Michael V.

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For the Byzantine emperor of similar name, see Michael V (Byzantine emperor).

Michael V.
Bitoy in Bitoy's Funniest Videos
Background information
Birth name	Beethoven Bunagan
Born	December 17, 1969
Origin	Manila, Philippines
Genre(s)	Pop, OPM
Occupation(s)	Singer, actor, comedian

Michael V. (born Beethoven Bunagan), also known as "Bitoy" or "Toybits", is a Filipino comedian, actor and parodist, who appeared in the hit GMA Network show Bubble Gang, and in his own TV show Bitoy's Funniest Videos. He is known for his "translations" and parodies of Filipino and foreign pop songs, and has made original songs, such as "Sinaktan Mo Ang Puso Ko", in a way that can consider him the Weird Al Yankovic of the Philippines.

[edit] Background

Beethoven was born in December 17, 1969 on Pandacan, Manila, Philippines. An extremely shy young man, he was often pessimistic about his life, thinking that he was too dumb to have a future. Then one day, little did he know that while drunk and singing a certain song, his voice was actually being recorded by his wife.

Mr Beethoven Bunagan aka Michael V is indeed an actor worth of admiration. unlike his peers in the industry, this writer and actor has an academic degree on Mass Communications from the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila.

[edit] Trivia

He first started out as a rap artist, whose first single was Maganda Ang Piliin (Ayoko Ng Panget), which was a reaction to the hugely popular rap song Humanap Ka Ng Panget. Although the song and its accompanying album became a hit, it, along with his rap career, became largely obscured by his current career as a comedian.
It was revealed in an interview with Sunday Inquirer Magazine that his stage name was derived from two performers that he admires: Michael Jackson and Gary V. It was also customary among Filipino male rappers during the early 1990s (see above) to reduce their stage surnames to a single initial, such as Francis M and Andrew E.
Michael V.'s first movie appearance was in Regal Films' comedy flick, "Banana Split" topbilled by Joey Marquez. But his star shone more brightly when Octo Arts Films started to include him in several comedy flicks that cast him alongside Vic Sotto ("Ano ba Yan", "Ano ba Yan 2", "D' Sisters", "Lastikman"), Ogie Alcasid ("Ano ba Yan", "Ano ba Yan 2", "Manolo en Michelle", etc.), Francis M, and many more. But he has yet to appear in a movie alongside legendary comedian Dolphy, since this has been his longtime dream.
Bitoy has also tried his hand in directing, when he was appointed as TV director for GMA Network's practical joke show "Ooops!" in 1999. The show was hosted by Bitoy's "Bubble Gang" co-stars Antonio Aquitania, Wendell Ramos and Jessa Zaragosa. "Ooops!" lasted for 2 seasons on the air.