Pops & Martin: The magic is there — but only onstage

Curtain-raisers:

• Best wishes to the handsome (hunkish) Fil-Am singer who is getting married to his lovely non-showbiz girlfriend and giving up his career in the Philippines to settle down in Las Vegas.

• Is Jo-Ann Maglipon, YES! editor-in-chief, a "burden" to the Gokongweis’ family business (Summit Media) as a tab columnist hinted? Not at all, said Lisa Gokongwei who furnished Funfare this official statement: Jo-Ann Maglipon is a very important member of Summit Media and a close personal friend of the Gokongwei family. She will never be a burden to us. YES! is the third most-read local magazine in the Philippines today according to the Synovate Media Atlas study and Summit’s second most profitable because it is a fantastic editorial product. We are proud of Jo-Ann and her team and will support her without second thoughts any day.

• Humbled by a series of tragic events (her failed marriage to a lawyer, etc.) in the US, a sultry singer has come back for good. She’s no doubt one of the country’s most versatile songstresses, so I don’t think she’ll have a hard time picking up the pieces and making a successful comeback.

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As Funfare reported a few issues ago, ex-couple Pops Fernandez and Martin Nievera were a hit during their concert last Sept. 23 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut, produced by Group Ole’s Drs. Ramon and Ching Legarda (cousin of celebrity lawyer Katrina Legarda, legal counsel of Liz Almoro in her celebrated annulment case against husband Willie Revillame) in cooperation with Mohegan Sun’s Juliet Dayrit-Dizon and Teryl Ann Santos.

It was Pops and Martin’s first concert together after their nasty media word war over Pops’ daring pictorial in FHM magazine. Did sparks, uh, fly? Luckily, they did not. Neither was there any exchange of even veiled insults (the ex-couple are too professional to do that).

In fact, reported Funfare reader Grethel Bolandrina (who was in the 4,000-strong audience), there was "magic" and "unmistakable chemistry" between Pops and Martin who, throughout the concert, acted as if they never broke up at all. They didn’t give any hint at all if off stage there existed any "animosity" between them.

In her report, Bolandrina said that Pops and Martin have become "more passionate entertainers," with Pops teasing Martin after their opening number, "Nagsisisi ka na? (Are you sorry now?)," much to the amusement of the audience. To which Martin reacted with that "doublemint look" on his face, translating "sisi" (sorry) to "see, see!"

"It was bringing back what they used to do," added Bolandrina.

The repertoire included songs-to-fall-in-love-with like Sometimes When We Touch, Be My Lady, Almost Paradise, Tonight We Celebrate, Honesty, Forever, Nandito Ako and Bakit Ngayon Ka Lang.

Were the ex-couple comfortable with each other (even only onstage) because Pops’ boyfriend Jomari Yllana (or have they since broken up?) and Martin’s expectant girlfriend Katrina Ojeda (due to give birth to a boy named Santino very soon) were not around?

Even only for those two hours Pops and Martin were together weaving magic onstage, said Bolandrina, those in the audience entertained the illusion (wishful thinking?) that they would get back together again.

Yes, if only, if only, if only...!!!

A Roman holiday for Kaleldo team

Here’s a report from Funfare’s "roving correspondent" Ferdinand Lapuz on how the Filipino indie film Kaleldo, produced and directed by Brillante "Dante" Mendoza, fared at the (first) Rome International Film Festival:

I just came back from Rome where I attended the very first Rome Film Festival, held Oct. 13 to 21.

The Filipino Cinema was very well represented by two acclaimed Pinoy films. Briccio Santos' Ala Verde Ala Pobre starring Ana Capri which had its international premiere in Rome, and Brillante "Dante" Mendoza's Kaleldo (Summer Heat) which also had its world premiere at the festival at the same time opening the EXTRA program.

I was in Rome with Kaleldo lead actress Cherry Pie Picache (who drew acclaim for her heartfelt performance as a lesbian), production designer Benjamin Padero and direk Dante.

The first screening was held at the Petrassi Auditorium on Oct. 13 at 6:30 p.m. It had additional four screenings on Oct. 15 at the Metropolitan 4, Oct. 16 at the Antares, Oct. 17 at the Palmes and Oct. 18 at the Tristar. Former actress-comedienne Evelyn Vargas-Knaebel was present at the first screening.

We had the opportunity to walk down the red carpet on our opening night at around 6 p.m. The red carpet was later dominated by Oscar winner Nicole Kidman who was there for the opening film Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Airbus directed by Steven Shainberg. The film was screened in the Premiere section, out of competition.

An accident in one of Rome's Metro Lines happen on Oct. 17. In sharing the grief of the entire city, the director of the Rome Filmfest decided to suspend all scheduled events on that day apart from screenings and press conferences which were preceded by a minute of silence.

After our festival obligations, we decided to take a tour of Rome and Venice. Highlight of the trip was our tour of St. Peter's Basilica.

Our main tour guide, Jerry Arquisola (a friend of Cherry Pie's brother), introduced us to Fr. Rene C. Bron, MF, Cappallano, Cappella del Ss.nio Sacramento, Basilica di San Pietro. Fr. Rene "expressed" our tour at St. Peter's. We were able to avoid the queue in getting inside which could have taken several hours. It was an emotional moment for us visiting the tomb of Pope John Paul II beside that of St. Peter's.

Fr. Rene later told me that he also served as Vatican tour guide to Lipa City Mayor Vilma Santos and her family. He also said that he is now a textmate of Ate Vi!

Through Funfare, we would like to thank several Filipinos in Rome who supported us during our day stay: Fulvio and Auria "Nene" Flammini and their two daughters April and Jasmine who lent us their apartment after our festival stint; Filipino priest Fr. Czar Emmanuel Alvarez, OSA, who invited us to his residence at the VIA Paolo VI in Vatican where we had the best view of St. Peter's, including the room of Pope Benedict XVI; Benette Ramirez and Boyet Quilon who were also our tour guides; and Mr. and Mrs. Judito and Regina Estopacio who provided our transportation. They pick us up at 4 a.m. on Oct. 18 so we could catch our 6:20 a.m. flight.

From Rome, Kaleldo will screen at the Vienna Film Festival (with Lav Diaz's Heremias), Hawaii (Jeffrey Jeturian's Kubrador in competition, Kaleldo with Mike Sandejas' Tulad ng Dati in Filipino Focus) and Cairo (with Kubrador and Adolf Alix Jr.'s Donsol). Direk Dante’s next film, Manoro (The Teacher), is in competition at the Torino Film Festival in Italy Nov. 10 to 18.

Kaleldo, graded B by the Cinema Evaluation Board (CEB), also stars Johnny Delgado, Angel Aquino, Juliana Palermo, Alan Paule, Lauren Novero, Lisa Lorena and Criselda Volks. It has been rated R13 by the MTRCB and will open in Metro Manila on Nov. 1.

The pizza files

Rumor has it that two new pizza variants are causing a stir among consumers. This is surprising because with so many pizzas in the market today, how can someone still create something that will interest many pizza fans?

This is something that Greenwich knows exactly how to do, based on the tremendous success of its Primo Fully Loaded and Crunchy Crust pizzas. The formula? Generous servings of toppings made of the freshest and finest ingredients and a specially-baked crust are enough to make pizza lovers craving for more. I know I did!

I did crave for more so I happily indulged in slices of Primo Fully Loaded pizzas, which is my certified favorite. It’s not just very tasty but filling as well. I especially liked the crust, which was baked just right, it’s tender, tasty, and perfectly complements the massive serving of toppings, which I really enjoy.

Greenwich is simply delicious and the best part is that it’s not expensive like other pizzas. It’s no wonder Greenwich is so popular! Thanks to Greenwich, Filipinos enjoying delicious pizzas doesn’t mean it has to cost an arm and a leg!

Indeed, Greenwich offers Filipinos a wide variety of great-tasting pizzas at an affordable cost.

Now that’s not a rumor, that’s a fact.

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