Jessy's Story

I hardly catch the "ikaw na" segment of Bandila which is the entertainment portion of the news program. Every night, Boy Abunda does a one on one interview with a showbusiness personality. He had Jessy Mendiola as his guest, promoting for the film the reunion.

I know that it's a few-minute interview but they were able to deal with how Jessy gets to be discovered. What she had shared was an concise version of the story. It was simply Mr. M seeing him in the ABS CBN area by chance. The offer to be part of Star Magic was that easy and she even asked for days to respond.

I'm sure that there are also difficulties which were not mentioned due to time constraints. Definitely, it was not as hard as what others have to go through. It is to be observed most reality searches have mostly same contestants, where aspirants have to find where their luck would be.

Two of the most difficult journeys to star stature that I read were of Bea Alonzo's and Coco Martin. Their stories were featured in Star Studio Magazine on different issues. Bea's climb to success was very interesting. She had to join barangay beauty contest, take up workshops class for months. She underwent those despite hard life that she had. 

Learning about Coco Martin's story was equally noteworthy. He had his first try with showbiz. He finished school and went back afterwards through independent films. There was also a time he had to migrate as undocumented worker in a country where he attended a film festival. Finally, he made it to stardom. One great factor in his journey was having his previous manager on his side. 

Today, Jessy is one of the upcoming princess taking strings of major roles in Kapamilya telesryes and now in star Cinema movie. The Reunion is quite interesting. It even pays tribute to Eraserheads music. The director must be of my age to appreciate the band. With diverse personalities that make up the cast - Xian Lim, Kean Cipriano, Enchong Dee and Enrique Gil, I understand that the intention was to come up with different barkada movie and not to have another Bagets film.

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Neutral. Let see Jessy if she can stay longer in the industry. People are yet to see the Reunion movie to decide whether it meets the promise. From there, we'll see it's an upgrade or downgrade.

Good Morning Jodi and Papa Chen

This author does not hold any figure. However, if the craze that Maya and his Sir bring to the viewers every morning is the indication, then the morning romantic comedy series Be Careful with My Heart is a success. The hit tandem offers something new to the audience.

Richard Yap is continues to provide kilig to viewers from My Binondo Girl while Jodi Santamaria portrays another comic character similar to 100 days to Heaven. Despite previous project's success, this unconventional pair defy star system tv series.

The fresh formula is achieved. Watching this, you can't help but compare to Korean feel good telenovela - only better. Jodi who started as Star Circle member way back and was part of the Tabing-ilog fame, proved to become one of the finest actresses. She recently appeared in indie film Migrante.

The roles she's getting may not be the ones which should have been for Claudine Baretto (former ABSCBN queen), but no doubt Jodi is getting second wind on her showbiz career. She gets good lead roles and takes a place which will not threaten Bea Alonzo, Anne Curtis and Angel Locsin fans.  This author cites that if you're a late bloomer Jodi fan and happens trying to re-track her past projects, please don't forget to take another view of her horror movie Cinco.

Marian Rivera for my Sweets -Celebrity of the Month August 2012

It is a welcome treat that she's seen as a darling in a weekly sitcom - Tweets for my sweets. Marian Rivera is doing comedy lately. Rephrase: She's doing lots of things which include comedy.

She's her network's primetime queen and what else is to expect but to see her do lots of things. If anyone argues that she holds the crown of this one side of the industry, he or she could have been sleeping beside Lorenzo (Lorenzo's time) for decades.

If there's any indication that she is of that status, you practically see her as frequent as your school teacher. Her series of telenovelas, as filipinos put it "jingle lang ang pahinga". You are likely to come across her films shown on TV in the mornings and weekends. Magazine covers on almost regular basis. Endorsements galore. In the social media, if there is a poll, Marian is part of top spots. 

However there is a down low on being Marian. Urban Legend tells that she's suplada and palengkera. Indeed, the only chance I get to see her in person was in Panagbenga 2012. She hardly waves to the crowd and only smiles when Dingdong does. Anyway, she was coughing and looked ill. Well, she's a mortal and has the right not to feel well due to her gazillions of projects.

Anyways she is still showered with blessing, the man by his side and a fan base. One difficulty that stars encounter is longevity. So far, she managed to maintain her prime star status (despite few misses in the box-office). Way back from her horror flick Pamahiin to Temptation Island remake, those years are quite a feat.

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the cover that did not make it.
the author does not own the photos.

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She is relevant up to this moment. An upgrade, without further explanation.

Follow the Stars - Fabio and Chynna

One of the best things that happened to Television is Reality shows or Reality TV. There were lots of local (I'm not really into English shows) reality  shows I got hooked.

Two recent shows that drew my interest are GMATV's Follow that Star and Powerhouse. People are able to take a peak on the lives of showbiz celebrities (Follow that Star) and prominent Filipino figures (Powerhouse). 

The last two episodes of Follow that Star featured Chynna Ortaleza (last week) and Fabio Ide (the week before). It showed Chynna being an Ukay ukay patron. It was quite a surprise that she is. She's a fashionista which exudes high fashion. It also deals with how she got into character roles despite being the groomed as Richard Gutierrez' first love team.

I'm not really a fan of her but i at least follow her career. I remember seeing her grew up in 5 and up. There was even a time I routed for her in joining beauty pageant. Anyways, she modeled for Avon's teen underwear. I'm not sure about her height and she's overage by now.

The episode that featured Fabio was one of the unexpected views I had. I usually go out on weekends. It was quite long time that I've been missing episodes. I occasionally try to catch on youtube. It was quite a joy seeing him as real person. It was also amazing how close he is with brazilian model Aikihiro Sato and others. He is very close to his family.

One great moment of the episode is how he embraced the Filipino culture by being engrossed with his inaanak. He mentioned that he has very close friends at home, but no one got him as kumpare. He was just so thrill to have an inaanak. From there, he also shared his plan of having kids of his own.

Again, I am not a fan. He may even be considered as poor third among peers Daniel Matsunaga and Akihiro Sato. I was a fan of Comedy Bar (Eugene Domingo's show where he was a mainstay), but not enough to fancy him. That show finally introduced him to the Filipino viewers, afar from the nameless dancing model in a beer commercial along with Marian Rivera and the jealous Dingdong Dantes. Browsing through my men's fashion magazine, I can now recognize that the chinito and defined lipped foreign model is named Fabio.

I don't know where would Philippine show business lead Fabio. It was just a delight seeing a celebrity as kind as he showed. As for Chynna, it will no longer be a wonder why she didn't make as GMA's primetime queen - because she opted not to. She's too class and looks affluent for people to care where would she be in next few years. Maybe, a loving wife of Railey Valeroso, and still a high fashion villain.

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it's an upgrade for viewers, seeing what goes through the lives of the celebrity - at least with what they want to show the people.