Fil-Am photographer Yen Baet won the grand prize in the National Geographic Photo Contest where he toppled five other photographers in the world.

Baet, also a writer, is the only Filipino who entered the contest with his piece “Rainy Night in Hallstatt”.

According to Baet’s description/caption of his photo, “Rain fell constantly on this dreary autumn day in Hallstatt. Under the comfort of a small umbrella, I tried to capture the quiet serenity of this quaint town as the clouds drifted low over Hallstatt lake.”

Grand Prize Winner Yen Baet won an expedition to Peru for two to discover the land of Inca which has a retail value of $13,000 or approximately P650,000.

On her Twitter account, Baet announced that she won the photo contest: “It’s official! Rainy Night in Hallstatt takes Grand Prize at NatGeo Photo Contest. Thanks for the support!”

“A heartfelt THANK YOU once again to those of you who saw this through & made it happen. Will always be grateful,” she said in another tweet.

Here are the list of Audition venues and dates for the upcoming Season 5 of the reality based artista search, Starstruck.

August 31 to September 6 – GMA Souvenir Shop – Daily Auditions
September 5 and 6 – SM Cebu, CSI Dagupan, SM pampanga
September 12 and 13 – SM Davao, SM Cebu, Iloilo
September 19 and 21 – SM Cagayan de oro, SM Bacolod, SM Molino
September 25,26 and 27 – SM Naga
September 26 – SM Davao
September 27 – SM Cebu
October 3 – SM Iloilo
October 4 – CSI Dagupan
October 5 to 10 – deliberations (CSI Dagupan)
October 12 to 17 – Studio 5 (first call back manila and regional)
October 19 to 21 (deliberations)
October 23 to 24 (second call back manila and regional)

Audition now and be the next Starstruck Survivor!

Miss Russia Ekaterina Grushanina was crowned as Miss Tourism Queen Int’l 2009. Grushanina bested among 97 beauties from around the world as the competition was held in Zhengzhou, China. Other winners includes Miss Brazil – 1st Runner-up, Miss Republic of Guinea -2nd Runner-up, China – 3rd Runner-up and French Polynesia -4th Runner-up. Our very own Philippine delegate Marie Razel Eguia, however, did not make it to be the Ms. Tourism Queen but she became a runner up for the Best in Evening Gown category.

Ms. Venezuela Stefania Fernandez bested among 83 other candidates at Miss Universe 2009 Pageant held at the Bahamas as she was crowned as the new winner for this year. This would be the second year in a row that the winner came from their country after Dayana Mendoza won in 2008. The pageant was hosted by Billy Bush and Claudia Jordan,the televised event includes musical performances by Flo Rida, Heidi Montag, David Guetta and Kelly Rowland. Unfortunately, our very own Pamela Bianca Manalo, did not make it to the final 15 of the said competition.

Survivor Philippines,now on its 2nd season, revealed its 16 new Castaways vying for the 3 million cash and the title of the Pinoy Sole Survivor. Here they are:

Carol Gementiza – Terror Teacher

Cris Bolado – Gentle Giant

Vlad Nesas – Metrosexual

Marvin Kiefer – Model Hunk

Tara Jane Masias – English Tutor for Koreans

Louie Ang – Chickboy I.T. Professional

Mika Batchelor – Sexy Chef

Shaun Rodriguez – Fitness Buff

Maya Segovia – Lady Pilot

Amanda Coolley Van Cooll – Female Construction Worker in US

Charles Fernandez – Businessman/Raketista

Jeff Gaitan – Student and Part-time Model

Troy Perez – The Mentalist

Suzuki Sadatsugu – Japinoy Criminology Student

Echo Caceres – Call Center Agent

Justine Ferrer – Beauty Queen and Businesswoman

Survivor Philippines is set to happen in the Islands of Palau in Micronesia. It premieres this coming August 16, only at GMA-7.

TV5 and Cosplay Philippines joined forces to launched a contest that will invite professional and amateur filmmakers to participate in their contest on TV. It is entitled as ” Animega CosTube video Contest ” , where participants will have to wear their best anime character costume and capture it in a video and upload it. For more details regarding the contest, log on to www.tv5.com.ph or at www.cos-play.ph. or www.cosplaymania.com.