Eugene, the septic comedy queen?

Eugene Domingo said she never realized she had to wallow in human waste to win an award. She was exaggerating of course, but her character in Ang Babae Sa Septic Tank did have some really yucky moments. The performance must have been pretty convincing because Eugene won the Best Actress award in the Cinemalaya’s New Breed Full Length Feature Category. Ang Babae took the Best Film plum, while its director, Marlon Rivera, took home the Best Direction trophy.

In all, the film romped off with five awards, quite a feat in Cinemalaya.

In fact, Star Cinema felt the indie film was good enough for commercial release that it has picked it up for nationwide distribution. Ang Babae starts its run in theaters starting this Wednesday.

So can Eugene now claim the crown as the new Queen of Comedy? “I’m not comfortable with titles, but I’ll take it, as long as nobody will complain,” she said half in jest.

Eugene was quite serious, however, when she told reporters that she was ready to settle down. “At my age, I think marriage is long overdue.” She turned 40 recently.

She said she was ready to give up showbiz for love. “Do you have to wait for me to say, ‘I’m just a girl floating in the septic tank, asking you to love me,” paraphrasing the famous line of Julia Roberts in Notting Hill.

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Diether Ocampo made a surprise appearance in The Price Is Right, which is hosted by Kris Aquino. But wait, isn’t Kris angry at Diet for spreading the story that she gave her a million-peso watch for a gift?

“He knows I’m sore at him,” Kris explained. “I confronted him about his claims claiming that I gave him the watch.” She said that she wanted Diet to tell everyone that what he was asking for was Kris’ help in a library he was trying to build for schoolchildren in Sulu.

“I agreed to supply the books for the library,” she said.

The two have long been romantically linked but both claim they’re just close friends. Kris had admitted there was an attraction but conceded that things wouldn’t work out because both of them are so immersed in their careers right now.

And Kris said she’d be uneasy having Diet as a BF because he’s so handsome she’d be busy keeping the girls away from him.

“I feel we’re going to be just good friends to the end,” she said.

During the SONA of Kris’ brother, President Noynoy Aquino, at the Batasan last week, Kris sat beside Makati Mayor Junjun Binay, another man being romantically linked to her.

The seat next to Kris was said to have been empty earlier, and the mayor was already seated somewhere else. But Kris’ sis Ballsy reportedly beckoned Junjun to the vacant seat, and he obliged.

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It was an unmistakably pregnant Andi Eigenmann that news crews collared for an interview after a showing of an indie film at the UP Theater in Diliman, Quezon City, last week.

Andi, who is due to give birth in four months, said she was coping well despite her growing tummy. She is wrapping up taping for ABS-CBN’s teleseries Minsan Lang Kitang Iibigin.

"The staff and crew and the production are giving me the right amount of protection and care that I need," Andi said.

Questions still persist about the child’s father, but that seems to be far from Andi’s mind right now.

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Speaking of pregnancies, the excitement has gone up several notches for Regine Velasquez and Ogie Alcasid. The couple found out from their OB last week that they’re going to have a boy. Regine is also due in November.

They have picked out a name for him: Nathaniel James.

Ogie is particularly excited because it’s going to be his first boy. He has two daughters from his previous marriage to Michelle Van Eimeren.