A Bittesweet Birthday for Piolo

If it were all up to Angel Locsin, she would have parted with her manager Becky Aguila.

But as things stand, Becky holds all the cards.

Angel's bound to her by a contract and if Angel really wants out, she has to cough up P20 million, my source tells me.

The problem is Angel doesn't have that big an amount, so she's stuck with Becky. Until December, that is, when the contract expires.

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Ethel Booba and Alex Crisano are back in each other's arms. They were so sweet together on Sunday night, when Alex accompanied Ethel to the celebration of Navotas' centennial as a municipality.

Just a day earlier, Ethel was trading barbs with Gwen Garci, the girlfriend of Andrew Wolfe, whom Ethel was said to have been dating during her spat with Alex. At one point, Ethel described Gwen as a drug addict. Gwen countered by saying Ethel looked like a maid. In the end, the two girls decided to bury the hatchet.

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Bugz Daigo, a Cebuano, is not afraid to admit that he was a jobless, aimless dude before he joined GMA 7's "StarStruck Nationwide Invasion." Bugz said that he never got to college because his family was too poor.

He doesn't know where his parents are, and he doesn't really care. His dad, who lives somewhere in Manila, drops by every Saturday, on elimination night.

Bugz shares his flat with his brother, a year older than he is. He passed the "StarStruck" audition by singing and dancing, but he says he is more comfortable in dancing.

In the contest's makeover challenge, Bugz is the ward of 18-year-old Malou Choa-Fagar. The other handlers are Tito Douglas Quijano and Tita Lolit Solis.

Tito Dougs handles Bugz's biggest rival, Marky Cielo, who represents the Mountain Province. Marky looms as the early favorite and even Bugz concedes this. But he's determined to take on Marky head to head. Bugz has his eyes on the P1 million prize. It's not for himself, he says, but for grandma, who at 60 years old still works as a caregiver in the US.

"I want to buy her a plane ticket with the prize so she can go home here," Bugz says. What does he plan to do with the rest of the money? "Use it for a college education."

Among the girls, Arci Munoz at Iwa Moto appear to be the frontrunners. The two are under the supervision of Tita Lolit.

Arci admits Iwa is her closest rival because Iwa's Chinita looks captivate the viewers.

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Piolo Pascual had a bittersweet 29th birthday on January 12. While savoring the heady success of his movie "Don't Give Up on Us," he had to spend the day by the hospital bed of his favorite sister, Patricia.

Patricia met a terrible car accident on her way to Manila from Batangas, where she and her friends had gone diving. Their Expedition was struck by another vehicle and were it not for the seatbelt she had on she wouldn't have survived. Still, she had deep cuts in her head and both knees broken. Patricia will be returning to the US for extensive physical therapy.

Aside from establishing himself as a first-rate actor, Piolo is also making impressive headway as a singer. Proof is that he is joining singing legends Kuh Ledesma, Basil Valdez and Pilita Corrales in the second tribute to the late songwriter George Canseco on January 27.

The concert, "Paano Kita Mapasasalamatan," will also feature Christian Bautista, Dulce, harpist Noelle Cassandra, Side A, Rey Valera and Regine Velasquez. Piolo, as well as many of these artists, have never recorded a Canseco song, so it will be interesting to find out how they interpret the maestro's works.

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Some Hollywood pundits are predicting 2006 to be the Year of the Queer. That's because a clutch of gay-themed movies are leading the Oscars derby.

At the head of the pack is "Brokeback Mountain," a film about two cowboys in love with each other. "Brokeback" won four awards in the recent Golden Globes including best drama, best director for Ang Lee ("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"), and best screenplay.

Other films in the running for Oscar nominations are "Transamerica," where Felicity Huffman won the best dramatic actress Globe for playing a man about to undergo a sex change, and Capote, the biopic about gay American author Truman Capote. Philip Seymour Hoffman won the best dramatic Globe for his portrayal of Capote.

The new crop of gay-themed films comes 12 years after Tom Hanks won as Oscar for portraying a gay AIDS victim in "Philadelphia."

In this year's Academy Awards, which comes off the wraps on March 5, Hillary Swank will be one of the celebrity presenters.

Swank won last year's best actress Oscar for her role as a female boxer in "Million Dollar Baby." She was also best actress in 2000 for "Boys Don't Cry." Nominations for the 78th annual Academy Awards will be announced on January 31.