Sa pagdating ng American Idol Season 7 finalist na si Ramiele Malubay sa Pilipinas last Friday morning, December 12, tinanong agad siya ng PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) tungkol sa mga naging intriga noong natanggal siya sa itinuturing na pinakasikat na reality show sa buong mundo. Sinagot naman ng Fil-Am singer ang lahat ng mga lumabas na balita tungkol sa kanya para raw maging malinaw ang lahat.
Una ay ang nabalita na noong na-eliminate siya ay may isinulat diumano siya sa kanyang MySpace blog na masama ang loob niya sa American Idol dahil pinairal daw ng show ang pagiging "racist" nita. Dahil daw sa Asian siya kaya hindi siya masyadong binigyan ng magandang exposure at pati ang choice of songs ng contestants ay ang staff din ang namimili.
"First of all, I never mentioned anything about the show being racist," paglilinaw ni Ramiele. "Nagulat din ako because it came out after I was out of the show. I do have a MySpace blog, but there are also other fake blogs using my name, that I can't control and it really bothered me for a long time.
"With regards to American Idol and the songs we have to sing, the thing is we choose our songs. But sometimes we have to follow some rules from the producers. Minsan talaga, may songs na hindi puwede. So the staff helps us choose the songs. It's something that we all have to follow because those are the rules of the contest."
Nabanggit din sa sinasabing blog ni Ramiele na hindi raw accurate ang text voting. Mas pinaboran daw ng show ang mga contestant na may controversy para raw mas maging exciting panoorin ang show, pero ilalaglag din daw nila ang mga ito. Yung mga mas magaganda ang boses, pero wala naman daw intriga, ay maaga na nilang tinanggal.
"That I never really wrote," tanggi ni Ramiele. "That's crazy. Hindi naman kami nakikialam sa mga decisions ng mga tao sa American Idol. For me, we were all equals. After they got all of us as finalists, we are all on equal footing.
"Though there are really controversies with the other contestants, I'm not in the position to judge them because we're just people. We're not perfect. Everyone has his and her own imperfections."
LESBIAN ISSUE. Pati nga si Ramiele ay ginawan ng intriga nang may magpakalat ng diumano'y "racy pictures" niya, kung saan may mga kasama siyang mga babae. Pinalabas na isang lesbian si Ramiele.
"I was shocked when those pictures came out!" bulalas niya. "The girls in the pictures are my friends and we were just hanging around and having fun with one another. That came out when I was already one of the finalists.
"We weren't doing anything obscene and it was just harmless playtime. May nagbigay lang ng maling information. When my mom found out about it, we had a talk and she said that I don't have to worry about anything because she knows my friends and she knows the girls in the picture. So she's not worried about the lesbian issue.
"Well, I'm saying right now that I'm not a lesbian and I have a boyfriend [Austin Torres], who is with me here in the Philippines for a holiday vacation," banggit ni Ramiele.
HOMECOMING. Bukod sa hometown ng kanyang ama sa Polilio Island, bibisitahin din ni Ramiele ang hometown ng kayang ina sa Zamboanga at sa hometown ng kanyang boyfriend sa Apalit, Pampanga.
"My parents are spending their Christmas here as well. We'll be going around a lot and enjoy our stay. I have three months to familiarize myself with the Philippines. I know that there is so much to see that's why I am so excited to go around and meet more people," saad ni Ramiele.
Live na magge-guest si Ramiele sa SOP bukas, December 14.