JuliElmo remains undaunted

CEBU, Philippines - If reports of a dismal box-office showing for the GMA Films flick “Just One Summer” are to be believed (stayed just one week in most Manila theaters as stories claim and even swifter in Cebu cinemas), it would turn out the supposed huge fan base of Julie Anne San Jose and Elmo Magalona — collectively bannered as JuliElmo — do not automatically translate to hefty ticket sales.

Clearly, not all JuliElmo loyalists who noisily profess love for the tandem over social media were willing to fork over a few bucks for the pleasure of seeing their idols flesh out a rich boy-poor girl romance on the big screen.

While being mentioned in the same breath as ‘flop’ is enough reason to get any up-and-coming star down, the young actors who top-billed the film choose to see the silver lining, as they expressed in a recent chat with Cebu’s entertainment writers.

According to Julie Anne, what matters is that they were able to please their avid followers who she said patiently awaited their movie, especially that their play date had been changed a few times.

“Natutuwa naman po kami dahil marami kaming natatanggap na positive feedback. Ang iniisip lang namin eh, naipalabas yung movie at ang importante naman nagawa namin yung best namin. Kasi matagal hinintay ng mga supporters namin. It also served as a token of appreciation sa sobrang pagmamahal at suporta na binibigay nila,” the singer-actress said.

Elmo, for his part, said this is only their first movie as a love team, so there is still much room for improvement. He said he is comforted by comments from viewers who tell them they appreciated the good values promoted by their film. “Tsaka, we weren’t expecting ng malaking kita,” said the son of the late Master Rapper Francis Magalona.

“We were just hoping na sana magustuhan nila. Lahat ng makakaya namin, binigay namin doon sa movie. I guess we were able to give what was expected of us,” added Julie Anne.

Julie Anne and Elmo, both 18, are fresh from their California trip for a guesting stint on the GMA-7 game show “Manny Many Prizes.” The Manny Pacquiao-led program taped a Hollywood episode, and the musically-inclined pair was luckily brought along for the jaunt. They arrived earlier in the US than the show’s production team, as they also had to shoot Julie Anne’s music video in San Francisco, California. It wasn’t all work of course — Julie Anne and Elmo were seen in an online video dancing among the audience at Ellen Degeneres’ popular talk show.

Looking back, Elmo said he had no inclinations of going the love team path as he was more of a singer. He feels grateful for their unexpected pairing though, because it opened more opportunities for him. One of these was their weekly series “Together Forever”, which ended its run recently.

He said, “Everything happened so fast. Before I was just into singing, I wasn’t really focused with acting. Everything just started in ‘Party Pilipinas’ where they saw that Julie and I had chemistry. Our love team was never planned. Now that it’s here, I’m super happy. It has helped me with lots of things.”

He is first to point out that they have yet to reach total stardom, and shared why he prefers it that way. “Our love team is still not at its peak, but that’s good. Because once you reach the top, there’s nowhere else to go but down.”

Meanwhile, when pressed to give her thoughts on reports that Elmo’s rumored girlfriend Lauren Young is moving to the Kapuso network and will be managed no less by his mom Pia, Julie Anne said she’s taking a hands-off approach.

She said, “Once hindi pa kasi ako sure with an issue, hindi ko pa muna paniniwalaan. Yung taong involved mismo siya yung makapagsasabi kung totoo o hindi. I really have nothing to do with it. It’s none of my business. If it will indeed happen, of course all decisions are made by the management of GMA-7 and we welcome all artists who join the network, and we respect them. So it’s really okay with me.”

Elmo was quick to deny any romance with Lauren. He said Lauren and her sister Megan Young were just close chums with his elder sisters Saab and Maxene, and he would sometimes tag along when the girls went out, thus the sightings of Lauren and him.

So if he’s not into Lauren, any chance he and Julie Anne might fall for each other for real? “Hindi namin pinag-uusapan eh kasi parang ang awkward. Di naman ako nanliligaw sa kanya pero we’re close friends,” the actor said.

To which Julie Anne would concur in what has got to be a go-to showbiz statement. “Right now, we’re just enjoying each other’s company and being spontaneous.” (FREEMAN)