Oh, yes! It’s another writing contest, and unlike the first one which requires traveling experience, I can join this one… AND SO CAN YOU!

So here’s the detail of this writing contest…

We all have our personal icons. People who have a special influence on us, people who inspired us, awakened us, shook us… in short, had a big impact in our lives.

This is the chance to let them (just in case they don’t know it yet), and world, know how they have made a difference in our life.

In the writing contest dubbed, “My Icon, My Hero” by the Philippine Star, contestants need to write about their personal hero — he/she could be a famous and distinguished achiever, he/she may be young or old, rich or poor, he could even be an unknown, unsung hero like your next door neighbor who you try to emulate… the only requirement is that, your hero must be Filipino.

Write about your hero, in the most creative way you can, sharing to the world how he or she made an impact in your life. Needless to say, the best written story would win, and one of the prizes include being one of Philippine Star’s contributing writer.

Now, that is really getting me excited.

But before I get carried away, here are more details of this writing contest:

HOW TO JOIN:

1. Write your article on your icon or hero in approximately 1,200 words. We accept only original, unpublished works. You may submit as many entries as you wish. But you may win only once.

2. Enclose your passport-size photo, a short biodata, with your address and contact number.

3.E-mail these to philstar_ lifestyleawards@yahoo.com. Or send a CD with printout to The Philippine Star Lifestyle Journalism Awards 2010, The Philippine Star, Roberto Oca St. corner Railroad St., Port Area, Manila.

4. Submit your entries on or before April 17, 2010. The 10 winners will be announced in June and will receive their prizes in a venue to be announced later. The winning entries will be published in The Philippine Star.

It’s great to know that we are not limited to a single, because I do have too many personal icons I want to write about.

By the way, at stake at this contest are:
A total of P204,900 worth of prizes for each of the 10 winners. That’s a P50,000 writing contract from The Philippine Star, P50,000 in cash from HSBC, P50,000 in gift certificates from Stores Specialists, Inc. Debenhams and Marks & Spencer, and a 37-inch LCD TV set from Samsung worth P54,900.

Now, I got work and write about my icon… my hero.

They after all gained international fame and recognition, when they’re performance of Thriller was uploaded on YouTube in 2007.

It has since reached more that 25 million hits, with their performance even reported at CNN, BBC and other international media outlets.

Last Saturday, the dancing inmates from Cebu gave tribute to Michael Jackson by performing four of his songs in a row.

Clad in their prison uniform, the inmates filed one by one into the fenced exercise yard at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center.

A giant picture of Michael Jackson had been hung in the place by prison officials.

The tribute started with prayer for the eternal repose of Jackson’s soul, after which the inmates danced to four of his songs. These songs were Ben, I’ll Be There, We are The World, and Thriller as the final performance.

The presentation, which started before 4 p.m. and lasted for an hour, was witnessed by a huge crowd, which were more than the number who watched their regular monthly performance.

Said performance will soon be uploaded in YouTube for the rest of the world to see.

Meanwhile, here’s the original video of their first performance.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMnk7lh9M3o

UPDATED:

Here’s the uploaded video of their tribute last Saturday

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OK25cfzdTTg