Wedding rumors heat up as Dingdong flies to Spain to meet Marian's father

Marian Rivera is flying to Spain to meet with her dad. Of course, Dingdong Dantes went with her. The lovebirds seem to be inseparable. They joined a fun run last week and were a sweet pair when interviewed on TV afterwards.

Marian is introducing Dingdong to her dad. That does mean that their relationship has gone up a few notches? Do I hear wedding bells?

Before flying to Spain, Marian and Dingdong first flew to the Middle East to join the concert there of another celeb pair, Ogie Alcasid and Regine Velasquez. After Spain, Paris, the “City of Love,” is the next stop for Marian and Dingdong.

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The mom of Charice is eager to shake off persistent reports that the financial aid she asked from Oprah Winfrey for the victims of “Ondoy” did not reach the intended recipients.

“I’m not bold enough to seek financial assistance,” explained Raquel Pempengco in an interview with ABS-CBNNews.com.

It was singer-composer David Foster who asked how he could help the flood victims, Mrs. Pempengco said. “At that time I didn’t know how because it was all so sudden. But that was also the time when David Foster went on a concert tour, so the plan fizzled out.”

Charice had dug into her own pockets and passed the hat among her sponsors to raise money for the typhoon victims.

The international singing star validated her mother’s claim that they never sought assistance from Oprah.

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Toni Gonzaga has refused to hop on the bandwagon headed for TV5. Toni says she’s been a Kapamilya for the past five years and sees no reason to defect at this time.

Besides, she adds, her sister Alex is already in TV5. She admits that she was offered a show by the Manny V. Pangilinan network, but that she passed it up.

Toni is also reluctant to leave Pinoy Big Brother. She reasons that there will be many more seasons of PBB and she might regret it if she left now. Besides PBB, she appears regularly on “ASAP.”

Toni has a concert at the Music Museum on February 26 and 27, “Love Is…Toni Gonzaga.”

Speaking of TV5, Cheryl Cosim is said to be the latest ABS-CBN celeb to switch networks. MVP has already bagged Dolphy and Maricel Soriano, and is reportedly setting his sights on Regine and Ogie, two of GMA-7’s biggest stars.

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A young businessman is said to be seriously interested in Sarah Geronimo. Sarah herself had confided that she prefers someone who is not from showbiz to be her heartmate. That way her lovelife would be less complicated.

The box-office queen’s mother Divine has intimated that her daughter has been receiving flowers from her admirer. But Mommy Divine is quick to add that Sarah herself believes she is not ready for a serious relationship.

“My daughter wants to concentrate on her career. She still has dreams to pursue, and she’s also going to school. She herself says she’s not entertaining any suits now. So let’s leave her alone, let’s not sow intrigues. She makes her own decisions. We’re just here to guide her,” the mom explained.

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In 1985, Quincy Jones assembled a crew of bigtime celebrities to sing and raise money for the millions of famine sufferers in Africa. They sang “We Are the World,” which has become an iconic tune.

Quincy Jones is doing a reprise of “We Are the World,” this time for the benefit of the victims of Haiti’s killer earthquake. The line-up for the 2010 version is going to be as impressive as the original’s, what with the likes of Toni Braxton, Lady Gaga, Bono, Carlos Santana, Enrique Iglesias and Usher.

Adding a nostalgic touch, the group will record the song in the same studio in Hollywood where the original was cut.

In case you’ve forgotten, “We Are the World” was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie.