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I used to think radio contests were rigged.
Then I won three Moana tickets and had to rethink everything I thought about radio contests.
At the very east, I was skeptical whenever someone got excited about calling in to win something.
And then Monster Radio proved me wrong with Moana tickets.
Ok, let me back up a little…
Moana has been a family thing for us since Lyle was small.
The 2016 animated version has probably been watched in this house more times than I can accurately count. I believe that’s thereason why we got a Disney Plus subscription…
The songs ended up on our road trip playlist. The soundtrack is on Spotify.
We’ve listened to covers and different renditions on long drives to and from Calinan.
It became one of the tings that we bonded over as a family… like a shared language… if we sing or even hum one part of any song, we end up all singing along to it
So when the live action version came out, going wasn’t a question. It was when we’d go.
And because I’m a part of the Davao Bloggers Society (Yes, I’m very proud of that…) I was able to secure a spot for myself. And then a fellow blogger was kind enough to hand hers over since sh’d be unable to go.
We were about to secure a third ticket but was told that the names had been submitted. So that meant only Lyle and I’d be able to go. Which meant an incomplete family going to see a thing we’d all boinded over.
And I really just wanted to watch the movie and base my article on how my wife and son reacted to it.
I had to find a way to secure another ticket.
It took a day until I accidentally saw Monster Radio’s post about winning tickets to Moana. And yeah, I entered the contest without thinking too much about it.
Monster Radio BT 99.5 · Davao City
Monster Radio has been Davao’s premiere hit radio station since they first broadcast here in 2002.
The Manila flagship — Monster RX 93.1 — has won Best FM Station eleven times at the KBP Golden Dove Awards, which makes them the most awarded FM radio station in the Philippines by a significant margin.
They don’t just play music on air.
They also host events, movie premieres, campus tours, concert tie-ins, and apparently giving away Moana tickets to people who thought radio contests were rigged.
Davao’s version is Monster Radio BT 99.5, sitting at The Peak, GMALL of Davao along JP Laurel Avenue in Bajada.
Same quality programming, same hit music format, same Monster energy — just locally focused for the city.
But Does Radio Still Matters When Spotify Exists?
We live in 2026.
Spotify exists.
Apple Music exists.
YouTube exists.
You can listen to any song ever recorded from your phone at any moment.
The argument for radio being dead is not a hard one to make on paper.
And yet, radio stations still exist.
Why?
What Streaming Does Better
- Any song, any time, on demand
- No ads if you’re paying
- Algorithm learns what you like
- Podcasts, playlists, artist radio
- Offline mode, no signal needed
What Radio Still Does Better
- Discovers music for you before you know you want it
- Creates shared listening moments across a city
- DJs who talk between songs and feel like company
- Local events, local news, local context
- Contests where you can actually win things like Moana tickets
The thing streaming doesn’t replicate — and this is what I keep coming back to — is the communal feel of radio.
When a song comes on Spotify I chose it or an algorithm chose it for me.
When a song comes on Monster Radio 99.5 in Davao, someone in the studio made a decision to play it, and thousands of people in this city are hearing it at the same time, in their cars or their offices or their kitchens.
That shared experience is something different from listening to a song off of a playlist.
And the contest ecosystem that radio builds around itself — call in, text in, win things, be part of something happening right now — that’s entirely unique to radio.
You cannot win Moana tickets from a Spotify algorithm.
Monster Radio gave me three in one afternoon.
About the Movie (No Spoilers) – The Short Version for People Who Loved the Animated Film
You’re going to be okay.
This is about as faithful a reimagining as you could ask for.
They didn’t make any drastic changes. Everything you loved about the 2016 original is still there, just in live action now. And dare I say a little bit more?
Just a tad bit more.
Not too much.
Catherine Laga’aia as Moana was perfect.
The look, the movement, the presence.
Auli’i Cravalho came on as a producer instead of reprising the lead role, effectively passing on the torch while remaining relevant.
I was a bit apprehensive about the Rock as Maui in the live action film.
I mean, his voice was on point. After all, he was the one who voiced Maui in the animated version so everything is there but Maui is such a specific animated character — big, expressive, larger than life in a way that’s hard to translate to real life without it feeling like a costume party.
But he pulled it off.
He almost perfectly emulated what he did when he voice-acted the role, which is harder than it sounds.
My apprehension is basically on the looks. Where Maui is rounded, the Rock is all straight, hard edges. Somehow they got it right.
CGI perfection?
They finally found a non-fake looking fat suit?
Or did the Rock eat himself to that rotund shape?
It felt like he took the character seriously, not just the opportunity.
Lyle’s eyes were glued to the screen the entire time.
That is the most honest review I can give.
The Part Where I Had Too Many Tickets
I tried giving the extra tikets away as a way of paying it forward.
Nobody took them.
I sat in the cinema with spare tickets in my pocket like a man who had massively overestimated the size of his family.
I am genuinely considering framing those extra tickets since I don’t normally win these things and this was statistically unusual.
Monster Radio delivered something I’ve been skeptical was possible for my entire adult life and I want to mark that somehow.
I now have hard evidence that Monster Radio Davao actually gives out prizes and that radio contests are not rigged.
Monster Radio 99.5 Davao.
Real prizes.
Verified by personal experience.
Moana is in cinemas now.
Go watch it.
Bring your kids.
Listen to Monster Radio 99.5 while you’re driving there.
Enter whatever contest they’re running.
You might win something too.
Special thanks to: Disney Studios Philippines (@disneystudiosph) for the advance screening invitation.
The Davao Bloggers Society for being the kind of community I love where people hand each other tickets and show up for each other. Especially Sarah (who gave me her slot) and James (who tried giving me his but…)
And Monster Radio BT 99.5 Davao for proving me wrong about radio contests after roughly thirty years of being wrong about them.
