Christian, Karylle openly dating

Author: Mario E. Bautista
Column: Dream Factory

WE saw Karylle and Christian Bautista out on date at the celebrity premiere of "Curious Case of Benjamin Button" at Gateway last Monday night. Christian doesnt seem to hide that hes courting her as he even sent her a bouquet of flowers at ABS-CBN while she was a guest in "The Buzz" last Sunday.

After the movie was shown, some fans requested to have their photos taken with Karylle and she readily obliged. As we were going down to the parking level below, we noticed that Karylle was just standing near the escalator and Christian was nowhere in sight. We asked her what shes doing there alone and she said Christian went down to find the comfort room.

"How ungentlemanly naman of him na basta iwanan na lang si Karylle na nakatayo roon," said a woman who heard Karylles response. "Kung ako si Karylle, iniwanan ko na siya."

When we got to the parking level, we saw Christian still looking for the toilet which he seemed to have difficulty in finding. He should have started singing his "West Side Story" song with Karylle, "Somewhere."

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The presscon of "When I Met You" last Wednesday was cancelled because its stars, Richard Gutierrez and KC Concepcion, were busy shooting in Subic and director Joel Lamangan didnt allow them to return to Manila just for the presscon. "We have a deadline to meet kaya kailangan, tuloy-tuloy ang shooting this entire week," he says.

This weekend, KC is allowed to take a leave from the shooting to join the taping of her mom Sharon Cunetas birthday special that will be shown tomorrow night. By Monday, they will leave for Coron, Palawan, to shoot some major scenes of the movie where they will be shown stranded on an island. Theyll be there for one week. Both Richard and KC admit Direk Joel is very strict on the set so theyre always well behaved. But they admire his being a fast worker and they maximize each day shooting as many scenes as they possibly can.

Richard and KC are obviously now much more comfortable with each other. Richard even calls KC his "Honey" while KC calls Richard her "Babe." The crew members around cant say if theyre serious with the way they address each other or theyre just horsing around. "Pero sweet talaga sila sa isat isa," Direk Joel himself says. "Kaya nga masarap silang idirek kasi napakaganda ng chemistry nila on and off camera."

KC says that after this movie, it might take a very long time before the two of them can work with each other again. "Kasi nga, we belong to different networks. Bale ex-deal lang itong two consecutive movies namin. First with Star Cinema then with GMA Films. Ang hirap ng pinagdaanan namin just to be able to work together at baka sa susunod, hindi na kami ipahiram sa isat isa."

She admits she had to adjust working with GMA. "I felt yung naramdaman noon ni Chard when he worked with Star. Kasi doon, puro babae ang mga kasama namin sa set, so sabi pa niya Bakit ganito? Puro babae. Ngayon naman, dito sa GMA, puro lalaki ang mga katrabaho namin saset at ako naman ang nanibago. Pero kung maganda ang trato sa kanya saABS noon, maganda rin naman ang trato ng GMA sa akin."

Richard will have his birthday on January 21. "Baka nasa Palawan pa kami that time at dun na lang ako mag-ce-celebrate," he says. "When I return here, Ill just have a simple dinner with my family and spend quality time with them in a more relaxing atmosphere. After work, familymuna ang priority ko."

The one whos so happy with the reunion of Chard and KC is his mom, Annabelle Rama. One time, Annabelle visited the set and had a "pasalubong" of four lechons for the entire cast and crew. "Kinilig nga ako noong may eksena silang wedding scene," says Annabelle. "Bagay na bagay sila talaga sa isat isa."

Right after shooting "When I Met You," Richard will start taping for his new action series on GMA-7, "Zorro," while KC will be paired by ABS-CBN in a new teleserye with Piolo Pascual. We heard Richards next movie will be a local version of the hit Koreanovela, "Full House," which starred Rain. Theyre now looking for his next leading lady and his fans suggest they pair him again with Marian Rivera since their "My Best Friends Girlfriend" did exceedingly well at the tills and is an even bigger hit than Marians movie with Dingdong, "One True Love."

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Cesar Montano is glad that 2009 started right for him with him and wife Sunshine Cruz greeting the new year together with their three daughters at their new home in Tivoli Royale.

Theyve introduced some changes in "The Singing Bee" that are working very well and tonight, after "Dragonna," its going to be a night of songs and laughter as sing-along bars Punchline, Zirkoh, Bulalo Fiesta, The Library, and Music Box send in their army of hilarious hosts for a musical-comedy warfare on the show. Funny guys Pretty Trisza, Kim Idol, Atak, Norman, and Kilai will lead their respective units of three for a chance to challenge defending champions Jhong, Meynard and Nico of The Streetboys. So far, no team has won the grand prize of P2 million since the program changed its format and raised the jackpot recently. But with the vast knowledge of comedy bars sing-along masters when it comes to songs, "The Singing Bee" may finally have its first millionaire-team in 2009.

The show airs after "Goin Bulilit" and will have a different set of guest contestants as "Wowowee" mainstays Mariel Rodriguez, Valerie Concepcion and RR Enriquez bring their mics to "The Singing Bee," not to host but to sing. The perky trio will be up against with the cast of other Kapamilya shows like "Parekoy" which topbills Mariels real-life boyfriend Zanjoe Marudo. Two Kapamilya viewers can also get the chance to watch "The Singing Bee" in ABS-CBN by joining the PEP Insiders Dream: Panalo Bawat Pilipino promo. To join, just register and login to http://www.pep.ph/pepid for more details.

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TV5s live caravan last Saturday, January 3, at the CCP Complex in Pasay City was well attended and very successful. During the affair, their senior vice president Jasper Evangelista and media relations exec Pat Marcelo-Magbanua were asked about the suit GMA-7 filed against them for not being a Filipino company since they have Malaysian investors. They said that as their CEO Christopher Sy told the media during the networks launch, TV-5 still a Filipino company and still owned by Antonio Cojuangco although it has entered into a blocktime agreement with Prime Media. "Everybody in the company is Filipino, from programming, brand management, marketing, our talents, everything," said Sy. "We have no foreigners."

"Any company in our country can have foreign investors," adds Pat Magbanua (daughter of Yes Mags Joann Maglipon). "They just invested money in the company but were not a part of the Prima Berhad conglomerate of Malaysia. Were still self-registered, fully Filipino and all the decisions are made by us. Its not surprising for other networks to be alarmed kasi in such a short time, naging No. 3 kami sa ratings with shows like Talentadong Pinoy and Lipgloss really rating very well. This year will be even more challenging for us and we aim to come up with more innovative alternative shows to be more competitive. Were still new and learning a lot. Channels 2 and 7 are very much ahead of us, but were willing to give a good fight as we really aim to shake things up, kaya nga Shake Mo TV Mo ang sinasabi namin dahil we want to provide variety for the viewers. Eventually, we also plan to discover and build up our own stars dahil para naman ito sa ikagaganda ng industriya and also to give jobs to more people."

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It seems whatever differences Assunta de Rossi has with hubby Jules Ledesma have been settled as she now denies they ever parted ways. "Theres no perfect marriage and even my own parents whove been married for 26 years admit na nag-aaway pa rin sila," she says. "So compared to theirs, our marriage ni Jules is just starting at marami pa kaming kakaining bigas. But the important thing is we are both committed to this marriage kaya magka-conflict man, we try to work things out."

So whats Jules reaction to rumors about their breakup? "Hes so busy with his work he just doesnt have the time to read gossip columns. Naaawa nga ako sa kanya as he really works so hard. But he has to do it kasi wala namang ibang gagawa para sa family nila. We just celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary in Negros last month with the blessing of our ethanol farm so we had a party for our workers. Noong Chrismas namin, nag-check in kami sa Mandarin with his kids Christina, now 16, and Carlo, whos 12."

So how come they still do not have their own child?

"Well, theres a reason for everything. If it happens, it happens. But the reason why I havent gotten pregnant is probably wala pa kaming sariling bahay. So I leave it all up to God na lang. His plan is kapag natapos lahat ng obligations niya sa family, sa clan nila, then we can start building our own house."

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Lucy Torres also made a denial that shes now two months preggy. "Richard (Gomez) and I were surprised when colleagues started congratulating us for our new baby raw as they read in a tabloid na susundan na raw si Julianna," she says. "How we wish that were true, pero natawa na lang kami. Kasi kung Im really pregnant, kami na mismo ang unang magbabalita. Its common knowledge na matagal na naming wish yun ng husband ko but it seems God has other plans for us so we just leave it all up to the Lord. Siya lang naman ang makakapag-decide kung kailan kami magkakaroon ng additional member in our family."

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Manay Lolit Solis didnt hesitate to call Hayden Kho a liar when she found out that he didnt really go to Marinduque last Saturday, his reason why he wasnt able to show up live at "Startalk" as he had earlier promised. It turned out he was just in Manila all the time. "Hes a congenital liar kaya walang maniniwala sa kanya," she says. "Kung ayaw niya talagang mag-guest, hindi naman siya pipilitin, so hindi siya kailangang magsinungaling."

Because of this, we wont be surprised if Manay Lolit would now reveal what she saw in the video from Haydens laptop that Dr. Vicki Belo herself allegedly showed her. So many have tried to convince her to share and narrate what she has seen on the video but she says her lips are sealed. We heard all shed say is that shes not surprised that girls find Hayden irresistible as hes really well endowed. To which, a senior talent manager tells her: "Kasi, kakaunti pa lang ang manoy na nakikita mo."

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Karen Davilas "Wonder Mom" today at 9:45 a.m. will have Helen Gamboa as its special guest.

Helen was at the peak of her career in the 60s when she chose to give it up and marry Tito Sotto who was then part of the band called Tilt Down Men. She became successful in being a happy and fulfilled wife and mom who raised all their three daughters and one son well. In "Wonder Mom," she will share with the viewers all her experiences as a mother and the challenges she faced while they were growing up, also the secret of her lasting relationship with her husband.

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The episode of "Pinoy Fear Factor" last Tuesday was one of the most icky so far. As participante LJ Moreno herself says: "Gross!" Why? Because she was made to not just eat but swallow (without water) 20 cockroaches. She topped her rival Janna, who was able to consume only 14 cockroaches (they call it curacha). But the one with who had the worst eating experience that day was Manny from Cabanatuan.

At first, he thought he was lucky because the jar he picked for the eating contest turned out to be empty and he wouldnt have to eat anything revolting. But it turns out that this means he has to eat all the "exotic dishes" laid out before them. Hes ordered to eat a buffet of rats, scorpions, cockroaches and worms.

Yuckkkky! But he did it all gamely. He just closed his eyes and put them all slowly inside his mouth. Its as if hes thinking of some other pleasant things while he was munching them. Later, he said the creatures he ate hurt his throat but he still gobbled them all up as its something he has to do for his family, his child, and his business in Cabanatuan. We have a feeling its Manny whos going to be the "Ultimo Participante" as he has so much determination to really win!

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"Kapamilya Deal or No Deal" also had one of its most exciting episodes last Tuesday. An overweight contestant named Reese picked all the right briefcases containing low amounts at the start of the game. Host Kris Aquino was so happy for her, saying shes the kind of smooth-sailing contestant shes been waiting to have for the past four years that the show has existed. It came to a point that Mr. Banker offered Reese a whopping P750,000 then an all-time high of P1 million. Still, instead of being contented with that (her father said she should already take it), she got greedy and aimed for the P4 million jackpot. Her mother picked a briefcase for her, No. 26 thinking itll be lucky as it is her (the moms) birthday, but it only brought her closer to her doom. In the end, she lost all the millions and took home only P25,000. As Kris said: "KapagP1 million na ang offer, you should accept it na."

Source: Malaya