Bodies by Vicki Belo

That beautiful body at the top right portion of this page belongs to Kylie Minogue, the Dancing Queen herself, who has dislodged the likes of the late Princess Diana on the list of the Top 3 Most Loved Women in the world. I’m sure thousands of red-blooded males salivating over Kylie’s sexy figure envy to death the microphone (some microphones are simply lucky, don’t you think?) Kylie is holding – no, romancing. It seems that’s what she’s doing, doesn’t it?

Anyway, Kylie’s body wasn’t sculpted by Vicki Belo, whom I like to call The Sculptress of the Stars, although Vicki can very easily and very well "style" (not really "create" because only The Great Creator can do that) a body like that as Vicki’s legions (yes, legions!) of believers (I hate to call them "clients" or "patients") can attest, first and foremost of them being Rosanna Roces who is very vocal about her having gone through the "Vicki Belo Touch" – yes, lipo – not only in the Vicki Belo print ads but also every Saturday when Rosanna and co-hosts Lolit Solis (can "lipo" reinvent her figure?) and Butch Francisco (no, his figure is the product not of "lipo" but of workout and diet) dish out juicy/meaty showbiz bites.

I’m mentioning Kylie Minogue and Vicki Belo in the same breath and putting them together in the same space because I talked to Kylie by long-distance for five minutes toward the end of 2001 and I bumped into Vicki a few nights ago at Uva Restaurant (at the ground floor of the Imperial Palace Suites on Timog-Morato Rotonda, Quezon City) which is right across her new clinic at the just-opened Popular Book Store building, a stone’s throw from ABS-CBN and GMA where many of Vicki’s...okay, okay!... clients come from. Vicki is perhaps the best advertisement for her clinic. She’s fit, she’s healthy, she’s bubbly and forever sunshiny, she’s Body Beautiful in her own right.

Music buffs know that Kylie is considered a "phenomenon of truly international proportions" and to date she has released eight albums, including her latest, Fever (featuring 12 sensational new tracks, one of them the smash-hit Can’t Get You Out of My Head, from EMI-OctoArts which arranged my phone interview with Kylie from London), more than five long-playing videos, in addition to the "Greatest Hits" double-album and video package, and more than 34 hit singles worldwide. Whew! As you can see, Kylie is more than just a beautiful body; she’s also a beautiful voice.

Kylie is into her early ’30s but she looks as if she’s only in her early ’20s, doesn’t she?

Oh, yes, I asked Kylie if there’s any part of her perfect body she doesn’t like, or hates most, and she said, "If I told you, everyone would look at the bits I’m trying to disguise. But actually, I’m happy with my lot."

Like Jennifer Lopez (now happily married to her choreographer), Kylie has a sexy butt which she bared for GQ magazine in her effort to cause a sensation. When the final copy came out, the cover showed a picture of, as Kylie called it, "my bottom," but not her equally sexy face.

Now, does she have any disgusting habit? (Can’t help asking such a question especially if your interviewee is, well, near-perfect just to find out if she has any, well, "imperfections")?

"I pick the skin off my lips when I’m really nervous," Kylie said.

Meanwhile, let’s check out some of the stars who have been seeing Vicki Belo and for what:

• Amy Perez – Breast-firming by Starvac (a non-surgical enhancement)

• Jericho Rosales and Paolo Bediones – Regular facials (because the klieg lights and make-up clog their pores and cause pimples to break out)

• Vanessa del Bianco – Underwent regular infusion of oxygen, Vit-C, Vit-A and copper on a second-degree burn (caused by hot lights) on her leg, which healed without any scar at all.

• Diether Ocampo – Had a tattoo of a woman covering his right arm removed non-surgically… by Versapulse Laser. Look, Ma, no scar!

• Zsa Zsa Padilla – Some firming up to avoid cellulite without surgery, done with the Endermologie machine from France which improves circulation, removes cellulite and firms up flabby areas of the body.

• Angelu de Leon and Jolina Magdangal – To keep their skin clear white and smooth through salt scrub, followed by bleaching with grapeseed extracts.

• Judy Ann Santos – To check some minor breakouts

After a brief chat over fettucine (mine), Vicki invited us to have a quick look-see of her clinic which serves fruit juices (your choice) or cappuccino at the lobby decorated with hand-painted murals and paintings by Impy Pilapil. The place, like other Vicki Belo clinics I presumed, is equipped with medi-spas.

"My mission is to bring the most recent proven technological advances from Europe and the USA," said Vicki, as if it wasn’t very obvious from the modern machines in her clinic. "We do it in a reasonable, accessible and safe manner."

We left Vicki’s clinic feeling all too suddenly old and wrinkled.

Incidentally, Vicki is celebrating her birthday (age confidential) on Friday, Jan. 25, the same day former President Cory Aquino is turning 69. Happy birthday to both ageless ladies!

What’s up?

• Liberty Ilagan’s Tiya Laling Ylagan, sister of Liberty’s late dad, Gerry "Manong" de Leon, is dead at 91. Her remains are at the Santuario de San Jose in Greenhills, San Juan. Our condolences.