Fiercer Kim Chiu and Sarah Geronimo, Lovebirds Maja Salvador and Gerald Anderson, and Other Local Tsismis

Move over, Sarah Labati, because a more interesting showbiz happening is starting to unfold.

If you were able to watch ASAP even on your TV screens, there were lots of interesting and awkward moments that happened on its January 6, 2013 episode. I waited for the production number of Ina, Kapatid, Anak to catch Kim Chiu and Xian Lim. To add to its production value, it started with the trio of Kim, Maja Salvador and Enchong Dee. There came a point when Enchong left so that Xian could take his place. Wow, when the two girls were left on stage on their own even for a short time, you can sense that there was a certain level of discomfort with the two who used to be the best of friends. Maja's eyes would skip Kim and looked around as if she was eager for Xian to come out on stage. Kim looked like she was finally able to breathe when Xian was already by her side.

KimXi did not fail to deliver at that production number. It was super kilig even though they only looked at each other's eyes and held one another. There was what seemed like a pilit effort for the other pair to appear that they were sweeter than KimXi. They even shared one mic, which failed to get any responses.

And then there was the spiel where Kim and Xian were together with Enchong Dee, Cristine Reyes, Vina Morales and I am not sure if he was part of it, but Gerald Anderson also joined the group. It became rowdy, with Enchong, Cristine and Gerald at the helm of being childish on national TV, not minding that there were other people in the group who felt like the teasing and jokes were just too much.

Many fans felt the same way, too, and some of them blurted their reactions at a photo that was posted on Instagram by Kim's make-up artist, Haidee Fernandez. To which Kim replied:

At the time, Kim has already unfollowed Gerald on Instagram. What's more mind-boggling is that Maja also unfollowed not only Kim but Xian on this popular and now controversial photo sharing app. Kim followed suit and unfollowed Maja as well the day after.

So what's the big deal with this follow-unfollow thingy? Before this happened, it was evident that fewer pictures of Kim and Maja together were being posted even though they were both in the same places or events. Maja had more pictures with Gerald circulating over the internet, including their vacation pictures in Misibis Bay with other friends during the holidays.

Before this whole brouhaha, the local entertainment news was filled with Sarah Geronimo's fierce statements in defense of her parents and strong words about what happened or what she has learned with her life's episode with Gerald.

And now, the latest gossips are about Maja and Gerald being together for over a year now. It may be okay for them to become a couple, but this is quite complicated.

Maja was Kim's best friend and Kim is Gerald's ex-girlfriend. Kim is a good friend of Matteo Guidicelli who is Maja's ex. Maja is or was a good friend of Sarah G or that she claimed to be. If this has been going on for a year, it happened while Gerald was still pursuing Sarah and Kim was still helping Maja and Matteo to patch things up.

Wow, talk about being complicated. Let us just see where this story leads. For this blogger, I never liked Maja, and this gives me more reasons to continue doing so. The story made me a bigger fan of Kim though and I have developed total respect for Sarah G.

As for Sarah Labati, you have placed yourself in a position where you will never win because you are fighting with your boss. If you will keep on saying things against them, they will just use these to ruin you even more. The best thing to do is to finish the contract and do your work obediently and leave immediately after it expires.

And 2013 is only beginning, hmmm, this is shaping up to be a more controversial year to the local entertainment industry.

Related Articles:


Kim Chiu on Maja Salvador and Gerald Anderson - And So the Story Goes

In Line with the Kim Chiu, Maja Salvador Rift over Gerald Anderson - Is It Okay to Date Your Best Friend's Ex?

The Hits and Misses at the Star Magic Ball 2012

While cramming for a deadline last night, I could not help but peek at the updates and photos about the annual Star Magic Ball at different online sites. I am not a fashion guru, but for my simple taste, here are my takes on how the Kapamilya stars have chosen to shine last night at the ball or made no effort at all in dimming their own lights.

Credits to the owners of the pictures below. I got most pictures from Push, PEX and Twitter:

SUPAH HOT!
Those smiles spell one thing- HAPPINESS.
They really look like a real couple here.
They deserve the Couple of the Night award that they got.

Kim Chiu is Queen Chiu.
She has really mastered her fashion sense.
She amazingly looks like a real star.

Xian Lim, shining on his own without Kim by his side.
His time has finally arrived. Gwapo sobra (drools).

Super wow for Maja Salvador!
She looks like a goddess here and she rightfully
deserves the Female Star of the Night award that she got.

Julia Montes should have exchanged looks with Maja for the ball.
She looks as if she was groomed to appear quite older than her real age.
This night could have been her chance to let her youth shine by letting her hair down
and by wearing something like Maja's attire. Oh well, she won Sweetheart of the Night for this manang look.

 

Kathryn Bernardo is very pretty and this simple gown fits her age.
She's even prettier with cutie Daniel Padilla by her side.
I like Daniel better without his glasses though.
Their team-up won the Breakout Fashion Award

Bea Alonzo in a gown, which cannot be worn by those who have weak hearts.
It suited her though, her bulky yet shapely figure compliment the style and material of this creation.

Megan Young proves that not all morenas cannot shine in black.
What is she still doing in local showbiz? She ought to try modeling.

Shaina Magdayao strutting a sexy back, but this gown
would look better on Angelica Panganiban.

This is a pretty gown, but it does not suit Angelica Panganiban.
She should have traded gowns with John Lloyd Cruz' ex.

They are cute, literally. This is Ella Cruz, looking like she's enjoying her youth (ehem, Julia Montes) and partner.

Nikki Gil knows that she looks good with this kind of look,
so she appears at every special  Kapamilya event looking like this. It gets boring, girl.
It's a good thing that Billy Crawford looks dashing by your side.

Bianca Manalo, looking like a winner even though she was dateless that night.

Yeng Constantino looking like a sweetheart.

Maricar Reyes is another effortless beauty.

I'll include this on the hit list because this made me laugh.
This former Going Bulilit star stayed loyal to the night's theme, which is black and white.
He was like saying, "Take a back seat, Empoy. I am here."

Here's a list of the winners for this year's ball.

Jawdropping Stunner award- Bea Alonzo

Standout Star- Coco Martin

Prince and Princess of the Night- Julia Barretto and Julian Estrada

Sweetheart of the Night - Julia Montes

Hot Mama award - Carmina Villarroel

Hot Papa award - Gerald Anderson

Breakout Stlye Award - Daniel Padilla and Kathryn Bernardo

Stars of the Night - Enchong Dee and Maja Salvador

Fab Pair - Maricar Reyes and Richard Poon

Couple of the Night - Xian Lim and Kim Chiu

Star Magic Icons - Diether Ocampo and Angelica Panganiban. 

Dawn Zulueta may not have gotten any award that night,
but this picture proves that she's "unkabogable"
She's the rightful recipient of the award as the ball's stunner.

If there are hits, there are also lots of misses in the night's ball.
It is a beautiful gown, but worn by the wrong person.
Erich Gonzales looked better last year when she wore an orange gown that complimented her complexion.

It takes guts for someone like Enchong Dee to snatch something from Kuya Germs' closet.
I can already imagine him doing Walang Tulugan 40 years from now, and yeah, he won an award, sighs...

Bangs Garcia obviously wanted to win the Worst Dressed Award, and you did it girl.
You even got a bonus for also being the most deserving for the Worst hairdo award.

Did she do that on purpose? She looked like a caricature.
This is Myrtle, by the way, the winner of the last PBB Teens batch.
The gown is fabulous, but I cannot stare long at her picture. 

She's young, but in this picture, it's quite obvious that Andi Eigenmann has aged a lot after becoming a mom.

Charee Pineda in a gown that looks as if it was not intended for a glam ball.

I'll end this post on a positive and yummy note. OMG, Enrique Gil, you deserve the Hot Papa Award that night. Come on, ABS-CBN, this one looks to be the most fitting for the role of Captain Barbell.

PS:

In my own humble opinion, my best dressed and stand out stars who shone the brightest, exuding excellent taste in fashion and confidence for this one-night and once in a year only affair are: 

and

I Do – Defining Feel Good at Its Best

In Fairness!

That would sum up my experience watching the latest Star Cinema flick, I Do. I did not expect anything (good) from the movie because I didn’t have plans to watch it either. My 5-year-old niece wouldn't let me go about my every day life without seeing this film. Nope, she is not a fan of the love team that was featured on I Do. We watched it because of my niece’s highest level admiration for Melai, yes, The Melissa Cantiveros of the PBB Double Up fame.

Overall, the movie was effortless. It wasn’t trying too hard to make the viewers laugh or cry, but there lies its magic. I was laughing most of the time, and sobbing a bit, especially at scenes that involved how the parents dealt with the problem that the characters of Erich Gonzales and Enchong Dee brought about.

The first time that Pokwang cried on the phone, while she was telling someone that the wedding won’t push through was sad, but very real. Dennis Padilla’s character was also very real and it is something that most dads can relate to, especially those who have experienced the same fate.

The bad side of the film though was the Chinese family of Enchong. I am not Chinese, so I wouldn’t know if it was portrayed right. The family was stiff. It is as if they are very serious about everything. All they think about is money. Most of their scenes were serious. They were having a party, but you won’t find anyone who seems to be having a grand time. The Chinese girls that some of the characters, including Enchong’s, dated, were also portrayed as boring and very straight individuals.

I have a Chinese friend and she’s the most fun person I’ve met. She’s very far from the Chinese characters on this film.

Despite the flaws, this movie clearly defines what feel good is all about. It was fun. The bloopers in the end made it more enjoyable. I am a sucker for bloopers, hehe!

This is worth the price that you will pay for, but don’t expect too much and just enjoy the ride.

There is Hope for My Only Hope

Okay, so I am still watching My Only Hope, Sundays after ASAP 08 at ABS CBN. First of all, thank you for the obvious effort to bring kilig to the fans. But what used to be a promising start seems to be dwindling to the sloppy-story road.

Come on, creative peeps of ABS CBN, you know you can do better than that. The latest episode seemed to be done on a rush. Yeah, people would love to see the main leads fall in love, kiss, hug and everything else that was shown on the latest episode. But this completely shattered the good foundation of this Sunday drama series.

The show has already set up so many good points.

• Gerald’s emo character has paved the way for this kind of get-up and attitude to become popular and known to this day’s generation. I wasn’t really paying attention to such before My Only Hope aired. And Gerald was good playing the role of Keeno. He really has done a lot to make the character very convincing.

• The Boracay setting for the show’s first airing was a sight of fresh air for weekends’ couch potatoes like me. It was new and it contributed to the excitement over the progress of the story.

• Gerald and Kim have shown lots of improvement in terms of acting. And Enchong Dee must not be overlooked. He is also beginning to show signs of progress by portraying his role the best he can.

• Tomy Abuel, being the veteran actor that he is, showcases what old school and powerful acting is all about. He sets a good example to the younger casts of the show.

• The new guy who plays the role of Rick, Keeno’s brother, is also promising. But he still has to overcome some apparent shyness and learn how to act tougher.

• Kudos to Miguel Escueta for a very fresh, innovative rendition of the main theme. This was like what David Cook has done for Always Be My Baby. Miguel was able to make me forget about the original version of Mandy Moore.

Let’s go to the negative points.

• The story is becoming too predictable. It’s like showcasing the best or memorable scenes from both local and foreign dramas and collating them all on this one. So Keeno was the one who accidentally killed April’s (Kim’s character) father. Jessie (Nina), who already died, has a twin who looks exactly like her. The rich family of Keeno will not approve of his relationship with poor girl, April. Yang (Regine), who has owned up to the responsibility for most of his boyfriend’s expenses, is actually a call girl (oh wow, very 80s eh?) I am just waiting for an amnesia element and I’ll conclude that the creative team for this drama is composed of 50 to 70 year old folks.

• When I watched My Girl, I thought that David Chua who plays April’s brother on this one was only faking his enunciation to make people believe that he cannot speak Tagalog. But hey, he still sounds like he cannot speak the language on this one even if his role is very much a Filipino.

• Another character that wasn’t able to come out of her My Girl’s character is Alex Gonzaga. She was funny at My Girl because she sounded gay and she was supposed to be comic. But now, the manner that she speaks is already becoming too irritating since she is not a funny one in My Only Hope.

The latest episode brought many disappointing turns with regards to the flow of the story.

• After one date, April loves Keeno already. Um, this can be true, I don’t doubt it. I am a believer of true love, naks! But we must remember that April is only recovering or is actually in the process of forgetting about her feelings for Jhun (Enchong’s character). Keeno’s presence must cause her to be very disturbed and lost for rational explanation why she’s all of a sudden feeling the way she does whenever this emo guy is around.

• And Keeno is also recovering from a loss of a loved one and guilt for what happened. It will be better if we will see him fighting his real feelings for April and thwarting her from becoming too close. Rather than saying that he used to dislike people like April who has so much happiness in life, he must have demonstrated that first before becoming involved with her type.

• The Jhun-April story should have been given more depth. It couldn’t end one night after April’s first date with Keeno. It would really be hard to decide, especially when the intention of June (Keeping his promise to April’s dad) was so pure. At June’s proposal, April should instead have said that she’ll think about it. And then she will be torn between the two.

This is the problem when you put in too many details, too many conflicts and loads of characters that have lots of emotional baggage with them, in a series that will only be watched once a week.

Kim, Gerald and Enchong are becoming too good as actors for the confused story that they were made to portray. The creative team should focus more on fixing the story of these three and making it more believable and well-thought of. Forget about the twin of Nina’s character. She shouldn’t be given too much exposure. She might cause a little jealousy between April and Keeno, then she should be out of the scene completely.

While I am on my Kimerald addiction last Sunday, I also saw the trailer of the upcoming primetime teleserye of the two, Tayong Dalawa. They will be with my most hated Kapuso transferee, Jake ‘Yabang’ Cuenca. Oh please, there is no hope for this guy. Throw him back to GMA or to your Kapamilya freezer and thaw one talented actor to hone for the role, just like what you did with Enchong.

As for My Only Hope, I really wish that they can still fix the script before the story becomes too predictable and too old as a concept. If that’s the case, ABS is only proving that they are running out of good creative talents, reason why they have to resort to remakes of hit TV series from other countries. But I know that this is not true, so prove me wrong, will you?