OSANG  CALLS  LOVI  'HALIPAROT'

MANILA, AUGUST 30, 2009 (MALAYA) DREAM FACTORY by MARIO BAUTISTA (‘Actually, it was Mom who was more affected and she said oras na may gawin sa’kin, siya ang haharap. – Lovi Poe’)

LOVI Poe in the cast of "Show Me Da Manny," disproving earlier rumors that she’s banned on GMA-7 after she did one season of "Lipgloss" on TV 5. "Hindi naman po talaga ako na-ban dahil nagpaalam naman sa kanila ng maayos ang manager kong si Leo Dominguez," she says.

And while she was in "Lipgloss," it was there that Rosanna Roces (who plays her mom) reportedly harassed her just because she’s the new girlfriend of Jolo Revilla, who has a son with Osang’s daughter, Grace.

At the presscon of "Show Me Da Manny," Lovi looked like she was about to cry when asked about this.

"Naiiyak talaga ako kapag naaalala ko. Actually, it was Mom (former model-actress Rowena Moran) who was more affected and she said oras na may gawin sa’kin, siya ang haharap. Kasi she brought me up well, put me in a good school, tapos I was called a haliparot. But because of what happened, I realized na dapat ngang I should give more priority to my studies."

Is this the reason why it’s reported that she has broken up with Jolo?

"We’re just setting our priorities right. Siya man, busy rin sa work and studies niya kaya we now seldom see each other. Ako rin naman, I have school and I also go on working. Pero yung friendship, hindi mawawala yun kasi we have the same set of friends kaya hindi nawawala yung communication among us sa barkada. Wala naman akong complaint sa kanya o sa family niya, mababait silang lahat sa akin."

What about her being late on the set of "Sagrada Familia," said to be her launching movie for Legalas Entertainment? Is it true director Joel Lamangan flared up become of her lack of punctuality?

"Kahit napagalitan ako, hindi sumama ang loob ko as I know it’s really my fault. The truth is I woke up early that day kasi nga 11 a.m. ang call time ko and the set was in Pampanga. But our driver failed to show up so I took the chance of driving the car myself. Kaso, ayaw namang mag-start. I called up my manager and told him the situation. Siya mismo ang naghanap ng car at driver, pero late na rin dumating kasi nagpakuha na lang kami sa rent a car. I was really crying all the way kasi it’s as if everything went wrong that day gayong pinaghandaan ko pa naman dahil first time ko nga to work with Direk Joel. Hiyang-hiya talaga ako sa pagiging late kaya tinanggap ko even if he shouted at me in front of the other cast members."

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Carla Abellana just laughs off the rumor that she collapsed and lost consciousness on the taping of "Rosalinda" because she’s infanticipating and her leading man Geoff Eigenmann is the dad? "It’s true that I fainted and Geoff brought me to the hospital pero siguro dahil lang sa sobrang pagod sa magdamagang taping," she says. "But it’s true that my character, Rosalinda, got pregnant and even gave birth sa anak nila ni Fernando Jose na si Erika, who’d later be abducted from her by her enemies."

She and Geoff are happy now that the ratings of "Rosalinda" have really picked up.

"No doubt that ‘Darna’ as our pre-program helped a lot, pero mas nakakaintriga na rin kasi ang takbo ng story ngayon kaya siguro tumaas na rin ang viewership namin. Pinalayas ni Fernando Jose si Rosalinda after learning that Soledad is her real mother. Marami pang twists and turns sa plot at mai-introduce pa ang ilang bagong interesting characters kaya tiyak na mas mararagdagan pa ang ang viewers namin as days go by."

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Roxanne Guinoo is puzzled why some people are saying that her co-stars avoid working with her as she has an attitude problem, like when she rejected Guji Lorenzana in "Precious Hearts," and she has also become unprofessional when she has a taping or shooting.

"I don’t know what attitude problem they’re referring to," she says. "Si Guji, I didn’t reject him. Ang inayawan ko, yung love scenes na gagawin ng character ko kasi I’m not comfortable in doing them. So kaysa gawin ko tapos lumabas na hindi maganda, I begged off. But it’s nothing personal with Guji."

She was eventually replaced by Kaye Abad who did the provocative love scenes with Guji with no qualms.

"Iniisip ko nga kung kailan ako naging unprofessional," she adds. "May tsismis na nag-walkout ang director namin sa ‘Tarot,’ but it’s not true. I’m really thankful to Mother Lily for getting me as I got to work with director Jun Lana, who’s a Kapuso, along with my co-stars Marian Rivera and Dennis Trillo na Kapuso rin. Sila mismo ang makakapagsabi kung naging unprofessional nga ako while we’re shooting the movie. I really enjoyed doing ‘Tarot’ with them at napatunayan ko for myself na hindi naman mahirap makatrabaho si Marian like what’s being circulated about her. I’m also pleased with my role here as the best friend of Marian na pagseselosan niya kay Dennis. Maganda ang movie and I’m proud of it as it’s successful in its aim to really scare viewers."At Marian’s birthday party and presscon of "Tarot," she confirmed they didn’t have any problem with Roxanne. It’s too bad Roxanne wasn’t there or the fortuneteller could have also read her fortune like what she did to Marian who’s predicted to marry her current boyfriend (Dingdong Dantes) and they’ll have four kids. The downside of the "hula" is that Marian’s loved one’s career will never be as successful as hers. It’s up to Dingdong now to disprove this by making his solo show, "Stairway to Heaven," as big a hit as Marian’s "Darna."

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Mother Lily Monteverde is a firm believer in tarot cards. "Matagal na akong bilib sa baraha," she says at the presscon of her new release, "Tarot," which opens today in theaters nationwide. "Kasi, before, I thought I won’t engage in any other business kundi producing movies lang, which I really love. Then this tarot card reader told me, ‘You will soon have your own building.’ Siempre, hindi ako naniwala kasi wala naman akong pera. But then, in three years time, I was able to build itong Imperial Palace Suites (her own condo-hotel at the corner of Timog and Morato Avenues) so ayun, dun na ako bumilib. Eto nga, we’re even having an expansion plan for Imperial."

But can you counter the tarot cards if the prediction is negative.

"You can always pray and take the right measures to prevent any misfortune. At least, alam mo, kailangang mag-ingat ka."

Marian Rivera says as long as you plant a lot of good karma, you’ll also reap good karma in return. "Kaya dapat, when you’re getting a lot of blessings, you should share it with the less fortunate," she says.

Someone says Marian’s good karma is "hindi siya nagtatanim ng galit. The best example is yung nangyari sa kanila ni Odette Khan. When she did ‘Muli,’ an afternoon soap na suporta pa lang siya kay Alfred Vargas, talagang sinampal-sampal siya ni Odette sa mga eksena nila and she really got hurt dahil nabugbog siya. But when she learned that GMA-7 got Odette to play a role in ‘Darna,’ she didn’t object at all. Sabi niya, she has forgotten what happened between them and she thinks nakatulong ngayon for her to be stronger at maging mas magaling na artista."

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Like what we predicted, 16-year-old Frencheska Farr won among the female in the finals of "Are You the Next Big Star?" held last Sunday night. Geoff Taylor, 23, is her male counterpart. He was previously eliminated from ABS-CBN’s "Pinoy Dream Academy."

They got P1 million cash each, a brand new condo unit from Avida, recording deal with GMA Records and an exclusive management contract with GMA Artists Center.

The finals had several rounds. The girls sang first with established singers. Zyrene sang "Sino ang Baliw" with Kuh Ledesma. Camille Cortez, the third finalists, sang "Bed of Roses" with Renz Verano. Frencheska did "I Finally Found Someone" with Joey Generoso.

Juror Danny Tan already picked Frencheska as the winner in this round.

It was then the turn of the boys. Jay sang "Kung Ako’y Iiwan Mo" with Basil Valdez. Alex Cortez, the third finalist among the guys, sang "Huling El Bimbo" with Ogie Alcasid. Geoff did "Open Arms" with Jett Pangan. Juror Vernie Varga said Alex won this round.

Juror Mon Faustino chose Camille as the second round’s best singer while Pops Fernandez chose Alex.

For the last round (where Jay and Zyrene were already eliminated), Alex performed "Awit ng Kabataan," Geoff did "Kahit Kailan," Camille did "Dirty Diana," and Frencheska did "Queen of the Night."

Let’s now see if GMA-7 would truly succeed in making Frencheska and Geoff real big stars.