Thalia weds! - FUNFARE by Ricardo F. Lo

And there she is... now Mrs. Tommy Mottola!

As she admitted during an exclusive phone interview from London with Funfare last September, Thalia was oh-so-in-love that she was ready, willing and able to say goodbye to her single-blessedness and, that’s it, be the wife of Sony Music boss Tommy Mottola for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, till death...

The Thalia-Mottola wedding was solemnized at the St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan, New York. It’s Thalia’s first marriage, Mottola’s third. Among the 275 guests were Jennifer Lopez, Gloria and Emilio Estefan, and Bruce Springsteen.

The Mexican tele-superstar and the recording magnate have been going steady for more than two years now, as Thalia herself confessed. Their paths crossed several months after Mottola divorced his wife, Mariah Carey, who, according to rumors, is now going steady with Thalia’s "ex" (unidentified) in a classic case of, yes, changing partners?

Thalia became popular in the Philippines in 1996 when her telenovela Marimar turned into a surprise megahit on Philippine Television, followed by more of her telenovelas topped by Rosalinda in which she had Fernando Jose/Carillo (a recent Philippine visitor) as leading man.

No, Thalia further admitted, there was never any romance between her and Fernando Jose because while shooting Rosalinda, "I was already going steady with Tommy and Fernando knew."

Now, will Thalia move over from EMI Records (with which she’s under contract) to Mottola’s Sony Music?

Let’s wait and see.

Chance encounter

And finally, the wife and the rumored, well, you-know-what came face-to-face during a chance encounter last week. The wife is, of course, Janice de Belen and the, well, you-know-what is Vanessa del Bianco. The guy said to be between them is Janice (philandering?) husband John Estrada, Vanessa’s MTB co-host.

It happened last week after the ABS-CBN party. Janice and her director in the ABS-CBN soap Saan Ka Man Naroroon went to TGIF (Thank God It’s Friday) bar-restaurant across ABS-CBN for a late dinner. They sat at a table near the ladies’ room.

By and by, guess who would walk in with some companions — yes, Vanessa! Their eyes locked, but both pretended they didn’t see each other. But, according to the Funfare DPA, "rampa nang rampa si Vanessa, padaan-daan kay Janice" who remained cool and collected, unperturbed. Once, Vanessa even went to the ladies’ room, not glancing at Janice’s table.

No, sparks didn’t fly, not even minutes later when, again, Vanessa made another trip to the ladies’ room. Just then, Janice also felt a need to answer the call of nature and guess what happened. "She entered the cubicle right next to where Vanessa well," added the DPA.

After a while, Janice came out and lingered in front of the mirror — poised for, uh, "attack?" No, just doing some "re-touching." Meanwhile, Vanessa, aware who was nearby, (ma)lingered inside the cubicle, asking for "reinforcement" through her cell. It was only when her companions came (to her rescue?) did Vanessa emerge from the cubicle — apparently relieved.

Now, what would the two women have discussed if somebody introduced them to each other for, you know, some small talk?

Korek ka, John!

What’s up?

• The Bukas Palad Music Ministry is inviting everyone to Pasko ng Paglaya, a free Christmas Concert on Friday, Dec. 22, 7:30 p.m. at the Ateneo de Manila High School Gardens. Bukas Palad, the group of students and young professionals from the Ateneo de Manila University is behind the songs of Fr. Manoling Francisco S.J., such as Hindi Kita Malilimutan, Take & Receive, Anima Christi, Tanging Yaman, and Sa Yo Lamang. The group has been recording original Filipino liturgical and inspirational music for almost 15 years. Pasko ng Paglaya is Bukas Palad’s Christmas concert for the year 2000, featuring songs from their CD Pasko Na, a collection of original Filipino Christmas hymns and carols such as A Christmas Praise, Paglamig ng Hangin, Emanuel, Pasko Na and Gloria.