Donaire following in Pacquiao’s footsteps

Author: Mario E. Bautista
Column: Dream Factory

Sunshine Dizon was formally presented by Dr. Manny Calayan as one of Calayan Surgicentre’s official endorsers, along with Alfred Vargas, at Annabel’s, a day after Dr. Manny’s birthday celebration at Hard Rock Cafe last Wednesday night. "I’m not really new with Dr. Calayan," says Sunshine. "Ilangyears na rin ako rito, but now, it’s official na. I make use of their laser liposuction and the tenor which melts the fat in your body."

She has really lost a lot of weight and now sports a slimmer waistline. "From 150, 120 na lang ako ngayon. Actually, 125 is already fine for my 5’6" height, kaya lang, for TV you become bigger kaya 120 is more ideal. I like the services of Dr. Calayan kasi personal silang mag-alaga ni Dr. Pie sa clients nila."

After "All About Eve," Shine is now busy hosting "SOP" and "Unang Hirit." She’ll start taping a new soap in September. She won’t say what it is but, upon investigation, we learned it’ll be a remake of Nora Aunor’s drama, "Tinik sa Dibdib," with Marvin Agustin doing the Phillip Salvador role. This is her second time to re-create a Nora role after "Bakekang." We also learned that this soap will be pitted against another soap, the remake of Maricel Soriano’s big hit, "Kaya Kong Abutin ang Langit." Guess who’ll play the anti-heroine portrayed by Maricel. It’s Iza Calzado. So is this the reason why they’re making them fight with each other?

"Ang cheap, huh," says Sunshine. "Pinag-aaway kami dahil sa soaps? Not true kasi to begin with, hindi kami talaga nag-aaway. They say I didn’t greet her on her birthday but I did. Sa ‘Unang Hirit’ pa lang, binati ko na siya. Iza is like a sister to me kaya huwag na kaming gawaan ng issue, please. We don’t snub each other. Kundi man kami laging nagkakasama ngayon, kasi we’re busy with our own projects. But we’ll always be close friends. Wag na kaming intrigahin, ang pangit!"

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Boxing champ Nonito Donaire confirmed that he is joining "Celebrity Duets" that starts airing on Saturday replacing "Are You the Next Big Star." This is why he came home right after his fight last Tuesday as they were starting to tape the show that day. We asked him what kind of song he sings. He says he can sing anything but when asked to give a sample, he chose to dish out an R&B version of "Because of You" dedicated to his wife Rachel who was seated in front of him. Does this mean he’ll also go into acting like Manny Pacquiao?

"Why not? Life is short, I want to live it to the fullest."

In "Celebrity Duets," he’ll be competing with actor Jomari Yllana, beauty queen Janina San Miguel, designer Maxie Cinco, model Akihiro Sato, beauty guru Joel Cruz, photographer Nicolo Cosme and award-winning actress Gina Alajar. Originally in the slate are gambling magnate Atong Ang (but he backed out) and the good-looking lawyer of Dr. Victoria Belo, Atty. Adel Tamano, who’s sure to run for the senate so he’s not qualified anymore.

As for Gina Alajar, she’s really having the best of both networks. She plays the plum villain role of Celeste in "Kambal sa Uma" and also does a lead role in an anniversary episode of "Maalaala Mo Kaya" for ABS-CBN. Now, she’s also in GMA-7’s "Celebrity Duets." "Aktres ako sa ABS," she says. "Singer naman ako sa GMA. O laban kayo?"

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Ejay Falcon won in the PBB Teens two years ago. His runner-up Robi Domingo was given more exposure than him. He now is given the chance to play a lead role in "Katorse." "I waited for this for so long and I’m glad the break finally came," he says.

What caused the delay?

"ABS made sure they prepared me well first. I took up various workshops to help gain confidence at mawala yung hiya ko. For ‘Katorse,’ I took another workshop with Gina Alajar, along with Erich para maging maganda ang bonding namin. We also watched the original ‘Katorse’ and Gabby Concepcion played my role. Ang guwapo niya, ang ganda ng katawan at magaling pang umarte, so nagpaganda rin ako ng katawan at nag-aral munang mabuti sa acting as preparation."

He says being an artista was farthest from his mind when he was growing up in Mindoro. "Ang gusto ko lang, makatulong para mapabuti ang buhay ng kinagisnan kong ama at mga kapatid. But I’m thankful to ABS na pinagkatiwalaan nila ako at pinahinog muna nang husto bago ko isinabak sa ganitong project. I was allowed to do ‘Lipgloss’ sa TV 5 then I played Rosanna Roces’ battered son in ‘May Bukas Pa’ kaya nasanay na rin ako humarap sa kamera. I’m glad I waited for the right time."

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At the press launch of Jinkee Pacquiao as Belo endorser, Dr. Belo says she now wants to be called by her full name, Victoria, no longer Vicki. This signals a new chapter in her life as Victoria is more professional and elegant sounding, like Queen Victoria. She feels sad about the cases filed by Katrina Halili against her. She’s praying the court will resolve them soon. "I’m confident my name will be cleared as my conscience is clear and I didn’t do anything wrong," she says.

She has allowed Katrina to pre-terminate her contract with them as Flawless endorser and she didn’t ask that the money they paid her be returned. She says she considered Katrina her baby then but with what happened, she doubts very much if they could be friends again.

"Pero wala na akong galit sa kanya. If I’d see her by chance, I’d greet her."

As for Jinkee as her endorser, she says that after Jinkee gives birth, she goes to her clinic for the non-invasive weight loss treatment called Belo Diet Injections. She wants to thank Manny for agreeing to be with Jinkee for her billboards. "And he didn’t charge anything," she gushes. "He did it all for free."

As for Jinkee, she says she wants to have a better-looking body for her husband. "Masyadong sikat si Manny kaya ang daming girls na umaaligid. Hindi maiiwasan, so kailangang alagaan ko ang body ko para hindi na siya tumingin sa iba."

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Writer and director Jun Lana has proven his talent as a necromancer in "Kulam." He’s now all set to reinforce it with "Tarot," that is designed to terrify the viewers. "’Tarot’ is much more difficult to do than ‘Kulam,’" he says. "It has bigger scenes, more locations. We even had to shoot some scenes in mysterious Mt. Banahaw.

"The story spans several generations. It starts with an end-of-the-world cult in Mt Banahaw. Three of its younger girls survive the mass death of its members: Nina Jose, Glaiza de Castro and Rich Asuncion. When they grow old, they become Gloria Romero, Celia Rodriguez and Ama Quiambao. Gloria is the grandmother of Marian Rivera, who’s gifted with ability to see the future through the special tarot cards kept by Gloria. When Gloria passes away, she transfers the gift to Marian, but she rejects it, so Gloria takes the tarot cards with her to her grave. But something happens to Marian’s boyfriend, Dennis Trillo, who gets lost in Mt. Banahaw. To find him, Marian is forced to retrieve the tarot cards. Pinabuksan niya ang hukay ng lola niya to get the cards. She gets to save Dennis but each time she saves someone, isang mahal niya sa buhay ang nawawala para magbayad. Celia is the new cult leader who holds the key to the tarot cards and Marian will ask her help to solve the mysterious events happening in her life. We also have Roxanne Guinoo as Marian’s friend na may sarili ring secret, Ricardo Cepeda and Susan Africa as Marian’s parents, Alwyn Uytingco as the nephew of Celia who helps Marian, and Anna Capri as the sister of Dennis Trillo. Much research also went into the design of the tarot cards. We have our own set of cards made for the movie and we use special effects for the scenes kapag may rose or patalim na biglang sumusulpotfrom the cards mismo. Gugulatin nito ang viewers."

How is it working with Marian Rivera?

"I have to confess na noong una, ayoko sana siyang makatrabaho kasi I’ve been hearing bad things about her. But I’m glad I did work with her as I’ve proven na hindi totoo ang impressions about her. She’s very professional, punctual, and she comes to the set prepared at memorized na lahat ng lines niya. She even has suggestions on how to improve her character na nakatulong talaga so I’m really impressed with her."

Source: Malaya

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