Is her role only in the land of Fantasia where the series (obviously inspired by the musical “Wicked” and the film “Enchanted”) starts and she’ll no longer be in the real world scenes? “Kasama pa rin ako pagdating niya sa mundo ng mga tao. Kasi, I’m the one who punishes Grazilda and sends her to Manila after she tried to sabotage the love story of Cinderella and Prince Charming. Pero naawa ako sa kanya so I will follow her sa real world para gabayan siya in her adventures here.”
She just signed a new exclusive contract with GMA-7 that guarantees her two new shows a year. How will this affect her rumored upcoming wedding with Mark Escueta? “We have no definite plans yet. As of now, enjoy pa kaming dalawa with what we have right now. Also, he hasn’t proposed to me naman, so wala pa yan at ayoko ring madaliin kasi bago pa lang kami.”
In all fairness to Jolens, she looks prettier, happier now and it’s obvious Mark has a more positive influence on her compared to her previous BF.
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EDU MANZANO returns to TV in GMA-7’s original game show, “Asar Talo Lahat Panalo”, to be seen Monday to Saturday before “Eat Bulaga”. Did he move to GMA because ABS-CBN didn’t support his vice presidential bid? “No, I never counted for support from any network or from anyone,” he says. “I had a good presidentiable and we ran a decent campaign. I never took it against anyone if they took sides. Basta sa’kin, I gave it my best shot.”
GMA exec Wilma Galvante said that they had no one else in mind to host “Asar Talo” except Edu, so she called his manager, June Torrejon, to find out if he’s is available. Once he’s in, Edu contributed his own ideas to make the show even more engrossing and unique. The contestant is called the Bida and he’d be asked 7 easy questions plus a bonus one that will give him a total win of P155,000. But before he can answer, he has to face the heckling and taunts of kontrabidas called Sulsuleros. A celebrity guest will act as chief heckler called Kapitan Kontra. Protecting the Bida is the Guardian Angel, newcomer Ellen Adarna. A vocal group called Sung-Its will also sing jeers to provoke the Bida. “Their aim is pikunin ka,” says Edu. “So dapat, you should keep your cool for you to win.”
So far, the Bidas who have taped for the show are Joey Marquez (with Anjo Yllana as Kapitan Kontra), Paolo Contis (with Benjie Paras as Kapitan Kontra), Lolit Solis (with DJ Papa Jack) and John Lapus (with Chris Tsuper). In the case of Lolit, she says she felt guilty when she nudged Papa Jack on the tummy and it turned out he just came out of the hospital after an appendectomy. “Hindi ako napikon kundi na-guilty ko kasi fresh pa yung surgery niya nang itulak ko sa tiyan,” she says.
“Asar Talo” will surely change your morning viewing starting this Saturday, September 18. Will Edu eventually be a contestant himself? “No way! Even if we make sure there are no personal insults in the heckling, ayoko. And I’m glad GMA is not forcing me to join as a contestant. Host na lang ako.”
Edu continues his charity work with the setting up of a chemotherapy room for children afflicted with the big C at the Children’s Medical Center on Quezon Ave. This is for indigent patients who can’t afford chemo and blood transfusion. All expenses will come from his own pocket.
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CHERIE GIL is supposed to undergo surgery because of her throat but she had to postpone it after she got the role of Glaiza de Castro’s wicked stepmom in “Grazilda”. “Aside from this, I’m also shooting the Dolphy entry to the Metro filmfest so saka na lang ang operation ko,” she says. “I also welcome the idea of working with my nephew, Geoff Eigenmann, who’s the second son of my Kuya Michael and Gina Alajar. AKo mang-aapi kay Glaiza and he’ll defend her so we’ll be clashing for sure.”
What if she’s asked to slap Geoff? “Ay, hindi ko kaya. I don’t think I can slap him as he’s so cute,” she laughs. “But if ever, this would be the first time I’d slap a relative of mine kasi hindi ako nananakit, e.”
It’s good ABS-CBN allowed her to do a GMA show after she did “Rubi” with them? “I have no exclusive contract with them naman kaya okay lang for me to appear in any station, basta may work for me.”
The children of her brothers Mike and Mark are both active in showbiz. How about her own? “Ibang dugo nila as they’re more into music like their dad (violinist Roni Rogoff), but my daughter Bianca also wants try acting. It’s all up to her kung talagang gusto niya.”
After her throat surgery, she won’t be working for a while. “The doctor says it’ll take three months before I fully recover my voice. So I really have to be careful kasi gusto ko ulit kumanta.”
In “Grazilda”, there will be two sets of evil stepmoms and stepsisters. In the fairy tale world of Fantasia, the stepmom is Rio Locsin and the stepsisters are Glaiza and Djanin Cruz, with Gwen Zamora as Cinderella. In the real world set in Manila, the stepmom is Cheri as Veronne with Yasmien Kurdi and Steff Prescott as the stepsisters, with Glaiza becoming the other Cinderella who they’d oppress. Playing Fernando, the real dad of Grazilda, is Joel Torre.
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THE MANAGER of Bela Padilla is the feisty passenger bus mogul Claire de la Fuente and she’s now on the warpath threatening to sue Marian Rivera and her friend Janna Roxas for allegedly bullying Bela on the set of “Endless Love”. Claire says she won’t allow anyone to maltreat her talent as Bela is really a good kid. Because of her threat, we heard that Marian and her manager, Popoy Caritativo, already consulted a hotshot celebrity lawyer to defend her, just in case Claire makes good her threat of suing Marian. But if we know GMA, cooler heads will prevail and they’ll make moves for their two talents to just patch things up between them amicably. We just hope Marian will learn to practice more discretion and try to avoid being embroiled in conflicts like this. She has so many endorsements now. What if they’d suddenly withdraw because of her growing reputation as being “maldita”? She’d lose millions!
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RICHARD GUTIERREZ’ will do a special dance number ala-Step Up that will be one of the highlights of “Party Pilipinas” this noon. He’ll dance with Mark Herras, Rochelle Pangilinan and the Sayaw Pilipinas dance crew. The show goess Freestyle with the infamous open mike rappers of Tondo jamming with rap royalties Elmo and Arkin Magalona. True to its Freestyle theme, the show’s big 4 explores different boundaries. Jaya displays her rap and dance chops. Ogie Alcasid jams with Pinoy Rock’s top names. Janno Gibbs taps Kapuso beauties for his special birthday prod number. Regine Velasquez together with Kyla and Rachelle Ann Go engage in a vocal challenge. Also featured areKapuso tween sensations Bea Binene, Barbie Forteza, Jake Vargas, and Joshua Dionisio; plus a sneak peek on the conclusion of the Elmo-Julie Ann love story as depicted in the short film “Red Mask” directed by acclaimed independent filmmaker Avid Liongoren. Another must-see on the show is La Diva’s special production number dubbed as “Viva La Diva”. Grazilda lead star Glaiza De Castro will also grace the show together with cast members Geoff Eigenman, Rio Locsin, Joel Torre, and Cherie Gil. Directed by Rico Gutierrez, Party Pilipinas Freestyle comes right after Kapuso Movie Festival.
