Cher is here to stay

Curtain-raisers:

• Was it Pia Pilapil watching over Wendell Ramos during the taping of one of Wendell’s GMA shows? The Funfare DPA said that Pia wasn’t a guest on the show. Oh, well, maybe she was there as a "fan" of Wendell’s then?

• Pangako Sa’yo, topbilling Jericho Rosales and Kristine Hermosa, will end third week of September, to be replaced by a new soap called Bituin starring Nora Aunor. Kristine might have to take a much-needed rest due to a lung ailment (according to Jericho, correcting reports that Kristine was suffering from hepatitis).

• A reader who identifies himself simply as "Roxxiefoxy" corrected a recent Funfare item about Michael J. Fox being ill of Alzheimer’s Disease. Fox is sick of Parkinson’s Disease, like Muhammad Ali.

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Last Sunday on Studio 23, a sports show called Driven (1:30 to 2 p.m.) had its premiere, with Cher Calvin as host. The show doesn’t overlap with Sports Unlimited, hosted for ABS-CBN by Dyan Castillejo and Marc Nelson (Saturdays, 11:45 p.m.), which features all sorts of sports. Driven zeroes in on car-racing, specifically the Asian Formula Challenge.

"Jojo Silverio (an award-winning racer) is a good friend of mine," said Cher, "and I get a lot of tips and pointers from him. I’ve never done a sports show and I find Driven very exciting. I’m a sports fan, a lover of car-racing. But I’m just a spectator and never a participant. I think the fastest I’ve driven a car was at 100 miles per hour and that was in Paris."

The title of the show best describes Cher who’s as "driven" as any car-racer. She is full of energy, with her adrenalin level forever high. Reared in fast-paced New York, "the city that never sleeps," Cher is unstoppable, ever in pursuit of new challenges and exploring new territories.

Driven is her sixth show in the four years and a half that she has been on local television, starting with mornings@gma before she moved to ABS-CBN and its sister channels where she now hosts Points of View (with, among others, journalist Jessica Zafra) also on Studio 23, F (with Angel Aquino and Daphne Oseña-Paez) on ABS-CBN, and Dateline: Philippines and News Central (with Mari Kaimo and Ria Tanjuatco) both on ANC Channel.

Tied down by all these shows, Cher has no time to sulk and be homesick or to sustain a lovelife (her last boyfriend was a Fil-Am guy based in New York, with their long-distance romance flickering out before it could fully prosper).

"I must admit that during my first two years here," said Cher, "I wasn’t sure if I wanted to stay or go back to New York to be with my Dad (former actor Roger Calvin whose wife, Delia Santos, died of cancer several years ago; Cher is an only child who was born and grew up in Roosevelt Island, New York). I was homesick all the time. I’m used to living alone, doing everything for myself (the dishes, the laundry, etc.). I was missing my Dad who himself was living alone in New York."

Well, things have changed. Today, Cher is sure of herself and of what she wants – that is, stay here for good.

"I’ve just told my Dad that I’m not ready to go back to New York for a long time," smiled Cher. (Roger arrived four days ago for a month-long vacation during which he and Cher will discuss a business they’re planning to put up here – food business, most probably, "Because, as you know, we are Kapampangan.") "I’m already well-adjusted here. My career is going well and, even if I don’t have a lovelife, I’m happy with myself and with what I’m doing."

Cher has the looks and build of a movie star (having placed first runner-up in the 1994 Miss New York contest, winner of which went on to compete in the Miss USA contest whose winner competes in the Miss Universe Pageant) but no, thank you, she smiled again, "I’ll leave the acting to my Dad (who used to be a contract star of Lea Productions which paired him with the likes of Amalia Fuentes and Helen Gamboa in the late ’60s and early ’70s). I’m better off as a journalist."

GMA 7’s top 10 shows

The thrust of GMA 7 is "feel good," or so claimed GMA big boss Felipe Gozon, never mind if you and I sometimes – oftentimes! –want to puke everytime the SAKMO (Sige, Ano, Kaya Mo?) segment of Eat, Bulaga comes on. Obviously patterned after the US show Fear Factor, if I’m not mistaken, SAKMO asks (forces?) contestants to eat all sorts of unpalatable items, from raw meat (ugh!) to mushrooms on a plate full of worms (ugh!! ugh!!) to anything imaginable which, I presume, is not fit for human consumption (ugh!!! ugh!!! ugh!!!).

Or they ask (force?) contestants, eager to win big money (times are hard, so how can you blame them?), to retrieve ribbons from an elongated aquarium full of snakes (squirm!) and cels (squirm!! squirm!!) or other creepy creatures (squirm!!! squirm!!! squirm!!!).

The good news is that Eat, Bulaga has ended that stomach-turning segment and replaced it with a new one. Not to be outdone, rival MTB (ABS-CBN) followed suit with Oo, Kaya Ko (which asked (forced!) three Balikbayan contestants a few days ago to drink steaming-hot coffee, so hot that it could burn your throat and esophagus.

Anyway, Gozon conceded that Eat, Bulaga is one of GMA’s Top 10 shows, along with (at random now) Slam Dunk, Sana ay Ikaw Na Nga, Ang Iibigin ay Ikaw, Extra Extra, Bubble Gang, Kool Ka Lang, Idol Ko si Kap, Frontpage and Kung Mawawala Ka.

"Most of them are feel-good shows," pointed out Gozon over lunch at Mario’s Restaurant, "including our new show, Wish Ko Lang (hosted by Bernadette Sembrano) which is doing well in the ratings."

Gozon added that Charo Santos-Concio’s long-running drama show Maalaala Mo Kaya is "unbeatable" and they still have to come up with a show to match it.

What’s Up?

• Life in the city is so stressful, and after a day’s hard work, everybody deserves a break. Calle 5 Food Zone ("A Special Place for Special People") is always glad to entertain everyone with its daily live band presentation from sundown to the wee hours of the morning. Situated at 1328 A. Mabini Street, Ermita, Manila, Calle 5 Food Zone is very easy to locate. Tonight, Calle 5 invites people to watch "D Grand Finals" band competition participated in by at least six renowned bands in the city, including 1st Edition Band, Music Function, Ice Cube Band, Hand’s Off Band, Eyes Pink, and Glips. Aside from the competitors and Calle 5’s regular band performer surprise guests will surely entertain live band enthusiasts.

Sponsored by San Miguel Draft Beer, the live band competition is hosted by Bert Dominic.