Take two from One Up

Curtain-raisers:

• Has a comebacking young actor acquired a bad habit Down Under? He ignores requests for interviews and, lately, has been giving the schedule handler of a TV series a tough time. He doesn’t keep time and plays hard-to-trace. One time, he made his co-stars wait on the set in Bulacan. It turned out that he overslept. A show staff knocked on the door of the condo unit he was booked in for so long that, in exasperation, he was tempted to break down the door to wake him up. He showed up somewhat groggy on the set with hardly any apology. Shouldn’t the network bid him goodbye and good riddance?

• Has a certain TV-movie actress become swell-headed (stardom can be intoxicating, right?)? A Funfare DPA said that the actress demanded that a basket of fruits should be ready as soon as she arrived at her dressing room. “She acted like the royalty that she never was and never would be,” said the DPA. When a dashing senior actor (a guest on the show) teased her, the actress ordered a staffer to “warn” the actor, “Hindi kami close kaya huwag niya ako bibiro-biruin.” The actress is now one show less. Serves her right.

• How time flies! You blink and when you look again, the baby girl you used to pinch affectionately on the cheek has grown up — and directing a movie. I’m talking about Peach Caparas (photo), the daughter of the late Donna Villa and Komiks King Carlo J. Caparas (a.k.a. Golden Couple after the name of their company, Golden Lions Films). Peach has just directed her maiden work, Jacqueline Comes Home: The Chiong Story, which is about the much-talked-about/widely-publicized 1997 Cebu case of the Chiong sisters who, according to the court decision, were kidnapped, raped and murdered. Did you know that Donna had just delivered Peach at the time Golden Lions was shooting The Vizconde Massacre, one of the company’s smash movies about true crime stories?

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Dave (left) and Brent (right) are also part of several Kapuso shows

Isn’t the music scene overpopulated with bands?

Oh well, there’s always a room for one more.

Make way for GMA’s promising boy band One Up which will have its first major concert titled All in One Up on Aug. 24 at the Skydome.

One Up members Kevin Sagra, Nikki Co, Brent Valdez, Joemarie Nielsen, Arjan Jimenez, Ralf King, Prince Clemente, Yasser Marta, Jay Arcilla, and Dave Bornea are expected to showcase their individual talents apart from their harmonies as a group. Produced by GION Prestige Productions, the show is directed by Marvin Caldito and choreographed by Mark Benzon Pelota.

The band has just released its debut single, Smile. 

Joining them on stage are fellow Kapuso stars Migo Adecer, Karlo Duterte, Sofia Pablo, Will Ashley and Andrea Torres. (Tickets priced at P1,600 are now available at SMTickets.com.)

Funfare did a Q&A with Bren and Dave.  

Who are your idol bands?

Brent: Boyz II Men, Backstreet Boys, NSYNC and 98 Degrees are my favorite bands of all time.

Dave: Of course, Westlife. I’ve been a fan since I was a kid. I grew up on the band’s songs.

Do you and other One Up members always agree on your choice of songs?

Brent: Yes. Most of the time, it’s me, Yasser, Ralf and Joemarie ang in-charge po when it comes to song selections. But, of course, kino-consider din namin ‘yung taste ng iba sa music.

Dave: There’s really no problem as far as our choice of songs is concerned. Nagkakaintindihan naman kami pagdating sa ganoon. We have the same genre preference, mostly hip-hop, so nagkakasundo po kaagad.

Dave awarding lucky winner Patricia Lelis, a 23-year-old call center employee who won P500,000 cash from GMA’s biggest proof-of-purchase promo Kapuso Milyonation

Do the two of you have the same taste in music?

Brent: Yes. Meron po kaming common denominator when it comes to the music we listen to. May kanya-kanyang taste, pero nagkakasundo po sa hip-hop.

Dave: I can easily adjust to the kind of music my co-members like. But personally I’m into rock, ballad and hip-hop songs. Nagdiya-jibe naman ‘yung tastes namin.

Why did you call your band One Up?

Brent: Because we have one dream, and we are one team. That’s the thing we truly value the most. So our manager decided to come up with a good name, One Up.

Dave: We have one goal as a group, and we want to achieve it together. Aside from that, itong grupong ito, itong boy band na ito, ay inaalay namin sa itaas. Kaya tinawag po siyang One Up.

What are your other gigs?

Brent: Aside from the Aug. 24 concert, I’m also a part of Kambal Karibal, Taste Buddies and Unang Hirit.

Dave: As of now, focused po kami sa rehearsals and arrangements. Of course, pati ‘yung mga guestings and shows namin sa GMA. I’m currently part of Dear Uge, Unang Hirit and Kambal Karibal.

(E-mail reactions at [email protected]. For more updates, photos and videos, visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on Instagram @therealrickylo.)