Sherilyn, Chris wed in December

Curtain-raisers:

•Oops! So sorry but the planned concert of Mariah Carey here next month went pffft. There have been initial negotiations but Mariah had to beg off due to her very tight schedule. Stay tuned for further developments.

• Meanwhile, Whitney Houston’s concert in Japan in April next year won’t be her first in Asia, contrary to Funfare’s report a few issues ago. It’s her third. Reader Sammy Gaddi reminded Funfare that Whitney performed in Sendai City, Japan, in Jan. 1990; and, according to reader Jose Junior Dacanay, at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center in Thailand middle of that year. Thanks for the clarification.

• Reader Menggay Dichoso wants to congratulate Lani Misalucha for putting more importance on her family than on her career by backing out of the Whitney Houston concert because of her pregnancy (she’s due to give birth in April). Lani would have been one of the top three Asian superstars handpicked by Whitney as co-performers, along with Indonesia’s Anggun and Taiwan’s Coco Lee. Jaya might replace Lani. Added Menggay, "Lani gives me goose pimples everytime she hits high notes. She’s not just a singer, she’s a performer. Keep it up, Lani!"

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It will be a Christmas far merrier than most of the past Christmases for Sherilyn Reyes and PBA cager Chris Tan (Sta. Lucia) who are going to tie the knot in December.

As you must have known by now, Sherilyn and Chris have found new happiness in each other, proving to the whole world once again that love is, you guessed it, lovelier the second time around – with new partners.

Sherilyn was previously married to Junjun Santiago (brother of Randy, Rowell and Raymart) by whom she has a five-year-old son. Chris, too, has a three-year-old daughter with his non-showbiz ex-wife. Both marriages were annulled almost simultaneously last May, paving the way for Sherilyn and Chris to formalize/legalize their union. They have a year-old son, Lawrence Christopher.

Six-footer Chris is half-Chinese and half-Filipino. It was his stepfather, Norman Black (who used to be the coach of the Sta. Lucia team), who honed Chris’ hard court skills. Chris had stayed with Black since he was seven years old and continues to visit his biological father. He got married sometime in 1999.

Sherilyn temporarily turned her back on showbiz when she got married to Junjun in 1997. Her decision to be a "plain housewife" turned out to be unfortunate. After giving birth, Sherilyn went back to showbiz as co-host of the GMA noontime show Eat, Bulaga! and as member of the cast of the gag show Bubble Gang. Her marriage was starting to crumble, and so was that of Chris.

In a Funfare exclusive interview after his marriage was annulled, Chris revealed that he developed a big crush on Sherilyn back in 1995 when he saw her co-hosting the defunct ABS-CBN Sunday noontime show Sanlinggo nAPO Sila with APOs Jim, Buboy and Danny.

"I liked her eyes, her nose, her lips... everything of her," said Chris who is good-looking enough to be an actor. "Without her knowing it, I followed her career, until she moved to Eat, Bulaga! and to Bubble Gang."

They came face-to-face with each other more than two years ago when both their marriages were hopelessly heading for the rocks.

"My first impression of Chris was not good," smiled Sherilyn. "I thought he was mayabang and presko. I thought, ‘Pag makatingin ang mamang ‘to, parang mangri-rape.’ It was only when I talked to him did I discover na mabait naman pala siya."

Well, to make a long beautiful love story shorter, they soon fell in love. Then they filed petitions for annulment of their respective marriages.

"I felt as if a big burden was lifted from my shoulder," said Chris of the court decision.

"Para akong nabunutan ng tinik sa dibdib," said Sherilyn.

As they continue to move on, Sherilyn and Chris could only wish their ex-partners the best.

"Chris and I are happy with each other," said Sherilyn, "and we hope that they are, too."

In their December wedding, Sherilyn’s son might be the ring or Bible-bearer while Chris’s daughter will surely be a flower girl.

They didn’t say if their exes are invited to the affair.

Comment on Martin/Pops L.A. concert

Here’s a letter e-mailed from L.A. by reader Jo-Ann Merill, reporting on the recent concert there of Martin Nievera and Pops Fernandez:

Greetings from L.A.! I hope you are well. I always enjoy your column in The STAR. I am writing to let you know about the Pops and Martin concert in L.A.

The stars of the show were really good (voice and song choices), but a lot of people were disappointed (there were 20 in our group and I could also hear people commenting about it) with how they kept on showing film clips of Martin and Pops while they were performing.

The UCLA Pauly Hall is really huge (it is a basketball stadium) and really not the best venue for concerts. The lighting was glaring most of the time because it was directed towards the audience and not the stage.

I just felt that the audience could have responded more when Pops and Martin were asking for participation through clapping our hands and singing along with them if we at least could see them live on the two big screens as opposed to still pictures.

The tickets were expensive and $50 will not even get you near enough to see them clearly. We really wanted to see how they looked like, what Pops was wearing, the expression on their faces, etc...

I was wondering if I could make a request for you to relay this message to Pops and Martin so their forthcoming concerts will be most enjoyable and they can connect more speedily and create more rapport with the audience.

I hope they get this message before their next concerts in other cities here in the US so their audience there will not be disappointed and perhaps, they too, will not wonder if the audience is enjoying their performance.

(E-mail reactions at [email protected])