Carmina’s big surprise

 CEBU, Philippines - Carmina Villaroel had no idea of what was in store for her last Thursday. She was told she was to shoot an ice cream commercial with Zoren Legaspi, her partner for 12 years, and their twin kids, Cassy and Mavy, at the Fernbrook Gardens in Alabang. The shoot required that she wore a wedding gown.

It turned out that it was no commercial shoot after all. As the cameras rolled, Zoren proposed to Carmina. It was not in the script, it was for real. The whole thing was in fact an elaborate surprise hatched by Zoren, his family and ABS-CBN.  The only one not in on it was Carmina. She readily accepted the proposal and the couple were wed in a civil ceremony.

“Everything that I wanted to happen happened,” Carmina later recounted in a TV interview with Boy Abunda.

The principal sponsors were Susan Roces, Maricel Soriano, Grace Poe-Llamanzares, Eric Quizon, and Lily Monteverde.

The couple had to wait for long time to tie the knot because Carmina was still in effect married to Rustom Padilla, now known as BB Gandanghari. It was only this year that the marriage was finally annulled.

So how does BB feel about Carmina’s marriage to Zoren, who incidentally is BB’s co-star in the TV series Enchanted Garden?

"It has long been overdue," BB said. “Zoren, you did the right thing!"

***

Maja Salvador revealed last week that Matteo Guidicelli’s passion for sports triggered their recent break-up.

Maja said Matteo’s showbiz schedule and athletic activities left him with little time for her. Matteo is a triathlete and fitness buff.

She tried to spend more time with Matteo by taking up the sports he was into. “I joined him during his training, his runs, his swimming.  I felt that being his girlfriend, it was my responsibility to keep up with his interests,” Maja told ABS-CBNnews.

"If I were very rich I could keep up with him. But I also have my responsibility to my family, and then there’s work.”

"If you love someone you will support him. You must not be selfish. But you also must know where the relationship is heading.” 

In the end she realized it was hard having a triathlete for a boyfriend. “I hate fitness because I’m loveless,” she quipped.

Matteo himself had admitted in an earlier TV interview he did not have time enough for Maja. "I had a lot of things that was lacking for her. I guess one of those was time," he said.

***

Regine Velasquez had to cut short her concert at the Mall of Asia Arena on Friday after she lost her voice.

Regine tried gallantly to carry on with the help of hubby Ogie Alcasid and her special guests, but in the end she had to tearfully apologize to the audience.

She promised a free concert to make it up to her fans.

***

The Cinema One Originals Festival is ABS-CBN’s noteworthy initiative to find new talents that could breathe new life into Philippine cinema.

This year, the festival not only has the feature films competition but will also screen such movie classics as Genghis Khan, Oro, Plata, Mata and Himala that have been digitally restored.

Cinema One Originals has two categories: the Cinema One Plus is composed of seasoned directors and where each entry has been endowed with a P2-million production budget, and the Cinema One Currents for budding directors with a P1-M budget each.

The three finalists in the Cinema One Plus Category are Aureus Solito’s Baybayin, Richard Somes’ Mariposa Sa Hawla Ng Gabi and Adolfo Alix Jr.’s Mater Dolorosa.

The 2012 Cinema One Originals Festival will run from Nov. 28 to Dec. 9 at Robinsons Galleria and from Nov. 29 to Dec. 4 at the EDSA Shangri-La Cineplex. Awards night will be on Dec. 3 at the Studio 1, ABS-CBN main building.