Raring for more

Even if you hold the Box-Office Queen title in 2004 (thanks to the 2003 Metro Filmfest blockbuster Ang Tanging Ina), you don’t relax. You keep on going.

For Ai Ai delas Alas, this means wishing with all her heart she bags the same title this year, care of Ang Tanging Ina N’yong Lahat (which earned P197-M in last year’s Metro Filmfest).

“That’s for those who say I got my 2004 Box-Office Queen title because of pure luck,” explains Ai Ai. “If I earn the title the second time, people will stop saying everything happened by chance. They will be convinced it’s now for real.”

She’s joking, of course. Figures don’t lie. Even ABS-CBN Chairman and CEO Eugenio ‘Gabby’ Lopez III got so bowled over he personally handed a check worth millions of pesos as bonus to his prized star.

Now, all the hurt she used to feel for ABS-CBN is water under the bridge. With the superstar treatment she’s getting, that comes as no surprise.

Neither is it a surprise that the generous Ai Ai didn’t keep her recent windfall to herself. She shared the bonus with those she holds dear and the Missionaries of Charity, which Ai Ai helps regularly.

Part of the money also went to renovating Ai Sarap, the restaurant-bar across ABS-CBN which Ai Ai owns.

“I’m expanding it,” reveals Ai Ai. She’s also making sure more people know about it.

That’s why Ai Ai will perform in a Valentine show there dubbed as Ai Lab U! on Friday, Feb. 13. The place’s 150 seating capacity is peanuts to Ai Ai, who has filled up the Araneta Coliseum and other bigger venues.

“I might not be able to fill up Ai Sarap,” she jokes.

Turning serious, Ai Ai says she’ll go acoustic, with some performers warming up the crowd before she mounts the stage. After all, one can’t get resort to elaborate numbers in intimate venues like hers is.

“But I have another bonus,’ Ai Ai winks.“I’m offering delicious dinner for the price of only P1,000 per ticket holder.”

She’ll just have time to rest a bit and catch up on sleep. The next day, Feb. 14, Ai Ai will perform with Rico J. Puno, Pilita Corrales and Rufa Mae Quinto at Manila Hotel.

On Feb. 16, Ai Ai then turns over a new leaf as a TV host. She and Ruffa Gutierrez pilot their new daily morning talk show, Ruffa & I on ABS-CBN at 10:30 a.m.

Ai Ai promises to act as foil to the eternally poised Ruffa through her trademark antics and irreverent comments.

“Let’s put it this way,” says Ai Ai. “I’ll be my idol, Ellen Degeneres – as kooky as can be. Ruffa will be Oprah, serious and sober.”

If Ruffa is the epitome of class, Ai Ai promises to stand for Juana dela Cruz. The rich and the poor will find a voice and a face.

So, too, will the devoted mother working far away to feed her children. Ai Ai will follow up Ang Tanging Ina N’yong Lahat with a Metro Filmfest entry that will cast her as an OFW, again in time for the December festival.

There’s no slowing down for Ai-Ai. And she’s beside herself with joy.

“My late Dad must be asking God to take good care of me,” muses Ai Ai.

And when the blessings come, she is ready to receive it with open arms.

“I never reject blessings. It’s not right,” Ai-Ai reasons out.

So let the good times roll. Ai Ai will be there, laughing out loud.