Sleepy Primetime Lineup from ABS-CBN

For someone who used to watch a lot of local shows from ABS-CBN, I find myself spending more time now watching GMA-7's morning block - the Ryzza Mae Show and Eat Bulaga.

My 4-year old niece used to enjoy Hawak Kamay because of Juan Karlos’ presence in the show. Lately, though, he had little to no exposure at all, so even the kid was no longer interested in peeking at the boring show.

What is happening with ABS-CBN? After they have made a lot of known stars, only Piolo Pascual is the only legit popular actor in their primetime block now. He is popular, but the story of his drama series does not fit his stature, and he was given a leading lady (Iza) who is better off doing support or even antagonist roles.

I have seen the teasers of their short Christmas seryes. They said that they are bringing those to us, the viewers, as their gifts or way of giving back during this time of the year. I am okay with the Eddie Garcia story or even the Paulo and KC tandem, but my golly, pairing Maja Salvador and Gerald Anderson for a show meant to be enjoyed by the whole family during the Christmas season? What were they thinking? Sorry, I don’t hate them as they are (I have moved on haha!), but they are not the faces that I want to see during the holidays. I would rather watch old or tagalized movies than to be tortured, seeing them playing protagonists and goody-goody when their images in my mind as a chauvinist and playgirl, are still vivid and clear.

I am hoping for better shows with true-blue popular actors for the shows that are lined up for ABS-CBN next year. I have heard about Xian Lim being paired with Maja, such as disappointment for a fan who waited so long to see Xian on TV. Oh well, I don’t think that the network really cares so much about the sentiments of those who watch them. Their current lineup of primetime shows and the main leads are proof that they would do whatever they please and give projects to whoever they like.

I am just ranting, but I know that the network that its viewers brought to the top, wouldn’t care less about most people’s sentiments. Come on, GMA 7, it is your time to shine. This is the best time to push stars who look promising and deliver better stories, now that ABS-CBN seems to be slacking by giving us bland actors, rehashed stories, and the Maja-Gerald tandem (que horror!).

Showbiz Breakups, Love and How DJ Mo Stole the Limelight in a Flash

Whew! What a tsismis-filled week for local showbiz. Not that I'm complaining, tsismosa ako e =)

Update on the Piolo Pascual - KC Concepcion breakup: As expected, ABS-CBN is doing everything to sanitize the issue and to make sure that people's attention will be turned to how good of a person Piolo is. Gone were the days when celebrities would not want their charitable acts to be broadcasted. Piolo's latest advocacy (a teamup with Star Magic), the feeding program, is all over the news.

This is too much. I am a Piolo fan, pero naiinis ako how his home network is handling the issue. Pwede namang quiet na lang. Everybody wants him to speak about the breakup, even though he would only say 'No Comment.' This is not the right time to bombard people with news of his charitable deeds. Oh, well....

Another couple who seems to be on the rocks is Mateo Guidicelli and Maja Salvador. Oh, Amber, I still can't forgive you for what happened with my favorite on-screen couple, Jade and Andy, in My Binondo Girl. I was actually surprised about the breakup issue between Maja and Mateo.

I remember last week, before Maja left for abroad to do some shows with Coco Martin, there were even pictures and tweets of how sweet Maja and Mateo were while they were taping for My Binondo Girl. When Maja was already abroad, she started tweeting things that culminate to the final straw - "It's over."

The tsismosa in me wanted to ask, ano sinabi mo Coco? Hehe! Pakialamera lang =) None is final yet about the issue because no one's talking about it on national TV. Puro tweets.

And on to another issue, which is kinda eeeww, the Vic Sotto - Pauleen Luna rumored affair. Is this for real? Pauleen could pass as Vic's grand daughter already. And Pia Guanio is still in Eat Bulaga and... ang gulo. lahat na lang, ganun? Another oh, well... buhay nila yan.

And the top news maker of the week is the super emo, DJ Mo. I tried my best no to watch his confession video throughout the day, but the tsismosa in me won in the end of the struggle and clicked on the link that I found on PEP.

It was all whisper and singhot. I ended up reading the captions. I hated DJ Mo more for this stuff. He was at fault in the first place. How old is Rhian Ramos, by the way? Mo was the one more mature. He should have protected her when they have decided to give in to their lust.

Rhian has committed a sin, a very grave one that she would be sorry for even beyond death. So the video implied that it was Rhian's sole decision to abort the baby and that Mo tried his best to save it and when he could no longer do anything about it, he opted to confess how he feels and record it on video.

The baby's life was lost. Mo has lost his desire to work (I guess). By letting the public see this confession video, Mo is only making things harder for Rhian. Does he want her to commit suicide? What if she does, what is he going to do? Do another confession video?

This is another issue that must be settled outside the limelight. If Mo really loved Rhian, he would have protected her from all these issues. He could have tried doing charitable deeds and learn from Piolo on how to distract people's attention from the real issue.

The story is now getting more complicated. Mo should really leave the country as soon as he can, because he would surely be filed charges over the accusations that he blurted on the infamous video. Or he can also decide to stay and be a man, for once, and face the consequences of what he did.

The End of Piolo Pascual - KC Concepcion Fairy Tale

I am sure that everybody was glued on their TV sets yesterday when KC Concepcion finally aired her side of the story on her breakup with Piolo Pascual. The interview was okay, but it did not answer the most intriguing aspects that will satisfy Piolo’s gazillion detractors. This one is better than when John Lloyd Cruz faced Boy Abunda with ex-girlfriend, Shaina Magdayao, just to add more puzzles to their already very confusing story.

I Heart KC

KC Concepcion has a big heart. She’s into charities, sharing her talent, time, fame and fortune to various charitable institutions and advocacy. This is one girl who seems to almost have it all. This may also be the reason why as much as she is loved by many people, there are also many who do not like her.

She is a princess and a darling, but this does not translate to hit movies, albums or TV shows. She still needs to work on making people more endeared to her. She cannot please everybody and she’ll go crazy if she’d try, but there are some things that she ought to learn how to change and adjust into, so that her detractors would see the other side of KC.

How will she able to pull it off? I don’t know. These are the times that we, ordinary people, should be thankful that we are not KC Concepcion.

I Heart Piolo More

This issue is quite painful not only to these two, but to some people like me, who adore Piolo. This only opened not only doors, windows, but also the littlest holes for Piolo’s detractors to throw unnecessary punches his way.

It was a sad timing that Joey de Leon was a guest on The Buzz when the KC Tell-All aired. He did not waste any time to hint and mock about Piolo’s gender as he always does whenever he pleases on national TV. They say that Mr. de Leon is an intelligent person, but his subtle mockery on the issue that he is not even part of made him look like the opposite of intelligent. Where is his dignity after all?

The sad fact is that there are many Joey de Leon’s out there who are not involved in the issue, are not being asked about their opinions, but freely give theirs, just so to prove a point that they are right about Piolo’s sexual preference.

Yun naman yun. They all want him to tell that he’s gay. Joey, who even cried on national TV, after being accused of being a rapist, should know better that whatever the truth is behind this issue, Piolo has a family and a son to protect.

Piolo has given us, the viewing public, excellent performance in most of his endeavors. He has done something wrong to KC. Problema na nila yun. He keeps on doing his job to entertain and please people who want to watch him, so wala tayong problema dapat sa kanya.

What we need to know is that they have broken up. That’s it. They ought to talk about this, sila lang. And when they are ready, they can opt to share to the public what they think we deserve to know about.

The issue has already gotten out of hand. Please, refrain from interviewing Sharon, especially these days when her daughter is still very much affected with what happened. And I hope that Joey de Leon will stop giving his malicious opinions about the matter that he is not even part of.

I am pretty sure that Piolo will be barged with more hurtful questions when he comes back from his show with KC in Japan. I am quite sure as well that he will be man enough to know what to say and what to keep to himself, to protect his loved ones, including his hurting ex-girlfriend.

Why I Chose Benjamin Button Over Papa Piolo?

I was able to sit through 2 hours and 39 minutes and got to know all the characters and understood the complex story of Brad Pitt's Oscar-nominated film, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The story is about a man who ages backwards. The story telling was unique. But if you want to watch it, you must make sure that you've eaten enough or you have snacks with you. It is longer than what I expected it to be.

At times, the story becomes dragging that leaves me thinking, why am I still holding on? Why am I still sitting and watching the film? True to the title, you will become curious as to how his life would end. It was so perfect. He did not even get himself into any big time accidents. And that was something that I find to be the movie's main flaw.

Again, the storytelling was great. It was full of emotions. It was human. This is mainly because of the path that Benjamin's life was leading to, the revelations to the daughter and the emotions of the lover who would later act as a mother to the father of her child. All the characters were given their own spotlights. You will know each of them to the core after finishing the film.

What makes this something to watch out for is the uniqueness of its story. But aside from the acting and the technical aspects of the film, I don't think that this one deserves an Oscar trophy. But for all the efforts that was made to make me understand everything about how it's like to grow young, the money that I spent to see this film was all worth it.

Love Me Again

As much as I want to show my support to Piolo Pascual for his latest movie project under Star Cinema, I can't convince myself to go see this film. I am a certified Piolo fan. But after watching the trailer over and over again at the Kapamilya network, it made two impressions to me. Piolo is handsome. Angel is beautiful.

The focus became more on how would they be able to utilize the locations, Bukidnon in the Philippines and Australia. They used a very used concept and story that has been shown and rehashed not only in films but on soap operas as well. It was obvious that Star Cinema just wanted to give Angel Locsin a project fast, before the former Kapuso talent regrets her decision of jumping over to the Kapamilya fence.

Having two beautiful leads is not enough for a moviegoer to see the film. I don't think that this is a success, no matter how the network may later try to argue such statement. What went wrong? Here are only some of my sentiments.

1. The concept of Lobo, the TV series where the Angel-Piolo tandem first teamed up was too complicated to be fleshed out on TV. This may be the reason why it did not also leave any positive impression to the TV viewing public, whereas, the concept of Love Me Again appears to be so thin to be even made into film.

2. The producers should have experimented more on Angel. She hasn't still proven her bankability in terms of films. And the team-up doesn't have enough following yet. So it was really a bold move to place the two on a very simple concept that would have earned more if it was Piolo and Judy Ann Santos on the screen. Such partnership has legions of fans that are willing to see their idols onscreen even for such a concept as this film.

3. It opened when some of the movies which were part of the Manila Film Fest last year were still showing. I would rather catch up watching Baler (although I did not hehe!), knowing beforehand that at least it won the Best Picture award, than to waste my money on a film that I knew from the teasers I really wouldn't like.

4. Instead of a love story, they could have casted the two on a heavy family drama feature, ala-Tanging Yaman, that people will be interested to watch and rave about even after it was shown. This is the kind of career move that Angel needs badly now, to create a good impression, that ABS CBN, nor Star Cinema have not given her the chance to do as of yet.

In these times when money is so hard to earn, movie producers must give people more than enough reasons to convince them that it will all be worth it to catch their films.

Prove Me Wrong, Marian and Dingdong

GMA network is confident about their newest gems, Marian and Dingdong, enough to produce a film for this love team. The two rose into fame when Angel Locsin decided to leave GMA to what she (or her pa-kontrobersiyal manager) thought would be a better choice (but is proving to be disastrous). The team-up was warmly accepted by the public via the TV show "Marimar," despite their lack of good acting abilities.

Through time, the two keep on proving that they really have captivated the hearts of the boob-tube fanatics. They have been trusted with product endorsements as well. Their latter venture hinted that they are not that picky with the projects that they get. Marian looked like a bold star with her last ad for a soap or something. I can't recall because I always change the channel whenever she's on. And they have done ads for liquors and alcoholic beverages. I will not be surprised if they will agree on endorsing condoms in the coming days. But this is just my take on this.

Personally, I don't like Marian. There is something about her that turns me off. I stopped buying the products that she endorses. As for Dingdong, I used to like him way back his TGIS days. But through time, I still haven't seen him grow as an actor. He seems to be following the career path of Piolo Pascual. But one thing that he has to improve on is the reality that Piolo can act while Dingdong still has to do a lot of catching up.

I hope that Dingdong will really take his profession seriously. He will not forever look like a hunk. He has to show some real tears and poignant emotions before he loses the body that he is becoming more known for.

I cannot blame Dingdong though, or Richard Gutierrez for this matter. These two are popular stars of these days that lack the ability to convince people about what real emotions are all about. They are not still being given the right roles to hone their craft. They are continuously pampered with the kind of roles that their network thinks they can handle. Richard's non-acting prowess isn't that much obvious with fantaseryes or action fantasy series. Dingdong can just flaunt his hot bod and no one would mind if he is carrying out a sloppy performance.

GMA still has a lot to learn from ABS CBN in handling talents (but do not follow their lead in freezing their careers), especially those who are on the rise. John Lloyd wouldn't be where he is now had ABS CBN did not plan his career right. This also goes for Lloydie's team-up with Bea.

Unlike the Marian and Dingdong love team, John Lloyd and Bea took calculated steps in order to become successful multimedia artists. ABS planned what roles they must play, when they would be allowed to kiss on TV, then on films, when they would be given more matured roles, etc. This way, the two are becoming prepared and honed for the next roles that come their way.

With the Marimar duo, people have already seen them do everything on TV. They kissed, made love, kissed, shown off some skin, kissed and well, this is where they are good at, kissing.

What more can people expect from their film that they still haven't seen them do on TV? The only thing that is left for them to do is frontal nudity that I don't think they would be willing to do just yet. And knowing GMA Films' track record when it comes to love stories, the soon-to-be-released Marian-Dingdong film will be a familiar one and something that will not prompt the non-fans to pay at the cinemas just so to catch the film.

The non-fans are the people behind the success of films like "A Very Special Love." These are the people who are only waiting for good movies and do not really care about the stars. Yeah, Sarah Geronimo and John Lloyd Cruz already have a following of their own. But the non-fans helped the movie hit its blockbuster status.

And how is GMA going to promote the film of Marian and Dingdong – Kakaiba? Maraming halikan? May bed scene? GMA may appear to be the number one network in Mega Manila. But Mega Manila is not the whole Philippines. And the sources of ratings are only composed of few households. Are these people who brought the pair to stardom on the little screen will be willing to pay their hard-earned money to see the team-up on the big screen?

I doubt it. But I am very much open to be proven wrong.

PIOLO-SAM-LOLIT GAY ISSUE, UM… AGAIN, WHAT’S THE ISSUE?

I’ve been reading lately, even from a popular local columnist, Rickly Lo, asking what’s the big fuzz over the Sam and Piolo intrigue, why were the latter reacting like the issue is a big deal, and further defending the poor and aggravated party on this story, Lolit Solis, who stands by what she wrote – that she saw the two whispering to each other (in Filipino, “nagbubulungan”).

Lolit Solis, on the other hand, said that it was not herself who placed malice on it but the editor of the paper who wrote the title for the story that contained the word “naglalampungan” (in English, it is showing affection toward each other, but it is really a strong word that when one sees it, there is already a sexual connotation that comes to mind). What a lame excuse! Or is she implying that if the two matinee idols would sue, the editor deserves that more than she does.

Yes, okay, so what’s the big fuss about this whole hullabaloo? It is because Lolit Solis is affiliated with a network that is the fiercest rival of the station where the two stars are involved. Of course, even if Lolit was full of lies, the pro-GMA would defend her to the utmost that they can, as would the pro-Kapamilya for the two artists caught in this controversy.

Why does everybody seem to be on a defensive mode? You know why, had it been someone from ABC 5 or NBN 4 who had made the statement, who would care? But this is Lolit Solis, who is well-known as a GMA artist. It doesn’t matter that she doesn’t have an inch of credibility, she is a Kapuso baby and that is all what counts.

Let us not act innocent as if the poor Lolit Solis is just saying what she believes is true, and asking people why they are responding and so, making a big deal out of this. This is a big deal. Throw the stones at your own network and let the network mend the issues. But once you throw it over the bakod, it becomes a war, especially since Lolit has targeted two of the most bankable stars of the other bakod.

Hmm, I wonder why? Is it because there is really no “sikat” over the station where she works, that even if she sow lies after lies after lies to any “star daw” on her network, no one would care to react?

But whatever, everybody’s benefiting from this, it seems. Piolo Pascual and Sam Milby, despite disputing Lolit’s claims, were also given the favor to promote their shows here and there. And, of course, I bet that Lolit Solis’ showbiz-oriented show and even her column from the tabloid where the issue was first printed were getting the viewers’ attention and readership that was the sole purpose why she has written about it in the first place.

This issue is really a network war more than anything else. I believe that what made this showbiz gossip “big” is to whom it originated from and not really what the issue is about.