How killing off Ding in Darna affected CJ Muere

Madame Violet Sevilla of Violett Films vows to make the premiere night of its latest offering titled "Lisensyadong Kamao" which stars boxing champion Manny Pacquiao in the title role a grand event. Madame Violet wants the Manila premiere of "Lisensiyadong Kamao" held on September 4 to coincide with its premiere showing in San Francisco and Los Angeles, California, USA on September 3.

Also come September 4 in Manila, the lady producer is also planning to have simultaneous premieres held in two venues - at the Gateway Cinema at the Araneta Center in Cubao and at SM City North EDSA.

If plans don't miscarry, the movie premiere in the US will be held 7pm of September 3, while the Manila screening is set at 11am of September 4. Madame Violett also wants to hold a tele-conference happening both in the United States and here in Manila after the premiere.

Madame Violett is hoping that the manager of Manny Pacquiao would allow the boxer to attend the premiere. Manny's manager is strict and since the boxer is due to fight on September 10, his manager doesn't want his ward to be distracted in his preparations for his big fight on the 10th.

But the lady producer is keeping her fingers crossed that the stern manager would bend the rule a little bit so Manny could attend the premiere of his movie even for a just a brief moment even if the manager insists that the boxer should be in bed by 7pm.

"Lisensiyadong Kamao" is due to open on September 7 and expected to do the theater tour in Manny's absence are his costars Eddie Garcia, Aubrey Miles and Juliana Palermo.

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Gladys Reyes attended the first anniversary press conference of the sitcom "Bahay Mo Ba Ito?" in a maternity dress. The actress is five months pregnant and she excitedly told the writers that she's giving birth to a baby boy. Her husband Christopher Roxas accompanied Gladys when she had her check-up at the Asian Hospital in Alabang last Monday. Christopher was likewise excited to find out the gender of their baby.

"Naiyak si Christopher when he learned lalake ang magiging anak namin. Tuwang-tuwa siya. Kahit na medyo natagalan ang ultrasound ko, ayaw niya kaming umalis hanggang di ito tapos. Talagang excited siyang malaman kung ano ang magiging baby namin," related Gladys who confessed that she and her husband cried upon knowing their forthcoming bundle of joy is a boy.

A lot of people told Gladys she's probably giving birth to a girl since she still looks beautiful and flawless even at the fifth month of her pregnancy. "I didn't expect it's a boy kasi everybody was telling me it's going to be a girl," said Gladys. The actress is also very happy that her regular show, "Bahay Mo Ba 'To" lasted for a year and is consistently a top-rater.

Gladys gave credit to the good chemistry of the cast as the secret to the show's success. "Taping days on the set don't seem like work. We all have a good time on the set because we treat each other as family. Para lang kaming may family reunion during taping. Masaya ang atmosphere sa set. Ang gaan-gaan," said Gladys.

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For his concert tonight at the Araneta Coliseum titled "Symphony of the Heart," joining Gary Valenciano as his special guests are his two sons Paolo and Gabriel Valenciano. Paolo will do a song number while Gabriel will do a dance routine with his dad.

We had an interview with Gabriel at the Manila Genesis office the other day so we asked him if he ever gets nervous dancing with his dad.

"Siguro for a few minutes before I go onstage, I'd really get the jitters especially because Araneta Coliseum is such a big venue. But once I'm onstage, tuloy-tuloy na. I really love performing. Plus, I am dancing with my dad. We already know what we are going to do when we're onstage. He gives me the signals on what we are going to do next kaya I don't feel so nervous na," said the 17-year-old teenager who's very much like his dad in many ways.

Gabriel has been very vocal in saying he wants to follow in his dad's footsteps. He joined the new dance show "Club TV" on ABC 5 last June where he gets to do his thing on the dance floor and gets the chance to host as well.

"I want to perform. I want to make people happy. I want to do it not just for the money. No just for the fame or the spotlight. I just want to be like him," said Paolo. "To be like Gary V is very hard but to have Gary V as my dad is an advantage. Even if I could get even half of what he has achieved as a performer, I'd be very happy."

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CJ Muere was not ashamed to admit he felt bad when his character Ding was killed in the top-rated series "Darna." He thought that the reason his character was killed was because his acting was bad and he's not good-looking that's why the viewers of "Darna" requested that he be killed off. So affected was CJ of the move since the day his character died, the rating of "Darna" soared to an all-time high.

"Mas lalo akong nalungkot kasi ang naisip ko talagang gusto nilang mamatay ang karakter ko kaya pinanood nila lahat ito," said CJ at the presscon of the season 8 of "Love to Love" which starts this Sunday on GMA. But what made CJ changed his mind was the explanation of the production that the reason they killed "Ding" was to effect a change in Darna's character.

"At this point kasi, Narda didn't want to be Darna anymore. So when I died in the story, she realized that had she decided to continue being Darna, I wouldn't have died," said CJ. "I was so happy pa naman playing that role because the people were no longer calling me as CJ but as Ding. Tapos bigla akong namatay."

CJ has gotten over that feeling. He's very thankful that GMA cast him in one of the episodes of "Love to Love" with Ryza Cenon. He's also doing a new show for Channel 11 this November titled "Ay! Robot" with Sam Bumatay and Ogie Alcasid as co-stars.

He's also very excited with the release of the forthcoming movie "Lovestruck" under GMA Films. It's his first movie and CJ had a great time working with his fellow Starstruck talents and director Louie Ignacio who helmed the film.

"It's a fun movie, nothing serious, but just an honest to goodness fun movie that everyone would surely enjoy," said CJ.