Typhoon Chedeng holds off week-long TV 5 Cebu launch

CEBU, Philippines - Willie Revillame’s Cebuano followers would have to stretch their patience a bit more, as a scheduled live Saturday telecast of his revamped primetime show “Will Time Bigtime” was postponed no thanks to tropical storm Chedeng.

The controversial TV personality, along with his co-host Shalani Soledad, was supposed to showcase the brand-new state-of-the-art HD set used for their family-oriented games at the South Road Project, South Reclamation Area in Cebu City. It was to be TV 5’s grand culmination of their week-long promotional activities here.

As early as March of this year, dates for a Cebu leg of Revillame’s show had often cropped up, but repeatedly moved for one reason or another until his daily program then titled “Willing-Willie” was suspended amid all the “macho dance/child abuse” brouhaha.

“Due to the impending super typhoon, we are cancelling all our promo activities in Cebu this week. Our Cebu trip has been postponed. We will still look forward to seeing you in Cebu when the weather clears up. Please wait for our further updates,” said a text message sent by Lhot Ortega of TV5.

But before the storm warning signals were raised, the Kapatid team was able to mount a motorcade and a two-day mall show at SM City Cebu, after which they were ordered to pack up and cancel the rest of their activities.

Led by veteran actor Philip Salvador, who plays a hotshot TV exec of TV 5 soap “Mga Nagbabagang Bulaklak,” upcoming actresses Arci Muñoz, Carla Humphries, Ritz Azul and Danita Paner rode atop a truck driven through the main streets in a Sunday morning motorcade. The stars, together with comedienne Ruffa Mi and the male teens of Boyz Avenue also mingled with on-lookers at the Tabo-an and Carbon markets.

After a little freshening up, off they went to the Atrium of SM City Cebu where they held games and impromptu acting challenges with chosen participants from the audience. The gathered crowd was also treated with song and dance numbers from these newbie Kapatid performers.

A TV 5 staffer said this was their third out-of-town show so far, but it was obvious from the sidelines they had a lot to learn in holding mall shows. One staffer was heard cursing at the many technical glitches. Star Factor runner-up Ritz Azul wasn’t even able to reach the third line of her song when the audio messed up, while Ruffa Mae Quinto’s impersonator Ruffa Mi had to stand awkwardly for a long time on stage as technicians can’t seem to play her song.

It was also funny how TV 5 stars don’t seem to recognize their fellow contract artists, such as when Danita Paner couldn’t complete saying the names of the next performers as she introduced them.

On the bright side, THE FREEMAN got to chat backstage with Cebuana Star Factor first runner-up Morisette Amon about her upcoming projects. This Sarah Geronimo look-alike, who is turning 15 this June, said that she is being molded as TV 5’s flagship singer under the intense mentorship of Talent 5 head Audie Gemora. She’s very excited to be currently working on a debut album, whose international producers are the same ones who created KC Concepcion and Nikki Gil’s recent albums. Morisette is also set to do a concert with ABS-CBN talent Tippy dos Santos this July 4 at Robinson’s Galleria. “It will be sort of a TV 5 vs ABS-CBN thing,” she tells us.

Morisette appears every Sunday on the noontime musical variety show “Fantastik”, where she is being paired with young balladeer Gerald Santos. They have a segment together called “Heartbeats.” (FREEMAN)