"Miss Cory’s story is very interesting. I started reading her book and parang telenovela talaga!" Ara shares. "But besides her story, what convinced me is Miss Cory’s character. She is one of the most fascinating people I’ve met."
Despite her hectic schedule (Ara is regularly seen in the telenovela Kung Mawawala Ka and in the gag show Bubble Gang), Ara really wanted to do the filmbio now titled The Cory Quirino Kidnap Files as a follow-up to her award-winning performance in Mano Po. "People are now expecting much from me since the last movie I did performed well critically and commercially. Feeling ko this is a worthy follow-up to Mano Po."
Cory Quirino, one of the country’s top beauty and health counselors, was kidnapped by five armed men in September, 1999 in Caliraya, Quezon while location hunting for her TV show. The movie will probe deeper into the case, based on the NBI files, hopefully to finally answer the question "Was Cory ‘molested’ by her kidnappers?" And "what really happened to Cory during and after the kidnapping?"
"Carlo and I are convinced Ara is the right choice," says producer Donna Villa. Ara wasn’t the original choice (among the names that came up during the casting were those of Dawn Zulueta, Charlene Gonzales, Ruffa Gutierrez and many more) but the sexy actress doesn’t mind. "If it was meant for me, kahit ako pa ang one-hundreth choice, sa akin pa rin mapupunta yung role," she says.
The Cory Quirino Kidnap Files also stars Alessandra de Rossi and Zoren Legaspi and is produced by Golden Lions Films.
Leading them is 2002’s biggest music discovery, Norah Jones. The extremely-gifted singer, pianist and composer racked up an impressive eight nominations in this year’s Grammy Awards. Her album, Come Away With Me, a heady mix of jazz, country, blues and folk pop is nominated for Record of the Year and Album of the Year. Her single, Don’t Know Why is also nominated for Song of the Year. Norah, only 22, was brave enough to go against the tide, the times and the trends with an album that is simple, heartfelt and brilliant. For this, she was also singled out in the Grammies where she was nominated for Best New Artist, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best Pop Vocal Album. It also got a nod for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical and a Producer of the Year, Non-Cassical nomination for Arif Mardin.
Meanwhile, Chris Martin and the rest of Coldplay are certainly getting a rush of blood to their heads as the British band was nominated for Best Rock Performance for In My Place and Best Alternative Album for Rush of Blood to the Head.
The Grammy Awards will be held in New York at the Madison Square Garden on Feb. 23 with Norah Jones scheduled to perform. So far, Norah’s debut album has exceeded sales of four million copies and still counting. It now occupies the top spot in various charts in the US, beating fellow young recording artists Avril Lavigne, Christina Aguilera, Shakira and many more.
EMI Music is also celebrating for the numerous nominations their artists have garnered in the Brit Awards, the English equivalent of the Grammies. Robbie Williams, whose album Escapology wowed critics worldwide and was tagged as Robbie’s best album to date, is nominated for British Male Solo Artist.
Divas in the making Beverley Knight (also nominated for British Urban Act) and Beth Orton in the meantime are nominated for British Female Solo Artist.
Coldplay’s album Rush of Blood to the Head got the thumbs-up with a nomination for Best British Album while the rock band goes head on with fellow EMI artist Doves (tagged as the new Radiohead) for British Group. Also nominated for British Group is boy band Blue who in turn is also nominated for Best Pop Act.
Atomic Kitten’s infectious remake of The Tide is High is nominated for British Single while electronica master Chemical Brothers are nominated for British Dance Act. Also nominated is Royksopp for International Group. Meanwhile, Moby, who hit it big last year with 18, garnered a nomination for International Male Solo Artist.
Coming full circle is Norah Jones who is again nominated in the Brit Awards for International Female Solo Artist, International Album (for Come Away With Me) and International Breakthrough Artist.
Indeed, EMI Music not only boasts of international hit-makers but singing superstars who are recognized for their musical geniuses as well.
Something Stupid pokes a little fun at the crazy things people in love do. But humor is only half the fun in this show. It also boasts of great music to showcase the cast members’ immense talent.
"One of the best things to look foward to in this show is the performance of the entire cast. Every one of them will show their prowess in portraying offbeat roles which they have never done before," says show director Dennis Marasigan.
Tickets are available at the CCP Marketing Box Office, Ticketworld (National Bookstore) and Tower Records.