Who will be ‘The Next Anna Bayle’?

In January next year, Ruffa Gutierrez will host the one-season Philippines’ Next Top Model (on RPN 9, produced by Solar Entertainment), patterned after the US reality-TV show America’s Next Top Model. That was what Ruffa came home for last month (to sign the contract).

Along this line, Anna Bayle is now also in the final stage of negotiations with US TV executives for the production of a reality-TV show called The Next Anna Bayle which will focus on the search for the next Asian supermodel. (Come to think of it, isn’t it a good idea for either GMA or ABS-CBN to have Anna host a Philippine version of the show?) The winner will get a modeling contract with the hottest modeling agency (unnamed) in New York.

The show is perfect for Anna who holds the distinction of being the first not only Filipina but Asian model to make it to the international ramp, drawing oh’s and ah’s from audiences in the world’s fashion capitals (New York, Paris, Milan, etc.) with what Anna called her batis style of walking (actually, "gliding") inspired by the dainty women balancing basin-ful of laundry on their heads.

Although now semi-retired, Anna’s status as a supermodel has remained unchallenged, duly noted in a front-page story entitled Model’s Chinese Looks Were an Instant Hit Everywhere but China in the Sept. 7, 2006 issue of The Wall Street Journal (TWSJ) about Du Juan, a 5’11" charmer from Shanghai. Asian faces had been a rarity on Western runaways, in magazine features and in ad campaigns. Earlier, there was Anna Bayle, a Filipina who reached supermodel status in the (early ’80s), reads part of the TWSJ story.

"I’m flattered," Anna told Funfare in an exclusive phone interview.

Anna finished runner-up to Suzanne Gonzalez (who became an actress) in the 1975 Miss Republic of the Philippines contest before she tried her luck as a model in US.

I can think of only one other Filipina, Melanie Marquez, who closely followed in Anna’s footsteps. Melanie finished first runner-up in the Search for a Supermodel in the mid-’80s but her career as an international model was nipped in the bud when she decided to come home to embark on a showbiz career.

Meanwhile, let’s wait and see who "The Next Anna Bayle" will be.

Dayanara one of Top 10 Latin Stars in US

Have you ever wondered whatever happened to Dayanara Torres?

Here’s the latest on the former Miss Universe (1993) and former Mrs. Marc Anthony, from Funfare’s New York correspondent Edmund Silvestre:

Dayanara Torres has been named as one of The 10 Latin Stars who are set to shine on American television this season, the New York Post reported this week.

The list, topped by America Ferrera of the new ABC series Ugly Betty, ranked Dayanara No. 6. The Puerto Rican beauty stars on MyNetwork TV’s Watch Over Me that premieres in December.

The entry on Dayanara reads: "She had a very public divorce from Marc Anthony, but former Miss Universe Dayanara Torres is determined to put that past her. She is hoping that being cast in Watch Over Me is the ticket. Torres portrays Julia, a woman caught in a love triangle between her fiancé and the man he hires to protect her. Hmm, they say art imitates life."

The entry describes Dayanara’s hot factor: "Simply gorgeous, but can she act?"

Aside from her acting stints in the Philippines, Dayanara appeared last year in The Young and the Restless and currently serves as spokesperson for various advertising campaigns across the globe.

Also in the list of Top 10 Latin Stars to watch are Sara Ramirez, Natalie Martinez, Gina Torres, Alexis Cruz, Jay Hernandez, Franky G, Alana de la Garza and Ramon Rodriguez.

Another Pinoy making it in US

From reader Fernando Lerma comes this interesting news about his son Ronald Patrick Lerma, 19, a Fil-Am who won the First Asian Idol contest in Reston, Virginia, in July last year.

"Ron is no stranger to winning competitions," wrote Fernando. "As the youngest competitor in the first Micronesia Mall Singing Contest in Guam, Ron, then nine years old, beat singers five times his age and took the grand prize with his piece One Moment in Time (by Whitney Houston). One of his recent performances was in the Philippine-American Idol Singing Contest during the Philippine Independence Day celebration in Washington D.C., where he placed close second. One of the judges called him ‘The Josh Groban of the Philippines’ because he sang Groban’s song Broken Vow. Ron is majoring in Business Law. He’s a Dean’s List regular."

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