Glee

Congratulations for making it past the title! I'm sorry I haven't written this sooner, but I was on an almost-deserved holiday. I'll be more vigilant with the next one, I promise.
Let's talk about music. Anyone who's heard me talk about music before probably got the idea that mainstream music isn't really my thing. Good job if you did. Very perceptive of you. It's not that I categorically dislike all songs and music the pop-scene produces. It's just that, as a whole, the music scene in the Netherlands is dominated by mediocre songs sang by okay singers that only sing the song, and don't actually write them. As a result, the emotion that is poured into the lyrics doesn't go past "happy" or "sad" or "angry" with topics ranging all the way from "girls/guys" to "jewelry", with a large gap in between except for the little spike at "Christmas". The music that is meant to accompany these lyrics might have been good at some point, but producers usually smooth it out to the point nothing unexpected happens, and twists and turns don't go further than a simple modulation (where they sing slightly higher to make you cry).
So how does this relate to my adventures in the Philippines? Simple. However bad music gets in the Netherlands, it is SO MUCH WORSE over here. Because the national pastime here is Videoke (it's like Karaoke, but completely the same), the music that is most popular on the radio is the stuff that eventually makes it onto the videoke machines. If you've ever been to karaoke or a camping trip or in a mid-to-large group of people for longer than 25 minutes, you can easily identify the whole range. Just start with the Backstreet Boys's 'You Are My Fire' and go from there. But the Filipino record executives have gone further than that. To save space on the videoke machines the music behind 'You Are My Fire' is replaced by one guy playing it on an 1980s keyboard. Naturally, someone found a way to rip the music off the machines, and now that's what they actually listen to.
Don't worry too much though, I'm having fun with it. Til next time, when maybe talk about how I get around on the Philippines. Or maybe something else.