Mark gets his wish

From an initial 1,000-plus trimmed down to 40 and then to 30 and finally to only seven pairs (seven males and seven females), one pair beautifully survived the Starstruck challenge, touted by GMA 7 as a "primetime phenomenon" (it was – and how!), in a packed-to-the-rafters Araneta Coliseum last Sunday night. The artista search, patterned after such "reality TV" shows in the US as the widely-popular American Idol, has ushered in a new generation of showbiz aspirants who, even if they were virtual unknowns at the start of the telecast late last year, have attracted their own following.

And the winners who hurdled the "Final Judgment," with a three-man Starstruck Council (Joey de Leon, director Joyce Bernal and Ida Henares, head of the GMA Artists Center) as judges, with votes texted by televiewers making up 50 percent of the final tabulation, were – drum roll, please! – Mark Angelo Herras, 17, and Jennylyn Mercado, 16. The two other members of the so-called "F4" (as in the Final Four) – Rainier Castillo, 18, and Yasmien Kurdi, 16 – and the 10 other semi-finalists (included in the Big Dome show) are winners in their own right because all 14 Starstruck survivors are now under contract with GMA which is soon putting up their own TV show.

The big crowd that filled up the Big Dome was the glaring proof of the Starstruck phenomenon. The two-hour show sizzled with youthful energy and exuberance, punctuated by cheers and screams of delight from a largely teen audience, reminiscent of the fan mania generated by Guy & Pip/Vi & Bot in the early ‘70s. Are we coming full circle?

The boyish and handsome Mark (5’8", 130 lbs.) confessed in a STAR interview that he joined Starstruck for the P500,000 cash prize at stake (including, among others, a managerial contract with GMA worth P1 million a year), half of what his father, former banker Claudio Herras, Jr., lost in the pyramid scheme (with the Evelyn Mateo group).

"But after Starstruck," admitted Mark, a high school senior at La Salle Dasma, "I’ve learned to love showbiz."

Jennylyn (5’4", 105 lbs.) got the same prizes.

You see, it pays to, as the Starstruck blurb said, Dream... Believe...but it’s now up to Mark and Jennylyn (and their 12 co-survivors) to Survive in the bigger, more challenging and more relentless dog-eat-dog world of showbiz.

The next challenge: Will they, can they, survive?

Only Time will tell.

Another Winner

Hardly anybody noticed that the Philippine bet, Carlene Ang Aguilar, finished second runner-up (third place) in the Miss Chinese International contest held last month in Hong Kong.

"Carlene, the first Miss Philippines-Earth (2001)," reports Funfare’s "beauty correspondent" Celso de Guzman Caparas, "also won the Best Smile Award and landed among the Top Five in the finals’ Talent Competition."

"We are off to a good start," said Gerry Diaz, Chief Correspondent of Mabuhay Beauties Message Board www.voy.com/61263<http://www.voy.com/61263>. "The Hong Kong contest drew 21 candidates from Brisbane, Taipei, Malaysia, Sydney, Bangkok, Tahiti, Seattle, Los Angeles, Frankfurt, Montreal, Auckland, Vancouver, Calgary, Chicago, Singapore, Toronto, Hong Kong, New York, Melbourne, Lima and Manila."

Here’s the full report from Funfare’s "beauty experts" Joey Cezeare, Gery Yumping, Francis Calubaquib and Felix Manuel:

Carlene Ang Aguilar, representing Manila, Philippines, was named second runner-up at the 2004 Miss Chinese International Beauty Pageant held at the TVB Studios in Hong Kong last Jan. 17.

The 21-year-old former Miss Philippines-Earth (2001) and one-time mainstay of ABS-CBN’s gag show Klasmeyts became the first delegate from the Philippines to make it to the Top Three in the 16-year history of the annual beauty pageant for women of Chinese parentage from all over the world. Standing 5’8" and measuring 35-24-36, Carlene displayed impeccable charm to also win the Best Smile Award.

The coveted Miss Chinese International 2004 title went to Linda Chung Ka-Yun, 19, of Vancouver, Canada. Standing 5’8" and measuring 34-24-34, Chung, a university student who wants to be a teacher or actress, succeeded last year’s winner, Rachel Tan of Malaysia to become the third Chinese beauty from Vancouver in four years to capture the crown.

Named first runner-up was Mandy Cho Mun-Lei, 21, a college student who wants to be a successful fashion designer; she was also voted by her fellow-contestants as Miss Friendship.

Rounding up the five finalists were pre-pageant favorites Vivien Yeo Siew Hui, 19, of Malaysia; and Jessica Xu Jing Jie, 19, of Los Angeles, USA.

A total of 21 contestants worldwide competed in the beauty pageant that served as a prelude to Hong Kong’s Year of the Monkey celebrations last Jan. 22.

Carlene, who traces her Chinese origins to Fujian province, is taking up Arts Studies at the University of the Philippines-Diliman; she hopes to be a successful media practitioner someday. A Top Ten finalist and Best in Long Gown winner at the 2001 Miss Earth Beauty Pageant, Carlene was the personal choice of ace fashion director Robbie Carmona and pageant events organizer Rodgil Flores to be Manila’s official delegate to this year’s Miss Chinese International tilt; Carmona was commissioned by the City of Manila’s Tourism Council, the local franchise holder to the Hong Kong pageant.

According to Carlene’s happy and proud mom, Katharin Ang-Aguilar, her daughter recited a Mandarin poem for the talent portion. What was impressive about her performance was that Carlene didn’t know a word in Mandarin; Mrs. Aguilar also attended the finals in Hong Kong.

For the record, previous Manila bets to the Miss Chinese International tilt were: Marina Benipayo a.k.a. Pang Mei Yuk (1988); Angela Toh On-Kai (1989); Ma Ka Po (semi-finalist, 1992); Sun Dat Lin (1993); Miu Lok-Sze (Miss Friendship, 1994); Ivy Tan Vhong (2000); Genevieve Khu Siao (2001); Diane Louise Shen Yu (2002); and Grace Lee Keng-Hei (Miss Oriental Charm, 2003).

And More Winners

Besides our homegrown beauties, Filipino films are also turning heads in international film festivals, as culled from the following report by Funfare’s Toronto-based "international correspondent" Ferdinand Lapuz:

2004 is off to a good start for Filipino movies in the international festival circuit. Chito Roño‘s Dekada ’70 has been ranked seventh in the Audience Award for narrative features in the recently-concluded Palm Springs International Film Festival.

Palm Springs presents almost all of the official submissions to the Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars. There were more than 100 narrative films in Palm Springs this year and being ranked seventh sounds promising for Dekada. Hopefully, this gives us a chance in getting our first nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.

Maryo J. delos Reyes’ Magnifico and Joel Lamangan’s Ang Huling Birhen sa Lupa (The Last Virgin) both competed for the ASEAN Golden Kinnaree Award at this year’s Bangkok International Film Festival from Jan. 22 to Feb. 1.

From Bangkok, Magnifico will vie for the Golden Crystal Bear Award at the Kinderfilmfest Section of the 2004 Berlin International Film Festival from Feb. 5 to 15. I think Magnifico is the lone Filipino movie at this year’s Berlinale. It will open theatrically in the US by late April or early May. I am now helping represent three of the best films of Filipino Cinema in 2003. Along with Magnifico, I am now helping Mario O’Hara’s Babae sa Breakwater (produced by Edgar and Arlene Aguas’ Entertainment Warehouse Inc.) and Jeffrey Jeturian’s Bridal Shower (from Robbie Tan’s Seiko Films).

I will also represent the digital film Duda (Doubt), the directorial debut of Chris Pablo, a resident director of GMA’s I Witness. I have seen the film and it is very well made (considering the budget) and interesting. Personally, I don’t think it deserves the X-rating from the MTRCB. Some of the actors in the film include ABS-CBN’s resident director Andoy Ranay and movie writer Rey Pumaloy.

By the way, kudos to the MMFF 2003 for showing the best batch in the past 20 years. I was able to watch only six of the nine entries. I will try to do better this December.

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