007 – 10:43 am | by allstars3
THIRD PLACE MIGHT AS WELL BE LAST.
Written by: Chelo, 11-23-07
People just don’t know. They have no idea what we, the
Philippine Allstars, have gone through as a group. Instead of
appreciating what we’ve done for our country, they hate. And hate. And
hate. And the more sad fact is: most of the haters come from the
Philippines itself.
Please get it right. We did everything we could to win again. But if
it wasn’t our destiny this year, then we accept that and still
appreciate the fact we beat out 34 other teams from across the world.
But others don’t see it that way. Those that were only there for us
when we were on top don’t know our name anymore now that we are
‘merely’ third place.
People just don’t know. So let me tell you all a little bit of what
this group has done. And this is only a little recollection, because to
tell all would take the length of a novel. Ken, Lema, Madelle, Sheena,
and everyone else in the group all tirelessly talk to countless people
we meet and strive to inspire them. What do we talk about? We talk
about being proud to be Filipino; about being proud to be a dancer (an
understated artist); and most importantly, about God: everyone’s true
Bestfriend.
So are we at all disappointed that we didn’t get first place? Of
course we are. But now, we see that touching the lives of the people
we’ve met on our trips is a greater accomplishment than any title we
can ever achieve. One woman in a concert we held in San Diego said
something like this to Ken, "I have been searching for God in this city
for five years; it is only tonight that I’ve found Him." That one
statement alone is better than any first place ranking.
And let’s see, what else? Before the competition, the group kept
praying for the health of Nikko’s mom and told God that if she gets
better, we’ll sacrifice the Championship Title for her life back. And
guess what, she is 100% healthy now. If you don’t believe in the power
of prayer, believe it now. We are testimony to that. A life saved is
more miraculous than any first place ranking.
Everywhere we go, people of all races say, "I want to be Filipino!"
because they think we are all happy, talented, and inspiring people.
Allstars is always trying to put out positive vibes even in a highly
competitive environment such as the World Hip-hop Championships. If
there was a prize for the Congeniality Team, that would be us. I’m not
trying to be conceited, but I just want you all to realize it’s not
about winning. Sure victory is definitely sweet, but if only we could
share with you the unified love all the countries have in the
competition then you’d know why we still feel like winners. Look up
"One Love at the World Hiphop Championships" on YouTube and you’ll see
a little bit of what I’m talking about.
We are also involved with Gawad Kalinga. For those of you who think
we were just vacationing in the States, well know now you are wrong. We
stayed that long for many reasons, but as a group we were helping GK
with one of its main goals for next year: to bring 1000 Fil-Ams back
into this country to aid in helping the poor. We went to festival after
festival, spreading the word and work of this amazing organization and
asked for nothing in return except for them to help us sell our
t-shirts so we can somehow get by.
My team members are some of the most awe-inspiring people I’ve ever
met in my life. But to the haters, we are just dancers. Or we are
ungrateful. Or we are ’sosyal’. Or we have done nothing for others. Or
we are a burden. Or we are losers. (Sigh) If you really took the time
to know who we really are, you’d never think such things.
But you know, God works in mysterious ways. Because, instead of
blessing us with the title again, he gave us the eyes to see who our
real friends are: the people who are still there after the
disappointing turn-out; those who still see us as winners no matter
what our world rank; those who inspire us in return to keep striving
for the gold again next year. And believe me, we aren’t promising
anything, but this time around, we’ve learned. We’ve learned who in our
world are really true. We’ve learned from many innocent mistakes we’ve
made from being a young team. We’ve learned to persevere in the face of
defeat. And I guarantee one thing. We are a stronger team.
If I sound a little angry, that’s because I am. I don’t have a fire
tattoo on my arm for nothing. Usually, I stay quiet when I hear stupid
things that people say. But this time, we were blatantly disrespected
in person a few days ago. To the people thinking the wrong things about
us, I’d like to say, ‘Thank you’. Thank you for giving us more fuel to
re-ignite the group’s torch to rise up again.
To all our real friends, you know who you are. Thank you to you and
Bestfriend for showing us that you are true in friendship, support, and
love.
So my title, ‘Third Place Might As Well Be Last’ is a false
statement. To the haters, when you try to jump on our bandwagon again
when we are on top, you’ll sadly see that there will be no more room
for you.
37 Responses to “THIRD PLACE MIGHT AS WELL BE LAST, by Chelo”
By happiness on Nov 26, 2007 | Reply
TRUE WINNERS!!! FILIPINO PRIDE
By -ghelayzkie- on Nov 27, 2007 | Reply
PINOY PRIDE!!
By b boy frostyle on Nov 28, 2007 | Reply
yo!!! allstars for me are the most humblest crew that ive ever met!!! they love God to the bone yo!!! to ol yah haters, God will be the one to judge you!!! i love this crew coz they have molded me as a dance artist and they have made a tremendous impact in mah life!!! this people are transparent, no pretensions and you can just approach them…their so kind, generous and their happy to be with!!! this crew is going to make a tremendous impact in this generation coz i beleieve in their mission to change this world for the glory of God!!! i love God and i’m going to support this crew for the rest of mah life!!! more power allstars and God bless yah always!!! much love and respect!!! c.L
By hannah_ on Nov 29, 2007 | Reply
…let this be a challenge…
…our group idolizes u a lot!
…not just your moves,your passion and love in dancing but also your “mission”…
…whatever those haters think about you-never mind it!
…for in life,we have to accept that in every victory is a failure…
…your still our idol whatever happens!
…what we see God now is because of all of you…
…hoping we could meet all of you and dance with you…Ü
…God bless your group!
…more power to Allstars and still looking up to you guys…
By Jorge on Dec 6, 2007 | Reply
“So are we at all disappointed that we didn’t get first place? Of course we are. But now, we see that touching the lives of the people we’ve met on our trips is a greater accomplishment than any title we can ever achieve…”
There will always be haters and people opposing you, but you will continue to rock this planet through dancing… With or without the title, You guys rock! Continue touching lives of others for God!
By donski-kun on Dec 8, 2007 | Reply
Don’t mind those people…the important thing is being the true testimony of God’s grace…Thanks to all your hard work, we, Filipinos are now recognized internationally for our talents. Keep up the good work and God bless!
By Alex on Dec 14, 2007 | Reply
from the first time i saw your group perform.. i became a fan..the time you won the world hip hop.. allstars pilipinas became an inspiration to all the understated artists? dancers and performers… we started to look up to your crew..to your mission and to your being proud as a pinoy…its not about winning perce its about touching the lives of the audience and sharing the good news by your passion and love in dancing and mostly to GOd…____”I have been searching for God in this city for five years; it is only tonight that I’ve found Him.” That one statement alone is better than any first place ranking.—->>>all i can say is wow….waaahhh wish we could perform with you guys our idol our inspiration our kababayan and kapatid in dancing…much respect to you guys..DANCE TO INSPIRE,INSPIRE TO DANCE
By Charlston on Dec 17, 2007 | Reply
i applaude your heart, all of you..
honestly one of the main things that made me become a fan of you guys is exactly that; your heart for God and the Philippines. i can say that God is definitely blessing the Philippines with things that would turn our reputation to other countries top and over because of what you guys are doing.
i just release blessings upon blessings to your group and i continue to raise my hand when it comes to calling on the support for you guys. God bless!!
By 'Queen Louise' on Dec 18, 2007 | Reply
allstars,, simply the best…
By -XxXiAnXxX- on Dec 27, 2007 | Reply
to all those who bad-mouthed the ALLSTARS,
well look at it this way: ALLSTARS IS STILL ALLSTARS.
they are still the same Filipino group who won the WORLD championship. (who else did?)
beat that if you can!
By thirD on Dec 27, 2007 | Reply
ALLSTARs, all for the GLORY of GOD!!! no matter what happen…
ALLSTARs b d # 1 for us…
By Matu and Ayen on Dec 30, 2007 | Reply
No matter what happens we both represent the Lyceum Laguna Dance Troupe when we say that you are one of our biggest inspiration, you guys are the reason why we fight, you guys are fuel to keep on striving to be the best, and you guys reminds that everything we do is all for the love of GOD so let them say what they want… cause i promise you this, no matter what happens you’ll always be loved and supported by me and our entire organization… We love you guys!!!! GOD BLESS!!!
By Jonas ONE on Jan 1, 2008 | Reply
ALLSTARS!!!
TRUE FILIPINOS….
TRUE BELEIVERS.
We have your backs where ever you are!!!
By jEt on Jan 1, 2008 | Reply
AMEN!!!
God bLess you guys!!ü
God uses You guys to be my inspiration to why I dance… to why I persevere…
much respect to you gus..
peace!
By FoOTbALLeR on Jan 1, 2008 | Reply
it doesnt matter what other people say… as long as you know you did your best… God has a purpose in everything… i hope you guys will keep it up… Give God the glory… keep on keeping on..:)
By Maluz on Jan 3, 2008 | Reply
You were not able to please man but you are able to please God who’s name is far greater than this word called ” The 2007 World Hip Hop Competition”.
By vHEen on Jan 8, 2008 | Reply
ALL STARS never loose…
By henjie on Jan 12, 2008 | Reply
da best
By c H i i s A i on Jan 24, 2008 | Reply
do u guys know the song can’t take that away by mariah carey? if u don’t, then below is a copy of its lyrics. this is one of my fave songs, basically because there was a time in my life when all i get from people is criticisms. no matter how hard i tried not to be affected, it still didn’t work.but i got on my feet, faced them. showed and proved them wrong! well, mine may be different from what you guys experienced. but the thing is, we all have to face certain struggles in life to learn, and to know who we really are, what we are capable of doing, and to recognize true people in our lives. most of all, we experience these hardships to realize that no matter how big our problems are, we have much bigger God to back us up.
so don’t lose faith. keep on inspiring others through YOUR magnificent talent and give HIM back the glory.:-)
(i wish this song inspires you as it has been an inspiration to me all these years)
CAN’T TAKE THAT AWAY-MARIAH C.
They can say anything they want to say
Try to bring me down
But I will not allow
Anyone to succeed
Hanging clouds over me
And they can try hard to make me feel
That I don’t matter at all
But I refuse to falter
In what I believe
Or lose faith in my dreams
CHORUS:
‘Cause there’s a light in me
That shines brightly
They can try
But they can’t take that away from me
From me
They can do anything they want to you
lf you let them in
But they won’t ever win
If you cling to your pride
And just push them aside
See
I have learned there’s an inner peace I own
Something in my soul
That they cannot possess
So I won’t be afraid
And darkness will fade
(chorus)
No They can’t take this
Precious love
l’ll always have inside me
Certainly the Lord will guide me Where I need to go
They can say anything they want to say
Try to break me down
But i won’t face the ground
I will rise steadily
Sailing out of their reach
Oh Lord
They do try hard to make me feel
That I don’t matter at all
But I refuse to falter
In what I believe
Or lose faith in my dreams
‘Cause there’s a light in me that shines brightly
They can try
But they can’t take that away from me
From me
By c H i i s A i on Jan 24, 2008 | Reply
do u guys know the song can’t take that away by mariah carey? if u don’t, then below is a copy of its lyrics. this is one of my fave songs, basically because there was a time in my life when all i got from people were criticisms. no matter how hard i tried not to be affected, it still didn’t work.but i got on my feet, faced them. showed and proved them wrong! well, mine may be different from what you guys experienced. but the thing is, we all have to face certain struggles in life to learn, and to know who we really are, what we are capable of doing, and to recognize true people in our lives. most of all, we experience these hardships to realize that no matter how big our problems are, we have much bigger God to back us up.
so don’t lose faith. keep on inspiring others through YOUR magnificent talent and give HIM back the glory.:-)
(i wish this song inspires you as it has been an inspiration to me all these years)
CAN’T TAKE THAT AWAY-MARIAH C.
They can say anything they want to say
Try to bring me down
But I will not allow
Anyone to succeed
Hanging clouds over me
And they can try hard to make me feel
That I don’t matter at all
But I refuse to falter
In what I believe
Or lose faith in my dreams
CHORUS:
‘Cause there’s a light in me
That shines brightly
They can try
But they can’t take that away from me
From me
They can do anything they want to you
lf you let them in
But they won’t ever win
If you cling to your pride
And just push them aside
See
I have learned there’s an inner peace I own
Something in my soul
That they cannot possess
So I won’t be afraid
And darkness will fade
(chorus)
No They can’t take this
Precious love
l’ll always have inside me
Certainly the Lord will guide me Where I need to go
They can say anything they want to say
Try to break me down
But i won’t face the ground
I will rise steadily
Sailing out of their reach
Oh Lord
They do try hard to make me feel
That I don’t matter at all
But I refuse to falter
In what I believe
Or lose faith in my dreams
‘Cause there’s a light in me that shines brightly
They can try
But they can’t take that away from me
From me
By Sarah Nicole on Jan 25, 2008 | Reply
Well, I salute you for pursuing whta you really want in life.
I was really moved when you said that dancers are considered as understated artists. Perhaps, I am such a coward I stopped dreaming to dance big time like you guys. You actually nailed it, because I was afraid of being a so-called understated artist. I don’t believe it! How come we feel such satisfaction like no other can bring us when we are dancing?
‘Til now, I’m already in college taking something far from what dancing is I still can’t moved on from it though I like nursing as well.
Guys!! KUDOS for you!!!!!!
You still inspire me to love dancing more…
By mikel on Jan 28, 2008 | Reply
WAAAh…yEah….
yu can do it guys….
our gRoup is so proub of you…
and your our favorite dAnz gup…we idolize yu…
infact weve done two of your routine..hehe…some parts only…hehe…yab yu PhiLLipinE ALLsTarz…dAnZ for God…!!!
By iskoLarz inc on Jan 29, 2008 | Reply
The HUMBLEST….NICIEST…DOWN TO EARTH group ive ever met.
THANK YOU PHIL. ALL STARS for INSPIRING DANCERS LIKE US!!!!
PLM-ISKOLARZ INC.
(T.O.D.O)
“TEAM ONE, to DANCE as ONE”
“CHAMPIONS are not MADE, they are BORN…”
By roseanne on Feb 29, 2008 | Reply
it doesn’t matter if you guys placed third. hell its difficult to be on the top three.. what’s important is you made a name for our country.. you guys inspire other dancers like us to ‘work it’…
-lucid
By kersty keith on Mar 13, 2008 | Reply
we’re juz humans.,
we’re not perfect.,
keep up the good work guys.,
god loves y’all.,
By Roni on Apr 23, 2008 | Reply
IN HIS EYES
“YOU”………….
ARE
ALL STARS…
By Jinky on May 5, 2008 | Reply
For what its worth, I’m proud to be a Filipino. I may live here in the US but I’ll remain a Filipino forever. You guys make being a Filipino seem more honorable because of the art that you do. You may not have won last year but in our hearts, you’ll always be number 1.
By JeLo on May 6, 2008 | Reply
I’m proud to be a Filipino. I’m proud to be a dancer. I’m proud to be a fan. Way to go allstars!
By Mavi Mariz on May 20, 2008 | Reply
don’t feel too bad about people who are disappointed by the result of your recent competition… you couldn’t please everyone and you couldn’t retain pleasing them…
you still got people everywhere supporting you… im one of them…go all stars…
im also a member of a dance troupe… and God its really hard… but with His help we could reach our dreams… its really nice that you guyz always put God first…
c u on ur concert… god bless…
By Wilmor on May 23, 2008 | Reply
Oh my God! My tears fall when i read this blog! God Bless you, guys. You’re pride of our country and torch to my soul.
Am so blessed to your blogs…. I am an organizer of one of the dreaming local hip hop group here in Antipolo, the “PEACE@WORK”… same thing we campaign -to share, to help and to be part of nation-building through HIP HOP!
You are my inspiration guys! Keep on moving!
God bless your team!
By Charles on May 24, 2008 | Reply
ALL-STARS, i am just one of the many people u have inspired a lot .. I’m so proud in being a Filipino because of the people like you , Manny Pacquiao , APL , Billy Crawford who brings honor for this country .. our country may be small compared to others but our heart , determination , willingness and specially our faith to our BESTFRIEND (GOD) is unparallel.. GOD BLESS YOU
By Charles on May 24, 2008 | Reply
ALL-STARS, i salute you for everything you do .. you guys are so humble .. i really enjoyed being with you at serve bar last march 14, 2008. keep doing what you’re doing .. keep inspiring , keep touching our hearts .. GOD BLESS ! more power ! WE LOVE YOU .. we will support you all the way guys.. see you at your concert !
By kLawEe on Jul 12, 2008 | Reply
though my comment is a lil late,i still wanna add it coz i really felt the pain that these “haters” caused you and your group. i love allstars to death,im notnyour biggest fan but i and all the other hiphop lovers are inspired by your character and love for God. Let them be,these people who know nothin about appreciatin anythin. They know nuthin bout hiphop what it really is,they just see it as mere dancin on the streets..They don;t know that this dance is life and passion for us.
well nuff of it,just do what you do best, its to rep our dear Bestfriend in the next WHHC.Win or lose,you guys drop bomb on the dancefloor!Love you Allstars!
By DaNzTeK VoNzKie on Jul 14, 2008 | Reply
astig talaga kay0 mga id0l…minsan talaga ndi maiiwasan ung mga ganyang bagay per0 malalampasan yan kung palagi lang magsasama sama at magtutulungan kasi ONE TEAM, ONE FAMILY under GOD!! para sa lahat ang gagawin ny0 mga id0l…FOR GOD, FOR YOUR COUNTRY at PARA SA MGA SOBRANG NANINIWALA NA KAYA NYO YAN!! at kami yun…andit0 kami para sa iny0…what we can d0 n0w f0r y0u is t0 pray hard…GOOD LUCK and MORE POWER ga id0l…GOD IS GOOD!!Ü - DANZTEK of BATANGAS –
By aisha on Jul 30, 2008 | Reply
hehehe try the song dem haters by rihanna or hi haterz by maino…
those haters juz hate, they’re mad coz u guys were 3rd, dang! ur olredy 3rd there’s a whole bunch of coutries who joined and didn’t even win…u guys r trully blessed…
and for the freakin’ haters, u guys juz hate and hate and hate, well have u ever done anything to help this crew??? have u offered a prayer for them???
DON’T HATE, APPRECIATE!!!!
By ♥Pauline♥ on Sep 12, 2008 | Reply
hay nakuh..many people said that cause their are concius w/ you guys..keep it up and and God bless and always remember all pilipino’s love you and we all appreciate ur awards! WE LOVE YOU!mumumu!
By Linette on Oct 28, 2008 | Reply
Well written article.