Binibining Pilipinas 2014 - Who wore it better?

You must have known by now the big and not-so big winners of Binibining Pilipinas 2014. Not-so-big means, front runners such as Yvethe Santiago and Kris Janson fall short of the expectations. This feature is not about that.

An overdue win for Mary Jean Lastimosa. The Miss Universe Philippines and her court.

Pageant fanatics all agreed that this year's presentation is of very high production value. The production value includes the gowns. Binibining Pilipinas Charities Inc. has that reputation of re-using gowns for the pageant and events. Much has been expected about that, to everyone's upset or delight.

Photo credits to owners/  Rappler.com and Bb. Pilipinas Website 
(for all of the photos)

I researched far and wide. Emma Mary Tiglao is the only casualty. She wore Pia's Wurchback's gown last year which was quite obvious since the latter got a runner up finish. The gown is quite visible around the web.

Anyways, what we have was sort of a collection, which a part was already worn in 2013 and the other part in 2014.  Let us take the case of 2014 semi finalist Ja Flores and Bb. Pilipinas Tourism 2013 Joanna Cindy Miranda - and the two other candidates.

There was Pink version of the design in 2013 and yellow in 2014.

There were also gowns of same design but of  different shades. Take for instance, 2013 un-numbered Binibini and 2014 Ed Agustin.

Nazar was a 2013 semi finalist. The two who wore the same design in 2014
did not make to this years first cut.

Another set of design in 2013 which extended to 2014 was worn by 2013 semi finalist Camille Nazar and two not so lucky candidates of this year's edition. Should I still need to ask who wore better?

Mutya Datul is a goddess. Anyone who wears the same design as hers would pale in comparison (see the comparison in the above photo). The one worn by Binibini Manuel on the right was previously worn by MI Bea Rose Santiago, as I remember. I just can't find a picture of it right now.

clockwise: MUP MJ Lastimosa, unplaced Binibini and Miss Tourism Parul Shah. They wore differently detailed gowns of similar silhouette.

For this edition, the set of heart-bustier mermaid gown is the winner. Notice at the above photo the mortality rate among the three who wore the same design.

All in all, this year is an upgrade. The best of it is the fact that Madame Stella Marquez De Araneta provides all the gowns for the annual pageant. First, it limits the handlers' self serving creativity to experiment on the candidates' look. Thus, the spectators attention will be on the bearing of the candidate not the gown. Ultimately, it result to having cohesive look to the entire presentation.

Admit it. the pageant has good evening gowns this year.
Less of the recycled ones.

Who ain't love ANNE?

Credits to: http://www.funwallz.com/image/anne-
curtis-wip-aramismarron-hd-wallpaper-100839.jpg

Overrated is something you can not call Anne.

Everything that's said about her tantamount to her achievements.

There's is nothing else to do but love her - and these three sentences summarizes how "huge" actress she is.

LIST: Celebrities Who Look Alike - NEWSROOM EDITION

Newsroom edition is a take on look-alikes whose the other half is newscaster, news reporter, news achor and the likes.

1. Umagang Kay Ganda's Winnie Cordero could pass as Aryana's (Ella Cruz) mother.

2. Miss Universe 2012 first runner up Janine Tugonon seems to be twin sister of another achiever Daphne Osenia Paez. It must be their jawline.

4. I was aware for sometime that there is such reporter named Maan Macapagal - and I was not paying attention who she was and how she looks like. Until one newsbreak, I could not help but refer to Kyla seeing her.

4. Mel Tiangco and Isabel Rivas. Agree or not? It has been in my thoughts since I was young but no one believes me. Please take a closer look at the cheeks and lips. Please!!!

5. Mark Zambrano/June Macasaet. Can you name who's who?

CLUE: Mark Zambrano is GMANews TV sportcaster.
            June Macasaet is Manhunt International winner.
            You must have figured it out on the second photo.

Let's make things more complicated by adding third look alike. Again, who's who?

***

LIST: Stars who got Short Hair

Nowadays, there's so much competition in getting jobs and roles for the stars. Young stars don't take much risks in experimenting with their looks so short hair could a big NO!

Let's go back to the era when they did sport one.

1. Dawn Zulueta. She was launch as the next important actress then. She was the leading lady in the making when she cut her hair that short (on the right pic), which I believe broke the momentum of her rising career.

 She was fabulous but lead actresses are supposed to look like princesses not supermodel. The time she grew her hair in "Hihintayin kita sa Langit", she was back in big league.

2. Maricel Soriano frequently got short hair. In "Saan darating ang umaga", she was in short hair. At her prime, doing the strings of hit in Star Cinema short hair was her element. "Separada", "Dahas" and more.  

3. Sharon Cuneta.  In you don't remember her film "Biktima", you would not think she once cut her hair that short. Fans are used to seeing her the sweet-dalagita haircut i. e. almost shoulder-length with one major end wave and bangs.   

4. Regine Velaquez. It was  regine's truning point of career when she got crew cut. the moment was epic and a statement the she was no longer an aspiring singer but a diva

.

5. Vilma Santos. Ultimately, when she matured as an actress she did not grow her hair that long so short hair is a Vilma Santos signature.

LIST: Sharon Cuneta Template

This used to be how Philippine Showbiz sees it - Sharon Cuneta is Viva. Viva is Sharon Cuneta.

Viva specializes in grooming multi-media superstar i. e. Sharon Cuneta. Actress. Singer. TV personality and the other half of a very popular loveteam. So what is a Sharon Cuneta template? Who fits the mold.

Sharon Cuneta 

a. Successful Loveteam: Sharon Cuneta and Gabby is the most successful loveteam in the 80's and one-of-the, of all time. Their filmography includes "Dear Heart", "PS I Love You" and "Sa Hirap at Ginhawa"

b. Recording Career: Known to have hit songs which are basically the theme songs of her successful films, "Unti-unting mararating" (Pangarap na Bituin) is the most famous line she has ever sung. Her career highlight is marked at the release of Mr. DJ. It spanned the George Canseco and Willy Cruz phase of her singing career. Notable also was her versions of Rey Valera Hits. Among her songs, "Ikaw" defined her mid-career highlight. 

c. TV/Musical Show: "The Sharon Cuneta Show" is one of the more successful musical variety shows.  

d. Not the top caliber actress but with best actress awards: She won controversial Best Actress awards in her early career and later vindicated by grand slam win for "Madrasta". But still not the top actress in the likes of Nora Aunor and Cherry Pie Picache in term of greatness. Nonetheless "The Crying Ladies" elevated her so close to where Aunor stands in the acting pedestal.  

e. Box office films: She was the longest consecutive box office queen. I'm not sure about how many but I assume she has more than  five box office queen awards. And, these were the years when that award's basis was not who has the highest grossing films, but who has the most number of box office films in a year.

f. Starred in films as a singer: Who would forget "Bituin Walang Ningning"? 

***
Again, who fits the mold?

The once and present, other Viva queens are given.

1. Vina Morales she was said to be the Megastar's immediate successor and she lived up with the expectation.

a. Successful Loveteam: She was paired with Kempee de Leon in the early part of the career. The more successful pair up was with Robin Padilla which produced the "Utol Kong Hoodlum" series. Check!

b. Recording Career: She was quite successful in her recording career. At her time, she was the only singer among her contemporaries, Gellie De Belen, Aiko Melendez and Carmina Villaroel. At Viva, she also followed the tradition of recording the theme songs of her movies. One of the notable is her version of "Sana ay Ikaw ng nga". She continued her singing career outside Viva. Check!

c. TV/Musical Show: She had her not-so successful musical variety shows cum sitcom "Vina". The highlight of her career was topbilling SOP which extends to her transfer to ABSCBN as on of the prime performer in ASAP. From there, she was able to create her identity beyond the next Sharon Cuneta - a Showgirl that is equivalent to Jennifer Lopez and Beyonce stature.  Check!

d. Not the top caliber actress but with best actress awards: In term of acting, she was not the best among her batch. She was assigned to Romantic Comedy films which were also a Viva fomula. In TV, she once ruled telemovies where (as I remember) she earned best actress award. Her career highlight in movies was playing Sarah Balabagan Biopic which she got the critics' nod despite not winning an award. Check! 

e. Box office films: Leaving the Viva Management could have been a wrong move to sustain her stardom but she got her second wind of career with string of Robin-Vina reunion movies "Eto na nman ako" and "Di Pwedeng Hindi Pwede". Check!

f. Starred in films as a singer: She starred with lots of movies where she played as a singer but the most notable was "Kadenang Bulaklak". Her role was not a singer but the film revolves around a song that would reunite her with her sisters. The finale was a song number of the reunited sisters. Check!
 PASSED! 

2. Donna Cruz  was next in line. She was then elevated as the next superstar with her large fanbase.

a. Successful Loveteam: More groomed as the next Nora Aunor, Viva pushed her career as a loveteam with Ian De Leon - Nora's son. They went on as loveteam with hit movies "Habang May Buhay" and "Dahil Tanging Ikaw." Check!

b. Recording Career: At that time, to be like Donna Cruz, which was every girls dream is to sing her songs. She hit a genre that fits her image. She has this charisma that all the songs in her album are hit. "Isang Tanong Isang Sagot", "Hulog ng Langit", "Dahil Tanging Ikaw" "Wish" and more.  Check!

c. TV/Musical Show: She was part of "That's Entertainment" and had stint in co hosting with German Moreno. However, She ruled the Television through the soap opera "Villa Quintana". This was at the time networks only offer one teleserye in the evening. Check!

d. Not the top caliber actress but with best actress awards: "Pangako ng Kahapon" is her answer to those whose ask for her accomplishment as an actress. She was nominated as best supporting actress in few award giving bodies. Her career was cut short when she settled down so she has never gone to be elevated in that actress category.  Check! 

e. Box office films: She was Viva's queen for a while and being one included box office films. Check!

f. Starred in films as a singer: Kadenang Bulaklak. Check!

 PASSED! 

3. Angelu De Leon  was another Viva Queen. Not a Singer but hit the stardom through the TGIS fame. 

a. Successful Loveteam: Angelu De Leon -Bobby Andrews was one of the most successful loveteams in the 90s. They reap box office success against superstars Judy Ann Santos (and loveteam Wowie De Guzman) and Claudine Baretto (and partner Rico Yan). This was that time when TV is the career base.   Check!

b. Recording Career: The TGIS movie soundtrack, which she recorded It might be you along with his loveteam is not counted..  X!

c. TV/Musical Show: TGIS TV series. Check!

d. Not the top caliber actress but with best actress awards: In her comeback vehicle "Bulaklak ng Maynila" she won Best Supporting Actress.  Check! 

e. Box office films: She has strings of hit with the loveteam but her career as a lead was not long enough to establish that she has box office strenght as a solo star. She then moved on as supporting star which Sharon does not do X!

f. Starred in films as a singer:  X!
 FAILED! 

4. Regine Velasquez  in between Angelu De Leon and Sarah Geronimo, Regine was the Viva Queen. She fits the mold but Regine is Regine. Sharon is Sharon. Queens of their own.

5. Sarah Geronimo  is tha present Viva Queen. Although identified as ABS-CBN star, Sarah is Viva prime artist, along with the other Viva Queen Anne Curtis. 

a. Successful Loveteam: Sarah-Mark Bautista was not that successful. Sarah went to become this huge film star in Sarah-John Lloyd starrers.  Check!

b. Recording Career: "Forever is not Enough" is still her signature song but her every album is a success..  Check!

c. TV/Musical Show: This generation of TV has fast turnover.Despite that she one major TV personality who could juggle everything - teleserye star in "Bituin Walang Ningning" and Idol; talent search host in "Little Big Star;  performer in ASAP and Sara G Live; and talent search coach in "the Voice".   Check!

d. Not the top caliber actress but with best actress awards: As an actress she has yet to prove it because her limitations with the roles she accepts. In terms of acting awards, I still have to check. She might have been nominated as promising actress or for a single performance in TV guestings.  half-check! 

e. Box office films: Her film series playing Laida Magtalas hold box office records. Big Check!

f. Starred in films as a singer (in sarah's case TV):  She topbills the TV remake of "Bituing Walang Ningning" and she played as a singer in "Idol" series Check!

 PASSED! the magnitude of her stardom and longevity compensated for the achievement in acting. Indeed she is this generation's Megastar. 

4. Toni Gonzaga  Out of Viva (checked if she's under Viva, can't find any article, except she appeared in films under Viva), Toni is the one closest to Sharon Cuneta template as singer-actress i. e. multi media star. She also managed few hits with her loveteam Sam Milby. She qualifies to the template. However, in terms of the star system in her network, She is one of the queen and not groomed as "the" in the league of Bea Alonso, Angelica Panganiban and Angel Locsin. 

Low-PASS!

5. Julie Anne San Jose  looking towards the other side of the network fence. Her screaming fans at the variety shows studio and netizens could fool popularity. Fans do not only scream not likers in social media. They have to pay for movie and concert tickets. JulieMo starrer "Just One Summer" only earned  P4M, in the league of Star Cinema films which popular love teams can reap more than P100M to P200M range.

FAILED!

LIST: International Stars who Graced Philippine Cinema

Mario Maurier

I don't know who Mario Maurier was until he was already promoting his Star Cinema Film "Suddenly its Magic". From there, I realized that I've watched some of his tagalized movies in CinemaOne. "Crazy Little Thing" is the more popular one but "Friendship" is the one which touched me more. Maybe because of the dark story and morbid ending. On that episode of Gandang Gabi Vice, Erich Gonzales (Mario's co star) teased Vice Ganda's favorite Mario's Film. It intrigued me why Vice denied that to be his favorite and it made me search to the internet in pronto. It turned out to be  Love of Siam.

I already seen links and posts about it but thought that it was just one of the foreign films. By the time I finally clicked play and finished the movie, I'm in total LFS. Last Film Syndrome (remember: Last Song Syndrome).

Mario and Erich's film was not a flop in box office, even better than a Piolo Pascual's film in that year. It's just that people expect better box office result based on his perceived popularity in the Philippines. 

Jason Everly

My age is of Donna Cruz generation though I'm quite younger. It came as a surprise that she'll be paired up with Jason Everly - breaking the Donna Cruz-Ian De Leon hype at the era. Jason Everly's credential was just the familiar last name from the Everly Brothers' fame. No one knew about him before that. That love team produced only one film "Isang Tanong Isang Sagot" and a very hit song "Wish". 

I can't remember if Donna's following was enough for the film to do well in the box office. We did not hear any from Jason from there. Donna settled down at her peak i. e. she never resorted to sexy role. quite bad.

Cynthia Luster

Before her Philippine career, she was packaged as Hongkong Martial-arts Superstar. I was too young then to know if she really is of that Jacky Chan Status. Everyone got excited to know that she was about to do a film here, which led to countless more. She did "Tapang sa tapang" with Senator Lito Lapid and "Once upon a time in Manila" with Vic Sotto as her career's highlights. I even remember her promoting her films doing a tagalog song number "Sana Dalawa ang Puso Ko" at local variety shows. That wondered me about her career abroad.

Once in a while, I chance upon her films and still wondered if she really thought that her stint in the Philippines was a good career move for her. 

Dayanara Torres & Michelle Van Iemeren

They should not even be on the list or I could have just changed the title. Dayanara Torres and Michelle Van Iemeren were not international stars before doing movies in the Philippines. Dayanara was the reigning queen and Michelle was a candidate, when Miss Universe was held in here in 1994. 

 Dayanara starred with Aga Mulach in Basta't Kasama Kita.  She then tried her luck in Hollywood with few things not enough to break in, big time. She went back few year after with to do a movie with Cesar Montano "Type Kita, Walang Kokontra".

Michelle did not pursue a film career after her stint in the Philippines. She did more movies than Dayanara with strings of Ogie Alcasid pair-up. She can not quite be forgotten by Filipinos because of the connection with the former husband Ogie Alcasid.

After 20 years, producers might think of a appropriate projects for them as a good throwback for early 90's generation.

***

Joyce Ching Fashion

She is the Tricia Roman of this generation. That is, if anyone remembers who Tricia is.

Tricia Roman

The comparison means having lots of show in GMA without star quality. In case of Joyce, she started like that and turned out to be a jewel in the end. For this feature, it seems that she's embracing the star quality in different aspects performing, acting and dressing up.

From the plain poor third to Barbie Forteza and Bea Binene (even fourth, if their level includes Louise Delos Reyes), she is now one of the better-dressed GMA artists. This became more apparent in Dormitoryo series where she matched the taste level of Lauren Young.

With the challenges she lived up being pitted against the more popular contemporaries, she might get that big solo break. She might finally claim her own place - and not the third seat of the tweetum rows. Just hang on, growing followers of Joyce.

Credit of all photos to owners

Joyce deserves an upgrade.