Angel Locsin: Still queen of primetime TV

When everyone thought Angel Locsin would eventually be a fallen angel, especially after the not-so-hot Lobo, and the equally tepid reception to the movie Love Me Again, she rises again, like the mythological Phoenix and be the queen of primetime television in Only You.

One of the dazzling stars to shine to dominate the celestial heavens of show business, Angel remains a name to reckon with in the industry.

This year is Angel’s banner year. Not only she has a hit series Only You with Sam Milby and Diether Ocampo, but she also racked up loads of endorsement deals from shampoo to sanitary napkins, making her one of the most visible faces on television.

Only You, a remake of an original Korean drama, has fascinated a lot of people, including this writer, who make sure they see every episode shown from Monday to Friday on the Kapuso network.

Locsin seems to have re-invented herself on screen. She is no longer the dour-faced superhero we saw earlier in Mulawin, Darna, and Majika, and the she-wolf in Lobo.

In Only You, she doesn’t have to pretend she has supernatural powers to cope with life. But she has the heart to make people root for her character Jillian and her son Joshua. Audiences are torn between Jonathan (Diether Ocampo) and TJ (Sam Milby) in giving approval for Jillian’s affection that we know will certainly end up with TJ.

The positive reaction to Angel’s portrayal of a woman torn between friendship and love, coping with the little her family has in comparison to the other characters in the series, confirms Angel’s true dramatic flair, that she can also play real human characters. In fact, critics have noticed her exceptional acting performance in the series.

Just recently, Angel Locsin’s first appearance in a drama series on ABS-CBN, Lobo, was given recognition at the 30th Banff World Television Awards (an international award-giving body). It was hailed as a category winner for drama series.

Angel’s evolution from a teen star to an actress has been confirmed with best actress nominations by different award- giving bodies. At the 22nd Star Awards for TV, she won Best Single Performance by an Actress for her role in an episode in Maalaala Mo Kaya titled, Pilat.

Next in the full schedule of the actress is a movie that will pair her with perennial heartthrob, every girl’s dreamboat, Aga Muhlach.

Only You has indeed captured the hearts of people not only in the Philippines but everywhere where The Filipino Channel (TFC) is available.

No Mano Po for Angel

We received Malou N. Santos’ statement on the issue about Angel not being able to accommodate Regal Films’ offer to do Mano Po 6 with Sharon Cuneta. We are reprinting it in toto: “I personally spoke with Mother Lily of Regal Films to explain why Angel Locsin cannot do ‘Mano Po 6.’ Angel would love to do a movie with Megastar Sharon Cuneta, but unfortunately, she could not accept the project because of her prior commitments and busy schedules. After doing the TV series ‘Only You,’ Angel will start shooting two movies—one with Aga Muhlach under the direction of Cathy Garcia- Molina and another with Director Chito Roño. Afterwhich, she will start taping for a new teleserye. I hope this will put the issue to rest. Thank you for your understanding and continued support to Angel Locsin.” Malou Santos is the managing director of Star Cinema to which Locsin has an existing exclusive contract.

Sam Milby elated with Only You

Who would have thought Sam Milby could make it through the world of show business? Dubbed as the Rockoustic Heartthrob, Sam Milby has indeed made a sparkling career after his Pinoy Big Brother days and now, he continuously proves himself as a versatile actor by giving life to the character of TJ in Only You!

After his stint in the first season of Pinoy Big Brother in 2005, countless opportunities came knocking on Sam’s door. By far, he has already recorded three studio albums, Sam Milby, A Little Too Perfect, and Love Duets. He has already flexed his box-office muscle with films with Star Cinema including Close To You (with John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo), You Are The One, You Got Me (with Toni Gonzaga), and My Big Love (with Toni and Kristine Hermosa). The series he starred in had become favorites of many, like Maging Sino Ka Man, Ang Pagbabalik, and Dyosa.

A mainstay of ASAP ’09, Sam soars to greater heights with more projects that challenge his talent. His portrayal in the well-loved series, Only You, brings out another side of him, and that is despite the fact that his Tagalog isn’t even perfect. His shortcoming in speech is more than compensated by his sensitive portrayal of TJ, the son longing for maternal affection. His feelings for Jillian and the discovery that he has sired her a son has all the more given him the motivation to prove that he is worthy of Jillian’s affection.

“Each project is always a learning experience which makes me strive for a better me,” Sam exclaims in an interview.

His good looks is no hindrance for him to be a better actor and to be taken seriously. In fact, if only he can speak Tagalog as fluently as his co-stars in ABS-CBN, hands down, he will be the network’s best actor ever.

In fact he has been awarded by The Dangal ng Bayan Awards 2009 as Best Actor and Male Performing Artist. Watch out for his pairing with Bea Alonzo in Star Cinema’s And I Love You So.

Heart-tearing Cruel Love

I am a certified fan of Cruel Love, a 2008 Korean drama known originally as Bad Love, about a cellist Elaine (Na In Jung in the Korean language version) who is torn between Stephan (Lee Soo Hwan in the original language) and Yuan (Kang Yong Ki), a rebellious pop artist.

I don’t understand why our series must be meandering about a very simple premise, while the Koreans can be so simplistic, nearly minimalist focusing only on the characters involved in the story, and develop their plotline very logically.

GMA-7 has definitely found a perfect late night drama in this one starred by Korea’s most popular stars—the bodilicious Kwon Sang Woo as Yuan, pretty Lee Yo Won as Elaine, and the sexy KimSung Soo as Stephan.

We are now in that part of the series where Elaine is having second thoughts about her relationship with Yuan after learning how Yuan is connected to Stephan. Stephan meets up with Elaine to convince her that their relationship should end.

Yuan and Elaine continue to spend time together despite the predicament she’s into. Elaine all the while thinks that she’s already paid for the consequences of falling in loving with Stephan, but after discovering how the two men are connected, she is torn between her love for Yuan and her past with Stephan.

How can Elaine escape the cruelty of pain brought about by her past affair with Stephan? Will she finally give up her love for Yuan to end Julienne’s constant badgering and revenge?

By the way, if you shuttle between channels, this one appears immediately after Adik Sa Yo, which I manage not to watch as it is ridiculous, vapid, and so unreal.

Helping through music

The first Grand Star Dreamer Yeng Constantino continues to live up to her first hit song in the music scene entitled “Hawak Kamay” as she involves herself in Red Cross.

Yeng, together with Erik Santos and Toni Gonzaga, sung the upbeat theme song of Red Cross, “Bagong Umaga.” “Kahit kakanta lang ako... kami, alam ko na through my music, I can help. Kasi kami ang magsisilbing voice sa message na gustong iparating ng Red Cross sa mga tao,” Yeng expressed.

According to Star Records and Gwendolyn Pang, secretary-general of the Philippine National Red Cross, Yeng was chosen not only because of her talent but also of the fact that she has been a star volunteer of Red Cross since 2006. “’Di lang naman kasi pagdo-donate ng dugo ang paraan ng pagtulong sa Red Cross. May iba silang programs kung saan hindi kailangan magdonate ng blood,” Yeng explained.

Under the recording giant Star Records, the Red Cross theme, “Bagong Umaga,” is included in the album entitled I Move, I Give, I Love meant for the 150th anniversary of Red Cross worldwide. The album is composed of inspirational tunes by different artists. Proceeds of the album will go to the Red Cross, Annabelle Regalado-Borja shared, managing director of Star Records.

All the hard work for the project culminated in the Red Cross big event which happened on June 24 wherein more than a night of music happened. Red Cross aims to set the largest human formation of the Red Cross logo in the Guinness.

Fernando calls for reforms in party politics

Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman Bayani Fernando yesterday vowed to fight tooth and nail to bag the nomination as official standard- bearer of the administration’s Lakas-Kampi-CMD party in the 2010 elections as he pushed for reforms in the way the party conducts politics.

Fernando said it is time that the party raises its standard on moral fitness, competence and public service for those aspiring to be the group’s flag bearers.

Fernando said the party should offer a new way of nomination, not from an insular party perspective but from a national point of view.

He appealed to party leaders and members to seize the moment on nomination day and occupy the moral high ground by demonstrating that the Lakas-Kampi-CMD could be an agent of change and advocate of new politics.

“If we agree to reform the way we conduct party politics, then we can move on to other, more pressing issues of the time, such as a new mode of campaigning and instituting a new moral order in governance,” he added.

Fernando warned against the same archaic and self-defeating system of nominating the party’s standard-bearer based on surveys and popularity ratings, saying that unless we changed the way we choose our country’s leaders, we will be condemned by history for abdicating our mandate of selecting the most qualified and competent leaders as our party’s standard-bearer.

“Let us show the people that we are capable of rising above personal interest and that we deserve their trust,” he said. “We begin by rejecting traditional politics and the evils that characterize its populism, horse trading, subservience to interest groups, parochial interest and gold.”

The Lakas-Kampi-CMD was borne out of the merger of Lakas-CMD and Kampi. President Arroyo is chairman of Lakas-CMD, while Kampi is the President’s own party.

Fernando said that while he supported the Lakas-Kampi merger, it was done with undue haste and without full consultations from the members, particularly at the grassroots level.

He stressed that party leaders should immediately come out with party rules and guidelines on the selection of official candidates that party members should adhere to, warning that failure to do so would doom the Lakas-Kampi in next year’s polls.

Chris and Japoy at Wellness Fair

Local sports icons and popular Milo champs Chris Tiu and Japoy Lizardo recently drew a huge crowd at the Milo booth of The Joy of Wellness Fair organized by Nestlé Philippines. Held at SM Megamall, the fair promoted the condition of good physical and mental health through proper diet and exercise.

The Milo booth featured the theme The Joy of an Active Lifestyle and is one of the many activities aligned with the efforts of Milo to help build champions in sports and in life. “I strongly encourage parents to get their kids into sports because of the many benefits that it brings not just in terms of their health but also for their character,” says Chris.

Guests at the Milo booth had a blast testing their basketball skills against Chris via a free throw shootout while Japoy, on the other hand, showed everyone how to prepare the perfect Milo mix, also known as The Champion Mix. Fans also enjoyed having their photos taken with their sports idols and getting their autographs as well.

These activities were complemented by an exhibition featuring students of the Association for the Advancement of Karatedo, the Milo BEST Center, and a sports talk. Guests to the Milo booth were also treated to an insightful mural about the National Milo Marathon and its progress to become the country’s longest and most prestigious running event; as well as the evolution of Milo as a pioneer in sports. Of course, wellness isn’t just about engaging in enough physical activity; it’s also about eating the right kinds of food, which is why a free nutrition counseling was also offered to guests.

The activity likewise featured the launch of the Milo Champ Camp, a Milo school tour that started this month.

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