The Madz wows ’em in Canada

The scene: Powell River, Canada. The event: The International Choral Kathaumixw. The performers: The Philippine Madrigal Singers.

Halfway through the performance of the world-renowned singing group, the audience rose to its feet in a thunderous standing ovation that broke the festival’s protocol of "no applause during performances." This was typical of how the Madrigal Singers or the Madz, as they are fondly called, were received at every turn of their recently concluded North American tour.

Now they’re back. And they’re throwing a party called Mad About Madz. The concert will be held at the Main Theatre of the CCP on Oct. 12 and 13 at 8 p.m. Mad About Madz is the Madrigal Singers’ way of entertaining fans and reaching out to people who have not been to a Madrigal concert.

As with all their ventures, the Madrigal Singers are staging the concert with a whole lot of style. This one will feature a side of the Madz few people may not have seen since the concert will feature the singing group doing pop numbers. Aside from their much-heralded classical masterpieces, their repertoire includes pop songs such as Anak, Buko Nut and Overdrive. Jon Santos will guest as well as flutist Ray Sison.

Tickets to Mad About Madz are available at P600, P500, P400, 300, P200 and P150 and are available at the CCP box office, at SM Ticketnet outlets, iO KTV or call Actium Office at 890-7649 or 895-1355.

Dominic and Belinda

Dominic Ochoa and Belinda Panelo have not a few things in common: high-profile supporting roles in the Piolo Pascual and Donita Rose starrer Nine Mornings (a pre-Christmas offering of Star Cinema directed by Joey Reyes from an award-winning script from Ton Sison that unreels on Oct. 16) plus an attitude that, while not really laidback, regards celebrity with a refreshing lack of fixation. Given their peer group’s obsession with arriving at fame through the shortest possible route, this can only be seen as downright cool.

"Of course, we all want to enjoy long and successful careers in show business," says Dominic, "but that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to pursue it with doggedness at the expense of prudence and propriety."

Adds Belinda, "Patience has always been regarded as a virtue, and things will happen if you supplement that with hard work." These two may as well be proof of that. The boyishly-handsome Dominic has earned good notices from show business observers (he acquitted himself wonderfully in his small role in Star Cinema’s Tanging Yaman and won the Best Drama Actor in a Drama Series for Star Awards) but also a faithful public that has seen him through his early TV stints (Esperanza, Gimik, Kaybol, Labs Ko si Babe) to his current outings as a host on Magandang Tanghali Bayan and as a mainstay in the top-rating Whattamen. He has also starred in various blockbusters for Star Cinema including Got to Believe and Jologs.

For her part, Belinda has gone from her early stints as a commercial model (she has done commercials, among others for Smart, Whisper, Royal Spaghetti, Nova chips and Coke as the "Hanggang bridesmaid ka lang!" girl) to a brilliant career as an MTV VJ and actress.

She hosts numerous shows for the music channel including Classic MTV, MTV Mush and Be Seen @ MTV and played Isabel Borromeo in the soap opera Sa Puso Ko Iingatan Ka. She is also a credible product endorser, having lent her name to companies like National Panasonic, Close-up and Pantene Shampoo.

Recently, Belinda came home from New York where she enrolled in the prestigious New York Film Academy for a course in advanced acting (which includes lessons on film, TV and stage acting featuring several acting techniques like Stalisnavsky, Method etc.)

Fashion and design contest

The Philippine Fashion and Design Council, headed by top designer Randy Ortiz, in cooperation with the Garments and Textile Export Board (GTEB) of the Department of the Industry invites young Filipino designers to join the Philippine Fashion and Design Competition 2002.

Filipino designers not more than 35 years old by December 2002 with an education background in any fashion and design course or with fashion design apprenticeship and or profession of at least two years are qualified. Application forms are available at Megamall Building A, Glorietta 2 (telefax 752 7336) and at Lulu Tan Gan (tel. 810-3590). There is an application fee of P500 per designer.

The Philippine Fashion and Design Competition 2002 is a national search for young designers providing an opportunity for designers to be one of the five finalists to represent the Philippines in an international fashion designers’ competition billed Concours International Des Jeunes Createurs de Mode. This prestigious competition will be held in Paris in December. Winners in this competition will be awarded fashion scholarships.