Sharon, Gabby to reunite on the big screen?

Sharon Cuneta and Gabby Concepcion together again in a movie? The Megastar doesn’t mind teaming up again with her ex. At her birthday concert last week, Sharon said, “I have no reason not to do a movie with Gabby. The most important thing is that my family is spared the hassle.”

Sharon and Gabby starred in several hit films together in the 70s and 80s. Will they have the same box-office pull as before? Sharon believes their fans are eagerly awaiting a movie reuniting the two. “I’m a big fan of the team-up. I’m sure Gabby is too. It’s a team-up that the whole country adored.”

The two have not been on friendly terms since Gabby returned from the US. The frost thawed a little last week, after Gabby greeted Sharon a happy birthday during her concert.

* * *

The Philippines’ quest for an Oscar has once again failed.

Ploning, which Judy Ann Santos had eagerly promoted to be included as an entry for the Best Foreign Language Film category of the Academy Awards this year, was not among the nine films eligible as nominees.

Ploning, which starred Juday and was directed by her friend Dante “Nico” Garcia, was among the 65 entries from different countries vying for a nomination.

Making it were Waltz With Bashir from Israel, Revanche (Austria), The Necessities of Life (Canada), The Class (France), The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany), Departures (Japan), Tear This Heart Out (Mexico), Everlasting Moments (Sweden), and 3 Monkeys (Turkey).

The field will be further narrowed to five as selected committees screen the remaining entries.

The official nominees will be known on January 22. The Academy Awards night is on February 22.

Juday, who produced the film, had held an auction and a P1,000 per plate dinner to raise lobby money for Ploning. She also hired a Hollywood publicist to make sure the film gets enough publicity to catch the judges’ eye.

* * *

There are reports that Pops Fernandez received some jeers while performing in Cebu City recently. Pops did a show at the Waterfront Hotel together with Kuh Ledesma and Zsa Zsa Padilla. The three, together with Regine Velasquez, did a successful concert Diva 4 Divas at the Araneta Coliseum late last year. Their Cebu concert was dubbed “Diva 2 Diva.”

Kuh and Zsa Zsa were reportedly warmly applauded when they were introduced. But when Pops’ turn came, she was said to have gotten some boos and jeers, according to reports.

Was this true and if so, why were Cebuanos peeved at Pops? Perhaps they haven’t forgotten that she was a no-show at a concert scheduled in Cebu last year supposedly because of disagreements with the organizers.

* * *

Senator Jinggoy Estrada arrived in a wheelchair at the wake of his grandmother Doña Mary last week. The senator was still recuperating from a gall bladder operation at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center, when Doña Mary died at the age of 103. After visiting the wake, Jinggoy is said to have returned to the hospital.

Former President Joseph Estrada, meanwhile, was so grief-stricken by his mother’s death he locked himself up in his house in Greenhills, San Juan City, on the first day of the wake. He re-emerged the following day to visit her remains.

* * *

Vina Morales has denied that she and Cedric Lee, her lover and the father of the baby she is carrying, are not on good terms. The buzz was Cedric refuses to acknowledge that he is the dad of Vina’s baby.

Interviewed in a TV show, Vina dismissed the rumors and defended Cedric. She said he is in fact very protective of her. “We even celebrated Christmas and New Year’s with my family. He’s always there when I need him, and, contrary to rumors, all is well between us.