Aubrey: Peace on earth and goodwill to gossip-mongers!

It sounds corny – you know, "very Miss Universe" – but when Aubrey Miles turned a year wiser last Sunday, March 16, her only wish was: Peace be with you; sana there won’t be any war. And to detractors who have been trying – in vain – to pull her down, this message: Goodwill to them – and good luck!

Ironically, the harder her detractors try to drag her down, the higher Aubrey goes.

After her first solo starier (Prosti) late last year, Regal Films lined up for her quick follow-ups: Una at Huli (with Richard Gomez) shooting of which has been temporarily stopped; and the trilogy Xerex (the tabloid sex adviser), directed by Mel Chionglo, which shows Aubrey at her most daring and most "baring," as if to say to those trying-hard pa-sexy upstarts: If you don’t have the same, uh, merchandise, better get lost.. pronto!

Her detractors have been harping and harping on Aubrey being an "unwed mother" (Dr. Vicki Belo said that Aubrey didn’t have any "stretch marks") but does it matter if she is or she isn’t? Rosanna Roces has three children but it doesn’t diminish her sexiness and acting talent, does it?

Don’t look now but another "sensational/shocking" news about Aubrey is about to erupt any time now. Did you know that Aubrey has "starred" in a sex video?

"I have a copy of that video," said Aubrey. "No, not just one copy but two copies, one shot daw in Japan and the other in Singapore. The first one featured a Japanese girl who, I must admit, looks like me; and the other one naman, a Chinese girl na medyo kahawig ko. I watched the tapes again and again. Very boring! I threw them away."

Since the release of Prosti in October last year, everything, so to speak, has been coming up roses for Aubrey despite the sticks and stones hurled at her. She’s featured in three calendars (FHM, Ginebra and Bench), she has done print commercials (Mendrez shoes, etc.), she’s now among the co-hosts of the ABS-CBN noontime show Masayang Tanghali Bayan (MTB) and she’s busy with two movies.

She talked with unbridled excitement about Xerex which is made up of the episodes Butas (with macho model Jon Hall), Kama (with Jake Roxas) and O (with Khalani Ferrerie).

"In Butas, I play an elevator girl, with Jon (with whom Aubrey went out thrice in a group date) as the guy of my fantasy. Jon and my sex scenes happen mostly in my imagination.

"In Kama, Jake and I play happy-go-lucky students. Jake fools around with girls but he can’t get me. Instead, I tease him to death; hanggang teasing-teasing lang ang love scenes namin.

"In O, I run away with Khalani before I can be married to a guy I don’t love because he can’t satisfy me in bed. It’s Khalani who can. We match in bed. Our love scenes are sobrang grabe; iba’t-ibang positions. After the shooting, I ached all over from all the contortions. Nakakapagod talaga!"

Juicy stories from my e-mail

Meanwhile, here are some interesting reports from Funfare readers:

• From Heath Hamlin (who describes himself as "an avid theater-goer in New York and a supporter of Asian-American efforts on Broadway"):

It might interest your readers to know that the hit Broadway revival of Flower Drum Song, starring Filipina actress Lea Salonga, closed last night (March 16) at the Virginia Theater with a bang. Playing to a sell-out crowd, cheers and wild applause erupted after Ms. Salonga bowed, indicating the end of the Broadway run of this classic Rodgers & Hammerstein musical that opened to critically-acclaimed performances in Los Angeles two years ago. The night before the final performance, the show was recorded for the archives of the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts, a testament to how important this groundbreaking work is in the field of theater arts. According to a Flower Drum Song spokesperson, national and international tours are already in the works and everyone hopes that Ms. Salonga will accept the invitation to play the starring role in these tours. Your countrymen should be proud of the hard work Ms. Salonga put in and the corresponding acclaim she received for being part of this worthwhile endeavor. I hope you are able to correct the wrong impressons inadvertently generated by your Feb. 26 article regarding the closing of the show.

• From Tricia Santillan-Divinagracia:

I would just like to inform you that Martin Nievera and Regine Velasquez’s concert last Saturday, March 15, at the Cox Arena (in California) was a huge success, despite the pouring rain. The venue was packed and I honestly think that the concert was really worth watching. Mr. Nievera was very entertaining; he was being himself, as usual. He gave justice to all the songs that he sang. He’s still the best balladeer in our country and we are proud of him. Ms. Velasquez amazed everyone with her singing, reaching those high notes very easily! Everyone was also mesmerized with the sexy yet elegant gowns that she wore during the concert... plunging necklines and low backs! But that didn’t divert the crowd’s attention to the way she sounded on stage. Way to go, Regine! You are truly Asia’s Songbird!

What’s up?

• Condolence to colleague Letty Celi-Reyes whose father, Gelacio Celi, 93, of Bolinao, Pangasinan, died the other day. His remains lie at the Funeraria Dayao on Bayani Galas corner Batanes Streets, Balic-Balic, Sampaloc, Manila.

• Reacting to the Funfare readers who clarified that it was Evangeline Pascual who came closest to winning the Miss World title in 1973 by finishing second to USA’s Marjorie Wallace (who was dethroned, paving the way for Evangeline but Evangeline politely declined), "beauty expert" Joey Cezeare said that what he and his three companions (Gery Yumping, Francis Calubaquib and Felix Manuel) meant was that Ruffa Gutierrez was the first Binibining Pilipinas who almost won the Miss World crown by placing third (to Miss South Africa) in 1993. Evangeline was a Miss Philippines, not a Binibini. Joey is right.

• John Lapuz shouldn’t be blamed for any item that comes out in the Stop Me! segment of The Buzz because he’s not the one "voicing" that segment. It’s somebody else (but I won’t say who).

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