Now it can be told: award-winning filmmaker Ramona Diaz is making a feature-length documentary on the rock band, Journey, tentatively titled “Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey.”

Ramona, who won awards for her documentaries “Imelda” and “Spirits Rising,” shared the news via e-mail: “This film is ultimately a snapshot of Journey at this moment in 2008 in its 30-plus year history, as it emerges with a new lead singer.” The band’s vocalist is, as everyone knows by now, Arnel Pineda.

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Somebody give me a lighter. Journey, the ultimate stadium-rock band, has just taken the stage. Oh, the guitar solos…the nostalgia. But these days, there’s a different face mixed in with the aging Frisco white guys. It’s the boyishly cute mug of Arnel Pineda, recently emigrated from the Philippines, who’s now the lead singer of the band. His story’s something of a rock-and-roll fairy tale.

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knows every words of his songs
followed every concerts thereon
bought a shirt to wear in a crowd
to sing, to dance and to scream loud

talks about him every moment chance
she even have website that she launch
she has all songs uploaded in her ipod
but he doesn’t know that made her sad

at work she never fails to open her laptop
searching, posting and knowing what’s up
called every radio station to request a song
when she won’t get, she thought it’s wrong

lately, she did cry, knowing he is sick
she put a black dress and dark lipstick
she called for global prayer and healing
she is still so happy and proudly singing

sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

be good to yourself go watch journey
concert, you will absolutely enjoy.

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Steve Perry must be really, really, really flattered by Journey’s new lead singer, Arnel Pineda.

Pineda made his Detroit debut with classic rockers Journey Tuesday night in front of a sold-out crowd of more than 15,000 at DTE Energy Music Theatre. The band played for just over two hours, tacking an extra 30 minutes onto its set after openers Heart unexpectedly canceled their performance citing vocal problems suffered by Ann Wilson. Prior to Heart’s on-stage announcement, which was met by scattered boos from the audience, Cheap Trick performed a spirited 45-minute opening set.

But the night was really all about Journey, and about the crowd laying a set of eyes and ears on Pineda. Would the much-talked-about 41-year-old Filipino singer really be all he was cracked up to be?

Adam Graham of Detroit News reviews Journey’s performance.

If YouTube is meant to be a place where worker drones kill time while on the job by watching movie trailers and hilarious videos of people doing incredibly stupid things, nobody bothered telling that to the members of classic rock troupe Journey.

So while you were watching the video of Miss Teen South Carolina explain why more people can’t locate the United States on the world map for the umpteenth time, Journey guitarist Neil Schon was trolling the site for a new lead singer, following the June 2007 departure of Jeff Scott Soto.

Adam Graham, Detroit News Pop Music Writer previews Journey upcoming concert.

IS JOURNEY STILL Journey without the signature vocal stylings of Steve Perry? Some would say no, but I say we should give now-lead singer Arnel Pineda a chance.

Was he around for the glory days of the “Separate Ways” video? No, but he was discovered by the band singing Journey covers on YouTube — he’s got a Perry-type thing going on but adds a little of his own flair.

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Back in 1998, Journey found a replacement for singer Steve Perry in Steve Augeri, whose rhyming name tickled the world and near-beer vocals were close enough for fans who accepted that they might never see the classic lineup again. But late last year, the band recruited Arnel Pineda to front them, a 40-year-old Filipino who shares something more crucial with Perry than a first name: His. Exact. Voice.

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“This is like the sixth or seventh phase of the band, and it seems to me it’s more than a chapter,” said Valory, calling from North Carolina. “It’s like a new book. This is a new volume with the arrival of Arnel and with the album out, and the reception it’s getting. It’s not like we’re starting all over again but it’s a whole new ballgame.

“I guess it has to do with the right person. The right piece to a puzzle, and that’s the way it has appeared to have happened with Arnel. He has all the right qualities to fit in this band and make it his own. He sounds like Journey. So with the creation of new material that we just put out, and are getting airplay with, it sounds like us. There’s the whole aspect of his performing energy as well on the stage. It’s just infectious.”

John Benson of Vindy.com interviews bassist Ross Valory of Journey.

For someone with such a powerful voice onstage and on record, Arnel Pineda is remarkably soft-spoken on the phone. Maybe he’s just trying to save his throat for the next concert. Calling from a hotel somewhere in Pennsylvania, there is more than a trace of road fatigue in his voice. It’s been more than a month since he embarked on his first world tour with his new band, megaplatinum arena-rockers Journey, supported by their ’70s-’80s album-oriented rock cohorts Cheap Trick and Heart, and the road is clearly taking its toll on the 40-year-old Pineda.

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If you closed your eyes, it was easy to picture Steve Perry up there.

Then again, you also could imagine him somewhere far away from the spotlight, bitterly cursing his fate. Who knew the machinations of that ever-turning wheel in the sky could be so cruel?

Journey’s estranged singer wasn’t missed when the resurgent pop-rock quintet from San Francisco headlined a sold-out concert Saturday night at Blossom Music Center. A quarter-century after their Top 40 heyday, these guys have made a remarkable comeback, with lead vocals now handled by Filipino native Arnel Pineda. Uncannily, he sounded more like Perry than Perry himself.

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