Valentine wedding for Juday & Ryan

Curtain-raisers:

• Have you ever wondered why Mel Tiangco looks so "appealing" on GMA’s 24 Oras and Magpakailanman? Yes, it’s love. A Funfare DPA said that the man in Mel’s life has something to do with "appeals."

•Add Rommel Padilla to the list of showbiz guys intending to run in next May’s elections. Rommel plans to run either for councilor or for vice mayor in Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija, hometown of her mom Eva Cariño.

•What do Gloria Romero and Jennylyn Mercado have in common? They’re both suffering from vertigo.

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BREAKING NEWS: Judy Ann Santos and Ryan Agoncillo, both 28, are indeed seriously talking about marriage and, unless they change plans, they want to tie the knot on Valentine’s Day next year.

Well and good. The two have been going steady for a few years now, enough time for them to know each other inside-out.

As far as Funfare knows, Ryan is Juday’s very first serious relationship; the others were just, well, ho-hum!

These past few months, the sweethearts have been hinting that, yes, they’re discussing marriage but they haven’t revealed the date – until now.

"What could be more romantic than getting married on the Day of Hearts?" said the Funfare DPA who’s close to the couple.

Well, this early Funfare is sending its best wishes to Juday and Ryan who are, you will agree, perfect for each other.

Pops and Martin are now ‘okay’

Glad to hear the good news that the concert of ex-couple Pops Fernandez and Martin Nievera last Sept. 23 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut, USA, went well.

According to Funfare’s Big Apple correspondent Edmund Silvestre (news editor of The Filipino Reporter, the No. 1 Filipino newspaper in the East Coast), tensions did run high prior to the show because, as everybody knows, Pops and Martin got involved in a word war after Pops’ FHM magazine pictorial came out.

"Okay na sila," Edmund quoted Dr. Ramon Legarda, producer of the Connecticut concert, as saying. "They have talked. There was some tension, all right, but Pops and Martin are such professionals that they put their emotions aside and buckled down to work. They were civil to each other."

According to Edmund, Pops and Martin arrived in New York separately on Sept. 22 in time for the rehearsals, with Martin coming from Las Vegas where he’s based with girlfriend Katrina Ojeda and where he’ll soon have a six-days-a-week show at the Aladdin Strip Central, and Pops from Manila after wrapping her scenes for Regal Films’ 2006 Metro Filmfest entry Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah where she plays the sultry head villainess Queen Femina.

"They came without their partners," added Edmund. "Katrina was too heavy with child to travel; she’s giving birth in November to a boy to be named Santino. Pops’ boyfriend Jomari Yllana was not on the official list of Pops’ entourage."

Dr. Legarda and Edmund (and those who watched the concert as well) agreed that even if they have separated and leading separate lives, the Pops-Martin music lingers on in the hearts of their fans. "Their team-up remains unbeatable and bankable," said Edmund.

What’s up?

• Is Loren Legarda, ranked No. 1 among possible senatoriables, running in next May’s elections despite her pending 2004 election protest against Vice President Noli de Castro? Does she have any more untold stories from the 2004 campaign when she ran as vice presidential running-mate of the late FPJ? What "bombs" will she detonate? All these – and more – tomorrow (Oct. 5) night when Loren engages young Filipino-Chinese entrepreneurs of Anvil Business Club in Greenhills, San Juan, Metro Manila, in an exciting dinner dialogue. The only two other showbiz figures invited by Anvil to a dialogue were Regal Matriarch Mother Lily and Lipa City Mayor Vilma Santos.

(E-mail reactions at [email protected])