RICKY,  JACKIE  LOU  DENY  THEY'VE  SPLIT

MANILA, OCTOBER 23, 2009 (MALAYA) DREAM FACTORY by MARIO BAUTISTA (‘ “As far as I know, they’re still together.. - Pilita Corrales (PHOTO AT LEFT)’)

IS IT true Pilita Corrales’ daughter Jackie Lou Blanco and Ricky Davao have split?

"I asked them about it, they both denied it," says Pilita. "As far as I know, they’re still together. But I don’t ask for details about the chismis, kasi buhay na nila yan."

How about Lotlot de Leon leaving for the US?

"I just heard about it. She’ll look for her dad daw, baka magkikita rin sila ni Nora Aunor. After she left Monching, she never talked to me. Baka she’s worried pagsasabihan ko siya, na I won’t do kasi matagal ng tapos yan. I pray she finds whatever she’s looking for. Sana she meets a rich American. Their kids are okay with Monching. Janine, the eldest, finishes college this March sa UP. Jessica is also in college while Diego, high school. The youngest, Maxine, was only 2 years old when Lotlot left them. She’s now 10. Sanay na silang wala ang mother nila."

Pilita’s own career is doing well.

"I play Richard Gutierrez’ grandma in ‘Full House.’ Tinatanong ko nga kung may boyfriend ako sa show, wala raw, boring naman. And I have a concert with Rico J. Puno at the Music Museum on November 13, ‘The Diva and the Debonair.’ Ako yung debonair, siya yung diva. First time namin to do a show na kaming dalawa lang at ang suggested title ko nga, ‘Ang Bastos at ang Demure.’ Ayaw nila, kasi hindi raw ako demure. Pero si Rico, he’s such a wonderful entertainer kasi you never know what he’ll say or do next kaya kailangan mabilis ka rin, but ready ako for him. He’s the only one who can get away with it, kahit bastos ang jokes niya. Our show is produced by former models of Twin Towers & Co. headed by Illac Diaz and for the benefit of the Philippine Green Building Council that makes Houses for Habitat. Tickets are at Ticketworld and at Twin Tower office at 719-0136."

Pilita’s home in Rolling Hills, New Manila was ravaged by Ondoy. "The wall protecting us from the river in front of us broke. Mabilis ng pagtaas ng water. My maids wanted to save our belongings sa ibaba but I told them huwag na, umakyat na lang kayo. Their life is more important. I lost my ref, my piano, my photos, but worst of all, my musical arrangements worth millions. Now, I need to ask musicians to write new ones for me. Very expensive. But life goes on. Yung iba nga, mas grabe pa, like Willie Nepomuceno who lost his collection of masks for his shows."

***

Heart Evangelista didn’t believe it right away when Jun Lalin called her up at midnight of Sunday to tell her she won as FAMAS best actress. "I was asleep when my mom woke me to tell me that Jun was on the phone," she says. "Sabi pa niya, nanalo ka nga pero binawi kasi you were not there. I wasn’t expecting to win but I wanted to go kasi gusto kong magsuot ng gown. But Jun and Tita Annabelle told me, matulog ka na lang, as they know how tired I am sa ‘SOP’ and my taping pa ko ng ‘Full House’ the next day. So 9:30 pa lang, tulog na ako. But after the call, di na ako nakatulog. I got so excited. Tuwang-tuwa kaming lahat sa bahay. I’m so thankful, to the Lord and to the FAMAS kasi ang bibigat ng kalaban ko like Sharon Cuneta. But I had a really good role in ‘Ay Ayeng’ as an Igorot teacher whose family was massacred. And I’m sure Ate Sharon will be glad to know I won. Ever since, Sharonian na ko. I’m so thankful to her as she’s the one who recommended me to play her anak. As a child, I had a huge Sharon poster at home kaya naman when I learned I’d be her daughter Stefanie in ‘Mano Po 6, My Mother,’ I promised myself pagbubutihin ko talaga. I’ll have my first shooting day with her this Thursday (today) and it’s a long confrontation scene, three pages, so I already memorized the script to come prepared sa set. I just hope I won’t be starstruck pag nakaharap na kami sa camera so I won’t forget my lines."

She doesn’t mind if she’s just second choice to Angel Locsin. "Sabi ko nga, if a project is really meant for you, it’ll be for you. Look at ‘Patient X,’ I shot several scenes for that pero hindi ako natuloy. It was really meant for Cristine Reyes. ‘Mano Po 6’ pala ang kapalit noon."

Heart will tape part of "Full House" in Prague and part of "Mano Po 6" in Beijing. "Winter na when we go to those countries so I’m taking a lot of vitamins now to make sure di ako magkasakit doon, lalo ngayon I go from one set to another. Buti naayos na lahat ng skeds ng tapings and shootings ko."

***

For Richard Gutierrez, "Patient X" is a significant project not only because it’s his first production for his own Rgutz Productions but because he is up against his two elder brothers, Rocky and Elvis, who play villainous creatures of the night in the story. "Pinahanga ako ng mga kuya ko at mismong ako, natakot sa kanila," he says. "In the story, I’m keeping Cristine Reyes sa hospital where I work as a doctor as I suspect she killed my younger brother, Jake Vargas. Yun pala, asawa siya ni Kuya Elvis na isang aswang at nagsama ito ng iba pang aswang and they attacked the hospital to get Cristine back. One of them is my Kuya Rocky. They’ll really give the viewers a good scare."

He’s also elated that the mall tours of "Patient X" are so well attended. "Sobra talaga lagi ang dami ng tao and I’m thankful sa mainit na pagtanggap sa amin. It energizes me and I can feel tanggap nila ako at ang ‘Patient X’ as they keep telling me inaabangan na nila ito. I’m sure namang masisiyahan sila dahil ginastusan namin ito’t pinaghirapan. Direk Yam Laranas is now in Bangkok to supervise the sound mixing as we’re using 51. Dolby sensurround for it to make it more enjoyable on the big screen. On Saturday, we’ll be in Market Market and on Sunday, at SM Manila, 4 p.m., diretso na sa premiere ng movie namin doon at 7 p.m."

***

Sharon Cuneta confesses she was alarmed when she found three cysts on her breasts last March while she was having a bath, but felt so relieved when her doctor abroad told her they were benign. She’s now back to doing "Mano Po 6, My Mother," her second movie this year after "BFF" and her first full-length film with Regal Entertainment.

"I’m also excited to do my first movie with Mother Lily," says Shawie. "Matagal nang may standing offer sa’kin si Mother and I’m glad natuloy na rin. Excited din ako to work with Kris Aquino who plays my best friend, Heart Evangelista and Dennis Trillo na ngayon ko rin lang makakatrabaho. First time ko rin to play a Chinese character and I speak Fookien so may tutor ako to help me with the right delivery. First time ko rin to go Mainland China as we’ll shoot in Beijing. It’s a treat as I’m fond of Chinese culture at fan ako nina Bruce Lee at Jet Lee. Magpapakuha ako ng photo sa Forbidden City at Great Wall. This is really a movie of so many firsts."

Her first scene was with Dennis, who plays Heart’s boyfriend. She offers him P100 million just for him to forget Heart. Could she do something like that in real life?

"No, that’s too much money. And I won’t interfere sa lovelife ng anak ko, unless sobrang walanghiya talaga yung lalaki, in which case, I’ll just ask him: do you still want to live or no more?"

***

Rachelle Ann Go got sick after doing her rehearsals with Jed Madela for their "True Champions" concert at SM North Edsa Skydome tomorrow, Saturday, 8 PM. "Mahirap kasabay si Jed kasi rehearsal pa lang, performance level na at laging ang taas ng boses niya," she says. "You’d really wonder kung saan niya kinukuha.

"Nabuo ang concert namin when we guested in ‘Eat Bulaga’ at the height of Ondoy and got stranded at the Broadway studio from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. dahil baha na lahat ng daraanan. So we brainstormed na lang at nabuo namin ang buong show, what we’ll do and sing. We open with our first hits, ‘Don’t Cry Out Loud’ for me and ‘Let Me Love You’ for him. May divas medley ako of Tagalog songs and he has a teleserye songs medley. We’ll do an operatic aria and he’ll also do a rock number. We’ll also do something. Ang finale, nakakaloka, sagutan kami ng inspirational songs na ‘Through the Rain’ and ‘Climb Every Mountain’ for me at ‘Impossible Dream’ and ‘Never Too Far’ for him. Viva said ang ganda-ganda ng show so they plan na i-tour namin ito here and abroad."

Rachelle admits she and Gab Valenciano (her second BF after Christian Bautista) have broken up. "But I invited him to watch the show at sana makapanood siya. But I don’t want to elaborate anymore kung ano ang cause ng breakup, sa amin na lang yun."

For tickets to "True Champions," call SM Ticketnet at 911-5555 or Viva Concerts at 687-7236.

***

After playing an out and out villain in "Zorro," TJ Trinidad is glad he’s given the chance to play a bida-kontrabida role as Tristan in "Stairway to Heaven." "This is one of the most demanding roles I’ve ever played as it’s emotionally draining," he says. "He’s got bipolar personality at obsessed pa sa character played by Rhian Ramos. He’s also an artist and sometimes, parang he’s going mad like Vincent Van Gogh who cut off his own ear."

So how did he prepare for the role?

"I’m really thankful to Direk Joyce Bernal as she conducted a series of workshops before we started taping. Alam niya I play a difficult role so she provided me a background about the character para alam ko ang pinanggagalingan nito. That helped me a lot on how I’d attack the role."

What does he think of Rhian Ramos in the role of Jodi?

"I think her detractors should eat their words. They said hindi siya bagay sa role, hindi niya kaya. But she’s doing a great job as Jodi and Jenna, proving her detractors wrong."

TJ is also in "Patient X." "I play a policeman who went through the same experience that Richard Gutierrez encountered against Cristine Reyes and her people. They killed my own family and because of that, I’m blinded by rage and revenge and I want to get back at them. I’m the one who reveals to Richard na ibang klase ang mga kalaban niya kina Cristine at mga kasama nito. It’s a real scary movie perfect for Halloween."