Martin into 50s, marking ‘30’ with show

Curtain-raisers:

My Sundays will never be the same again effective Aug. 11 when Boots Anson-Roa and Willie Nepomuceno’s dzMM program Music & Memories will be taken off the air. How dare whoever made that (cruel!) decision! M&M has been enjoying quite a following all these years including Jose “Pete” Lacaba and his wife Marra Lanot, Fred de la Rosa, Chanda Romero, ABS-CBN PR exec Bong Osorio, Chanda Romero and Ronald Constantino, to name just a few. Some good things never last indeed, do they?

Could it be true that those behind a Popular/Quite/Controversial TV host are secretly negotiating with another network whose hot property (one of them) is moving to where PQCTVHost is now? Would it be case of swapping of talents? Would PQCTVHost’s show, if ever, he put on a late-afternoon timeslot before the newscast? Clue? PQCTVHost used to be a part of the network’s (defunct) noontime show.

Could it be true that Raymond Gutierrez is signing up with TV5? Raymond used to be a co-host of the terminated Sunday talk show H.O.T. TV on GMA (with which he didn’t have an exclusive contract). Stay tuned.

Here’s GMA’s official statement on Ogie Alcasid’s move to Kapatid TV5, from Butch Raquel, consultant of GMA’s Corporate Communications: As Ogie Alcasid moves to explore new grounds, GMA Network, his home for almost two decades, wishes him all the best. We thank him for being a part of the Network’s success all these years. His achievements as a singer, songwriter, comedian, host and actor make Ogie the icon that he is now. And the Kapuso Network is proud to have been with him throughout this journey.              

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When Martin Nievera met the press yesterday at the Magellan Room of the Discovery Suites, he “warned” everybody that his doctors had advised him to refrain from talking (due to some throat infection or something, maybe). But you know Martin, he’s not called Mr. Big Mouth for nothing. The moment he gets hold of a microphone, there’s no stopping him from…talking! Thank you!

He happily announced that he had lost considerable excess poundage by jogging and, sob and sigh, avoiding food that he love(s) most, and that’s a supreme sacrifice (vanity calls!) for somebody who loves to eat. Suffice it to say that he’s less than 150 lbs. now. Less a few more pounds and he will be fit (and fabulous!) for 3D (Tatlong Dekada) concert at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sept. 13 (a Friday), which celebrates his 30 years in showbiz, produced by Viva Live Inc. and Redstone Media Productions (with Rowell Santiago as director, Louie Ocampo as musical director and with the ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Gerald Salonga).

Like Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, I love Martin’s version of Kahit Isang Saglit (which he sang on the soundtrack of the Star Cinema movie of the same title) and I hope he includes that song in his repertoire. Even if I have listened to it a hundred times, that song never fails to make me cry (huhuhuhu!!!). Years from now when we’re old and grey (hindi pa ba? hehehe!), I’ll get teary-eyed humming the song in moments of bitter-sweet recollection. By then, Martin will surely sound the same way he does today.

Asked how “young” he is, Martin said, “How young??? Very! I am the new 31 (so that’s 51), hehehe!”

Bless Martin for being among the very, very few artists (in fact, the only artist) who make writers’ job easier. Included in the presskit distributed yesterday was a list of the “31 Highlights” of a colorfully checkered career, drawn by Martin himself. Here it is:

1. My first ever concert — Wanted Martin Live at the Folk Arts Theater, Aug. 21, 1983;

2. My first ever repeat of the same show — Sept. 19, 1983;

3. Being the winning interpreter for the song of Alvina Sy’s Pain in the 6th MetroPop, 1984. Then 18 years later competing again for the MetroPop and winning for the song Pag-Uwi by Joey Ayala and Louie Ocampo;

4. My first ever long-playing album with Vicor Records, Take One;

5. My first time to do a concert in front of 55,000 people, Martin’s Rage, University of Life Football Field, March 17, 1984;

6. My first ever TV Show, Penthouse Live with Pops, on GMA-7;

7. The opening of the U.L.T.R.A., On The Right Track, Oct. 20, 1984; then repeating it in 1994;

8. Performing in the same venue Elvis Presley did on my first US tour six days before becoming a first-time father, at the Henry J. Kaiser Auditorium San Francisco, California, USA, Nov. 24, 1986;

9. My very first talk show, Martin After Dark, GMA-7;

10. My very first movie, Always & Forever, with Pops, June 26, 1986;

11. Harrah’s, Reno, Nevada;

12. My very first time as a regular on the main strip of Hawaii at the Outrigger Hotel, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1988-1989;

13. Being one of the first artists to start the new ABS-CBN;

14. First episode of ASAP, Feb. 5, 1995, ABS-CBN;

15. Martin Late @ Night, ABS-CBN;

16. Passing out fliers in shopping malls all over America to introduce this new thing called “TFC;”

17. Being the first TFC Ambassador.

18. US tour with Regine Velasquez and US tour with Pops Fernandez, same venue and same cities in same year only four months apart in 2004;

19. Being the first solo artist to do 71 sold-out shows, OnStage, Greenbelt Makati;

20. My comeback concert tour with Crossover’s, XVII, XVIII, XV4EVER, at Folk Arts Theater, Araneta Coliseum and University of Life Football Field;

21. AS1 at the MOA concert grounds and US tour, and repeat at the Araneta Coliseum with Gary V., my sons Robin and Ram, Kiana, and Gary’s children  Paolo and Gab V;.

22. Singing the National Anthem at the Pacquiao-Hatton bout at MGM in Las Vegas;

23. What Love Is concert tour with Sarah Geronimo;

24. Tribute concert at Resort’s World Manila;

25. ASAP 18th anniversary show;

26. Once In A Lifetime with Sharon Cuneta at the Araneta Coliseum;

27. All For One with Side A at the Araneta Coliseum;

28. X-Factor;

29. Foursome concert with Pops, Regine and Ogie Alcasid at MOA Arena;

30. The return of Martin Late @ Night; and

31. Opening the Solaire, working with Lionel Richie!