Paris conquers Manila

She came, she saw, she left in a Pacquiao t-shirt.

Socialite Paris Hilton was on her best behavior during her four days in Manila. There were no wild parties, no controversial remarks, no confrontations with the media. Paris oozed with praise for her Filipino fans and patiently signed autographs. She even gave a lucky fan, Isha Dinio, a signature Paris Hilton purse. Isha said she had been a Paris diehard for the last 10 years, and she had been communicating with the hotel heiress via Twitter.

The real estate developer for whom Paris is designing a resort sought out Isha and invited her to get up close and personal with her idol.

The two hugged and the moment was too much for Isha. “I told myself I won’t cry, but I just couldn’t help it. She told me, ‘Since day 1 I wanted to see you.’”

Isha gave her idol a picture frame made of Philippine seashells and a doll garbed in a native dress.

Paris also had dinner with Manny and Jinkee Pacquiao, who she considers as her close friends.

“I love the Philippines and I can't wait to come back," Paris proclaimed.

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German Moreno is staunchly defending his friend Nora Aunor from insinuations that the veteran actress was holding up the shooting of El Presidente by not showing up on the set.

The movie is one of Nora’s commitments during her return to the Philippines after eight years. According to Kuya Germs, she didn’t show up during shooting because she was under the weather. But there were also speculations that she skipped work to be with her supposed boyfriend, who had arrived from the US.

In his column in Pilipino Star, Kuya Germs said Nora’s hectic schedule, which includes guesting in TV shows, had taken a toll on her health.

“The doctor recommended that she rest for three days,” the Master Showman said. “This was interpreted by some that Nora had slipped back to her old ways, and had broken her promise to change. Let’s give her the benefit of the doubt. She really is ill. She was not in the best of health even before she arrived here.”

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April Boy Regino has revealed that he has prostate cancer.

In a TV interview last week, the singer said he was diagnosed with the disease in 2009, when he and his family were staying in the States. He said that learning he had cancer was like torture to him. “I thought, ‘I’d be gone before I’m fifty’”.

April Boy is counting on the herbal drink he is taking to fight the disease. And he believes it is working, although he hasn’t taken medical tests to confirm if he really is getting better.

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Karylle and Christian Bautista are back in Manila after staying for several months in Singapore taping the TV series The Kitchen Musicale.

The two singers were among the Filipinos cast in the series, which will be distributed internationally. It will be shown here on Studio 23 starting October, and Karylle and Christian are promoting the series.

“We’ve been away from home for over two months and we’ve been super homesick but we’ve been working hard just trying to do something different and something new,” Karylle said.

Christian said he and Karylle had to “learn a lot of things – acting, dancing, singing. So when I return to the Philippines I want to show something different.”

Other Filipinos involved in The Kitchen Musicale are Gerard Salonga, its musical director, and cast members Thou Reyes and Ikey Canoy.

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Ang Babae Sa Septic Tank reportedly earned more than P20 million during its two-week run in commercial theaters.

Rarely does an indie film make it big in the box-office. But then, Ang Babae had Eugene Domingo for its lead star.