And so, ta-dah! Presenting Young Star Magazine’s top newsmakers of 2001 list. You may agree or disagree…but whether you feel amenable or appalled with our choices…you can’t deny that at some point, you did talk about them, too. In no particular order...
Lea Salonga
With her Lawrence Olivier and Tony, Disney soundtracks, etc., Lea’s undeniably the most successful Filipino artist today. She’s also the newest face of Bayo. In the past months, she’s been all over town through this expansive campaign and fans here got a glimpse of her life abroad. Definitely a woman to envy.
Tim Yap and Rissa Mananquil-Samson
Rissa used to model just for fun while Tim provided fun through throwing parties. But this year, both took a big leap as they were sent to New York to represent the Philippines in the newest global campaign for United Colors of Benetton. They’re first-ever Philippine faces to grace an international catalogue of a brand this big. Now that’s definitely something to proud of!
Sarah Meier
She’s sick and tired of the usual questions…"How did you become an MTV VJ?," "How are you enjoying the VJ life?," or "Are Belinda, Donita, and KC really nice?" For 20-year-old model-turned-VJ Sarah Meier, small talk is cheap. "I want real conversations," she emphasizes. Spunk girl, she definitely is. And that’s exactly the charm of the towering 5’11" looker. Sarah’s definitely one to watch out for!
JM Rodriguez
"There’s no other day but today." That’s the main message of the musical Rent; the same one that young thespian JM Rodriguez adopted. This year, the Philippine production of Rent (Atlantis) was brought to Singapore; and what a warm welcome locals gave them there. JM, who played, Michael even got a standing ovation for his well-reviewed performance. JM, take a bow!
Karen Borja
Young looker Karen Borja, who used to host a campus show on GMA and image model for the hip brand Oxygen, is now one of the newest Disney VJs for Disney Buzz, a thrice-a-week program on the Disney Channel. Karen’s singing and hosting career in the Philippines were put on hold when Disney asked her to fly to Malaysia where she is now based. Now in Kuala Lumpur, Karen co-hosts with Jieng and Azurro and gets to travel all over Asia interviewing boy bands and kid achievers within the region.
Angela Baraquio
Angela is the first Filipino and first Asian-American to ever win the Miss America title since the pageant started in the early 1920s. Representing Hawaii, Angela charmed the judges (and the crowd) with her warm smile and pleasant aura, not to mention the sincere intention to help that truly shone through. You make us proud!
Mai Mai and China Cojuangco
The great sister act of the decade. Fly China to Paris, New York, Australia, then have her stop over Florence. Let her meet her big sis and you’ve got an ad campaign. Better yet, follow it up with an awesome grainy home video of the tandem being picked up by hot Italians over in Florence. The faces of Kamiseta...wow, what a job!
Marjay Ramirez
Ten beautiful and aspiring supermodels battled it out for this much-coveted title. But it was Cebuana, 14-year-old Marjay Ramirez who dazzled the judges the most. Her statuesque figure explains it all. She’s scheduled to compete for the Supermodel of the World international competition held in Miami this month.
(To be continued…)