FAMAS misses a ‘golden’ opportunity

As always, the FAMAS, which marked its 50th anniversary with a grand awards night last Saturday at the Fiesta Pavilion of the Manila Hotel (original home of the FAMAS Awards), will never win the Best Editing award. It dragged on and on and on from 9 p.m. Saturday night (delayed telecast on RPN 9) to 3 a.m. the following morning. By the time Lorna Tolentino was announced as Best Actress winner (for Abakada… Ina), the cocks were starting to crow.

I fell asleep at around 11 p.m. and when I woke up at past 12 midnight, the ceremonies were still on. I fell right back to slumber-land 30 minutes later, waking up at past 2 a.m. and, you guessed it, the affair was not yet over. As I’ve been saying, you could have flown to Hong Kong, done some shopping and come right back home and hardly miss the highlight (announcement of winners in the two major categories, that is). The 50th FAMAS Awards was that looooooong!

Maybe like most everybody, I was disappointed when the FAMAS didn’t take advantage of the "golden" opportunity to come up with a memorable show (for a change). Instead of making the star performers sing all those English songs circa the ’60s and ’70s, it would have been nice and beautifully nostalgic if the show organizers picked out Best Theme Song winners through the last 50 years, high-lighting them (on a giant screen onstage) with choice scenes from FAMAS-winning movies between 1952 and 2001.

In-between the awarding of trophies and staging of production numbers, it would have helped if more FAMAS trivia were flashed instead of consumer-product endorsers grossly congratulating the awardees, a profitable "gimmick" that cheapens the awards. Rosa Rosal, who presented one of the awards with Marvin Agustin, revealed that, yes, the sexy FAMAS statuette was modeled after her (the much-coveted "lady" does look like her, doesn’t it?) and more such revelations would have made the affair more interesting – and informative.

Anyway, it might have been asking too much of the FAMAS, and the other local award-giving bodies for that matter, to come up with a show even just half as imaginative, as creative, as innovative and as resourceful as the annual and rightfully much-awaited Oscars.

Maybe next year or the next? Maybe?

With the FAMAS Awards over and done with (and the PMPC Star Awards and the Film Academy Awards before that), there’s only the Urian Awards left (scheduled on May 11) and let’s hope that Urian will come up with an entirely different show, not as spectacular as the Oscars (lasting more than five hours but not a moment boring) but hopefully just as good.

Incidentally, have you ever wondered what the star presenters get as "honorarium" for their effort?

In Hollywood, they have what is called as the "Oscar Basket," this year stuffed with sumptuous goodies worth $20,000. Hollywood stars are highly-paid, all right, but did you know that they, according to a People magazine story, look forward to receiving the "Oscar Basket" handed to each presenter as soon as he/she has done her job?

Included in the "Oscar Basket" are a CJ & Me handbag ($400), an Ebel watch ($1,450), a $2,000 certificate to Cabo San Lucas’ lush Esperanza Resort, a teeth-whitening session at Brite Smile ($600) and a voucher for a Tempur-Pedic mattress (any size, from twin to king) worth $1,000-1,700.

Quite a "loot," isn’t it?

A Funfare DPA said that presenters of local award-giving bodies don’t get as much as their Hollywood brothers and sisters. If you’re a host, the FAMAS or the Philippine Movie Press Club (PMPC, which is behind the Star Awards for both TV and Movies) or the Manunuri (behind the Urian Awards), will provide you with a free gown. Presenters sometimes go into some kind of an "exchange deal" with couturiers, whether here or in Hollywood. You wear the gown and make sure that you credit the couturier/designer for it. If the sponsoring group is feeling generous, presenters may get a free make-up from Ricky Reyes or other top salons and/or gasoline money. As you can see, it can be very expensive attending awards ceremonies especially in hard times like this. You have to shell out good money.

Meanwhile, here’s the complete list of winners at the 50th FAMAS Awards:

* Best Picture – Bagong Buwan (Star Cinema)

* Best Director – Marilou Diaz-Abaya (Buwan)

* Best Actress – Lorna Tolentino (Abakada... Ina)

* Best Actor – Armando Goyena (Yamashita: The Tiger’s Treasure)

* Best Supporting Actress – Caridad Sanchez (Buwan)

* Best Supporting Actor – Carlo Muñoz (Yamashita)

* Best Child Actor – Jiro Manio (Buwan)

* Best Child Actress – Kristine Mangle (Buhay Kamao)

* Best Story – Shaira Salvador and Ramon Bayron (Abakada... Ina)

* Best Screenplay – Jun Lana and Ricky Lee (Buwan)

* Best Cinematography – Eduardo Jacinto (Buwan)

* Best Editing – Jesus Navarro (Buwan)

* Best Sound – Albert Michael Idioma and Rudy Gonzales (Buwan)

* Best Music – Nonong Buencamino (Buwan)

* Best Song – Pagdating ng Panahon (Aiza Seguerra)

* Best Production Design – Max Paglinawan and Fernan Santiago (Yamashita)

* Best Special Effects – Roadrunner Network, Inc. (Yamashita)

* Best Visual Effects – Roadrunner Network, Inc. (Yamashita)

Special Awards

* Eddie Garcia – Lifetime Achievement Award

* Geneva Cruz – Ciriaco Santiago Memorial Award

* Pablo Gomez – Dr. Jose R. Perez Memorial Award

* Dolphy – Lou Salvador, Sr. Memorial Award and Mula Noon Hanggang Ngayon Award (whatever that is!?!)

* Bonnie Paredes – Flavio Macaso Memorial Award

* Claudine Barretto and Dingdong Dantes – German Moreno Youth Achievement Award

* Sunshine Cruz – Star of the Night

* Melanie Marquez – Mother of the Night

* Serena Dalrymple – Child Star of the Night

There you are.

Stand by for the Urian Awards.