ALL  PRAISES  FOR  AGA


MANILA, APRIL 25, 2008 (MALAYA) STUDIO WHISPERS by ETHEL RAMOS (‘Anne never tires of telling everyone that as early as age 12, she was already dreaming of playing Aga’s leading lady.’)

KRIS Aquino adds another feather in her already well-decorated cap, when she co-hosts a two-hour episode of "Deal or No Deal - Around the World" with no less than Howie Mandel, host of America’s hit game show, "Deal or No Deal."

Kris was host of the Philippine franchisee’s "Kapamilya Deal or No Deal," which was produced by ABS-CBN.

The special episode is part of the US program’s around-the-world tour that will allow Americans to experience how the game of chance is played in the Philippines.

Kris and Howie will tape the show this week, with the original 26K girls, plus our own Banker, too. And guess what? The briefcases will contain prizes in US dollars, following the US version.

Here’s the rub, though. The contestants are two Americans, who were flown here from the US. They will be playing the game according to the rules of "Kapamilya, Deal or No Deal."

The Philippines is one of the three countries chosen to be part of "Deal or No Deal - Around the World," which covers Asia, Europe and Africa. The two other countries are Estonia and South Africa.

As to why the Philippines was chosen to be part of the world tour, Endemol USA manager of Production Shanon Herlihy said: "We found (‘Kapamilya, Deal or No Deal’) awesome and fun."

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It’s official. Christine Reyes is now a kapamilya.

Christine recently signed up with ABS-CBN. Present at the signing were Veronique Corpus, Christine’s talent manager; Linggit Tan, ABS CBN Production Development & Control; Ara Mina, Christine’s sister; and Cory Vidanes, managing director of ABS CBN.

We learned from a reliable source that Christine’s first project with the Kapamilya is the teleserye version of the movie, "Eva Fonda, 16," which starred Alma Moreno.

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Aga Muhlach was simply at a loss for words when his co-stars in "When Love Begins," including Anne Curtis, his leading lady, enumerated the reasons they enjoyed working with him.

Anne never tires of telling everyone that as early as age 12, she was already dreaming of playing Aga’s leading lady.

"When Love Begins" is their first movie and she said that because he made things so easy for her, she didn’t feel any inhibitions during their sexy and love scenes.

AJ Dee felt intimidated on their first shooting day with Aga. But as days went by, he realized that Aga was a down-to-earth guy, and fun-loving just like everyone in the cast.

"During the 10 days that we were together, Aga made us feel that we were his equals," AJ stated further.

Rafael Rosel plays Aga’s best friend in the movie so they have several scenes together.

"We hit it off well sa first day of shooting pa lang. I got the chance to talk with him hours before we faced the cameras for the first time.

"He advised me to just relax while we were doing our scenes together."

Dionne Monsanto and Micky Perz are both graduates of the first "Pinoy Dream Academy." "When Love Begins" is their first experience to face the movie cameras, and thanks to Aga who made everything for them "overwhelmingly exciting." They will not mind working with him again.

Included in the movie’s powerhouse cast are Christopher de Leon, Ronaldo Valdez and Boots Anson-Roa, with whom Aga has worked in a number of movies.

"When Love Begins" opens in more than 100 theaters on April 30. It will have a premiere at two cinemas in SM Megamall on April 29. It is a co-production of Star Cinema and Viva Films and directed by Jose Javier Reyes.