• Fans of Thalia should be happy to know that their idol has announced her forthcoming marriage to Sony Music big boss Tommy Mottola (ex-husband of Mariah Carey). Does it mean that Thalia might soon move from EMI Records to Sony.?
• Often seen these days having quiet dinners are Franco Laurel and Emy Munji who is said to have separated from the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah. It was Emy who produced the multi-million-peso musical spectacle Rama at Sita in 1998.
• A novelty singer has a way of drawing sympathy to herself – literally. One time, she drew horns on her photo in a poster for a show in which she was one of the performers – when nobody was looking. By and by, she approached a fellow singer sobbing, showing the poster with trembling hand. She wanted to picture herself as an api-apihan. The only hitch was that, without her knowing it, somebody saw her draw the horns. Her gimmickry went pffft.
Yesterday, she was in her element, making fun mostly of herself – yes, "abusing" herself, to borrow the title of her concert, Abuse Me!, on Saturday, Nov. 11, at the Folk Arts Theater.
Like her first two concerts also at the FAT – Respect Me and Seduce Me – the current one is also a birthday concert; Nov. 11 happens to be a lucky day for her. Asked what her birthday wish is, Ai Ai mentioned something, well, "unmentionable" (something to do with, uh, "tightening"), but soon turned serious and said, "That the FAT will be filled up on Saturday, so see you all there!"
During her Respect Me show on Nov. 11, 1998, Ai Ai wished that the "white section" of the FAT would be filled up and her wish was granted. The following year during her Seduce Me show, she wished that all the sections would be SRO and that, too, was granted. Now, is Ai Ai pushing her luck too far? Not really. She’s one of the very few local artists who can draw that big a crowd to the FAT, rain or shine, rally or no rally.
This you probably don’t know: Ai Ai is the record-holder at FAT with her Seduce Me concert, performing to a 9,000-strong (8,600 seats and 400 additional chairs) audience, with Jaya coming in second and a foreign artist (whose name escapes me at the moment) as thirdplacer. On the other hand, it’s Randy Santiago who’s the record-holder at the Araneta Coliseum (capacity: 18,000-plus) with his Private Eyes concert. Both Ai Ai and Randy’s records are unbroken until now – unless, of course, Ai Ai tops herself with her Abuse Me! concert on Saturday.
Again, Ai Ai promises a good show, with new surprises to boot. All in all, she’ll be wearing 15 gowns done by Raoul Ramirez and Arielle Ragasa. For the Madonna song Music, Ai Ai will have eight costume changes without leaving the stage, so how she’ll do it is a spectacle in itself. Asked what the last layer of her attire will be, Ai Ai said, "Secret! You have to be there to find out!" Well, maybe she’ll be in her birthday suit – dare her!
"For the opening number," Ai Ai disclosed, "I’ll come out as Inang Bayan (designed by Raoul Ramirez who also conceptualized Ai Ai’s Ever After butterfly gown at the PMPC Star Awards for TV recently). It’s a nationalistic gown, something never been seen in any fashion show before."
The girl just have to think of something "radical" and "revolutionary" so she won’t be upstaged by her guests who include Ara Mina, Bituin Escalante, Mark Anthony Fernandez, Maxine, Ogie Alcasid, The Streetboys and The Whiplash, with Floy Quintos as director and Andy Alviz as choreographer.
Abuse Me! is a production of JLF Organization, with Backroom, Inc. as line producer, presented by 123-700 Bayan Collect Sa Amerika with Motorola as co-presentor. Other participating sponsors are Thai In A Box, Binalot, Figaro Coffee Co., V/A Palmos-Bourbon, Concorde Records, Orbitz Pearl Shakes, Aqua Safe, Cest Ca Gift Works, Tapa King, Bouquets & More Florist and Gift Shop, Monster Radio RX 93.1, DWBM 105.1 Crossover, 93.9 KCFM, DWNU-107, 99.5 RT, DWRR 101.9, Joey@92.3 and 1026 Angel Radyo. Costume design is by Arielle Agasang and Raoul Ramirez and photography is by Raymund Isaac.
Tickets (priced at P1200, 900, 700, 400, 300 and 150) are still available at Major National Book Store-TicketWorld outlets, Robinson’s Department Store (Customer Service Section)-Malate and Galleria, Tower Records – Makati & Alabang, Music Museum – Greenhills, Backroom office (4351108/4351098/4353808) and JLF office (6347776/6384243 to 44).
For inquiries and reservations, you can call 891-5610.
Ramon is in the cast of Star Cinema’s Magic Adobo, directed by Laurice Guillen, which wrapped up shooting only last week in New York. Back in 1998, Ramon came home from the States, where he’s based, to campaign for his father who ran for Senator.
Trained both in Moscow and the USA (in acting, camera-acting technique, movement/stage combat, rhythm, dance and singing), Ramon did a supporting role in Hamlet (with Campbell Scott) before playing the principal character in Personals (with Malik Yoba). He has also done TV, including Night Ride Home (with Rebecca DeMornay and Ellen Burstyn), Cosby, Now and Again and Wasteland.
And theater, too, such as Taming of the Shrew (as Bartholomew/Biondello), Romeo and Juliet (as Romeo), Jocasta of Thebes (as Oedipus) and a dozen others, all staged in New York. In radio dramas, he has worked with Lou Diamond Philips and Chita Rivera (The Jaguar Hunter), Joe Morton (The Time Machine) and Andre Braugher (The City of Dreams).
Special skills? Name it and Ramon has dabbled in it: Dialects/accents, martial arts (blackbelt), classical/folk guitar, painting, rollerblade and basic horseback.
A multi-talented guy like him should go places in showbiz, shouldn’t he?
ABS-CBN’s Talent Center will soon launch Ramon de Ocampo along with other discoveries as Star Circle Batch 9.
Relish more of Joyce – yes, in the raw! – in a 24-page glossy Calendar 2001 now available at all Video City outlets, featuring photos shot by Jun de Leon never before published.
The poster that comes as a bonus shows Joyce in all her naked glory, not an inch of her hidden from view.
Incidentally, Joyce will break tradition by spending Christmas here and not, as is her wont, with her folks in Los Angeles.
Even if she wants to, Joyce isn’t allowed by Viva Films to leave because she’ll start promo for her new movie, Balahibong Pusa, end of December for its early January playdate.
The movie reteams Joyce with former boyfriend Jay Manalo (with whom she had a turbulent, at times violent, romance).
Did sparks fly while they were shooting the movie? Happily and luckily, no. Was anything rekindle during their renewed togetherness on the set?
"Guess," was all Joyce could say.