Pinay topbills MTV Asia action series

Filipino talents continue to make waves in various parts of the world, from America to Australia, and they are a good reason for you and me to be proud of being Filipino.

Add to the lengthening roster the name Mariel Rodriguez, 19, who bested more than 400 hopefuls from all over Asia for the lead role in an action-packed TV series entitled Rouge, to be produced for MTV Asia. It will premiere all over Asia (the Philippines included) in October.

The newest member of the growing Backroom, Inc. family, Mariel is the sister of Kaye Garcia, the pare girl (with Drew Arellano) in the Sunsilk commercial. Since she decided to join showbiz, Mariel has been getting lucky breaks. Her first commercial was for Close-Up Eucalyptus, starring Luis/Lucky Manzano.

As we all know, the Close-Up commercial has been the launching pad of celebrities, including Tonton Gutierrez, Dawn Zulueta, Gabby Concepcion, William Martinez, Rafael Rosell IV, Leandro Muñoz, Rudolf Yaptinchay and Brad Turvey. A few months after shooting the Close-Up commercial, Mariel sent her photos via e-mail to the producers of Rouge. Soon after, she was summoned to Singapore for the audition and was immediately cast as Pam, a "walking encyclopedia."

She has been in the Lion City since March, training in martial arts and attending acting/singing workshops. She’s now shooting for the first season of Rouge, good for 13 episodes, and there are plans to include Mariel in the second season.

Also with Mariel in Rouge (which is about five young female rock stars who are secret agents by night) are kababayan Denise Laurel, Singaporean Desiree Ann Siahaan as Ling (a former Special Forces captain), Vietnamese Veronica Ngo as Thuy (a martial arts expert) and Pamela Fields as Jazz (a computer wiz).

Next month, Mariel will come home to pursue a showbiz career.

"I want to try my luck at home," she said. "I love acting, dancing and hosting. I hope I can use the lessons I’ve learned in Singapore back home."

Gretchen has nothing to do with Willie’s ABC show

The Barretto war, with Gretchen on one side and the rest of the family on the other side (meaning that of Marjorie and husband Dennis Padilla), has gone out of bounds and unless all parties involved stop talking, the rift will surely grow bigger.

Gretchen and Claudine have said their pieces and so has the Barretto matriarch, Inday Barretto, who has apparently taken Claudine/Marjorie’s side. Inday minced no words against Gretchen in an interview last Sunday with The Buzz.

With due respect to the Barrettos (and so they can now lick their wounds in private and try to iron things out among themselves – away from the spotlight), Funfare is not making any more comment on the ugly issue every showbiz-watcher is now so familiar with.

It has been pointed out that the whole thing was triggered by a Funfare story last January about Willie Revillame having been quoted as saying that after he was junked by ABS-CBN’s noontime show MTB, he was "saved" by Gretchen who assured Willie that he’d be hired by ABC 5, the station owned by Gretchen’s beloved Tonyboy Cojuangco.

I just got a letter from Heidi F. Mendita, marketing/PR manager of Intellectual Property Ventures Group which is behind Willie’s Puso O Pera show on ABC 5. The letter clears Gretchen of any involvement in ABC’s hiring Willie. Here it is, in full:

Dear Mr. Lo,

It has come to our attention that there are rumors going around concerning our main host for the Puso O Pera interactive game show, Mr. Willie Revillame, as having been chosen due to influence of parties mentioned in your article today (July 19, 2004).

We would like to emphasize that Next Sequel Interactive (NSI) was not in any way influenced by any party or person in the choice of our hosts for the show. In fact, we chose Willie as host even prior to placing the show on ABC 5.

We hope that through this letter, we will be able to inform the public of the facts. We appreciate you giving us this opportunity to clarify our side.

Thank you very much.

Best regards,

– HEIDI F. MENDITA

Marketing/PR Manager

iPventures

Karen Loren off to more int’l tilts

Like her predecessors (Miriam Quiambao, etc.), 2002 Bb. Pilipinas-Universe Karen Loren Medrano Agustin has joined showbiz. She has been co-hosting It’s Chow Time, the new 30-minute late-morning show (11:30 to 12 noon, Monday through Friday) on IBC 13, with, among others, Marissa Sanchez and Bobby Yan. Will the movies be far behind?

Maybe that should wait, as Karen is again competing in some international contests (after representing the Philippines in the Miss Universe Pageant in 2002).

Here’s the latest on Karen from Funfare’s "beauty experts" Felix Manuel, Gery Yumping, Joey Cezare and Francis Calubaquib:

Karen left for the US last July 15 to represent the Philippines in two international contests: the International Modeling and Talent Association (IMTA) modelling contest in New York City (last July 24) and the Ninth World Coffee Queen International Pageant in Houston, Texas, on July 31.

Karen, along with two other Filipino models (2003 Bb. Bulacan and Bb. Pilipinas candidate Gladys Santos Cruz and Illinois-based Pinoy model Francois Filamor) joined other students/graduates of the prestigious John Robert Powers (JRP) member schools worldwide in the semi-annual IMTA meet (held in Hollywood every January and in New York every July).

Aside from her impressive beauty pageant achievements, Karen is also a graduate of JRP where she teaches personality development.

Candidates in the IMTA modelling contest compete in several categories like print, runway, make-up, swimwear, television and jeans.

From New York, Karen will proceed to Houston to compete for the World Coffee Queen International pageant on July 31. Some 23 contestants from as many countries will vie for the title which was won in 1996 by Venezuela’s Alicia Machado prior to her victory as Miss Universe 1996 in Las Vegas.

Karen was handpicked for the Houston tilt by Pageant Enthusiasts Guild of the Philippines (PEGPI), Philippine licensee to the World Coffee Queen pageant headed by David Natanawan and Ferdinand Abejon.

Karen was Miss Global Queen Philippines finalist in 2001, Bb. Pilipinas-Universe 2002, Miss Swimwear and fifth runner-up in the Miss Globe International 2002. She also has a degree in Legal Management from Ateneo de Manila and is the PR manager for LJC Restaurant Group.

"Karen is a rare combination of beauty and brains," said Abejon during the contract-signing between PEGPI and Agustin at California Funnel Cake Café & Bakeshop (which is owned and managed by 1970 Bb. Pilipinas-Universe Simonette de los Reyes-Ferraren). "We could not think of a beauty queen as prepared and qualified than Karen is for the upcoming pageant."

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