Billy to wed French pop star?

Curtain-raisers:

• Troy Montero and brother KC are spending Christmas with their family in Seattle, USA. No, Troy is not bringing along his girlfriend Aubrey Miles.

• Victor Wood will have a show called Jukebox King Victor Wood Ngayong Pasko at Bodega City tonight (starting at 9).

• The dresses Ruffa Gutierrez and daughter Lorin Gabriella will wear at Lorin’s "dedication" on Sunday, Dec. 21, were designed gratis et amore by Inno Sotto.

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This "flash" report was called in at press time yesterday by Funfare’s Paris DPA:

Billy Crawford is marrying his girlfriend who is a popular French pop star.

That brief. The Paris DPA was so excited that he forgot to identify the girl with whom, he said, Billy has been going steady for several months now.

I wonder, does KC Concepcion, who once had an "MU" (Mutual Understanding) with Billy, know about it? KC (who’s flying home this weekend for the holidays) is studying in Paris. Another Funfare Paris DPA said that there’s no contact between the two. I heard that Billy has been trying to call but KC simply lets her phone ring.

Recent Philippine visitor Mandy Moore, another pop star, admitted that she went steady with Billy when she was 15 but she said she hadn’t heard from him for years now.

We’ll give you more information about Billy’s "wedding plans" in future issues.

Meanwhile, watch for Billy in Exorcist, the Prequel, his first Hollywood movie coming soon.

Serves You Right, Maui!

That’s the least I can tell Maui Taylor for making such a big fuss about her nude appearance in the hot-selling Hot Stuff magazine. The big surprise is that, while the l2 other Viva Hot Babes are saying that they knew what they were getting into – yes, properly compensated, with Maui saying that she was paid more – it’s only Maui who’s crying "Foul!" all over the place, marching to the office of Sen. Loren Legarda the other day to highlight her complaint after guesting on national television.

I don’t believe Maui when she said that she didn’t know that her nude photo would come out in the magazine. Otherwise, she should have worn a pair of underwear or at least string bikinis to hide her private property. The fact that she didn’t and she knew that she was being photographed for a magazine meant that, yes, she knew – unless, of course, she was sleep-walking during the pictorial or she was "drugged" (she didn’t look like she was because she’s smiling sweetly at the camera).

Instead of condoning Maui, Sen. Loren gave Maui a piece of her mind, saying, in effect, that the pictorial was in a way in keeping Maui’s image and reputation as a sexy/bold star. Sen. Loren advised Maui to play serious ("un-bold" roles) or to resume her studies.

That’s the trouble with Maui: She jumps into the pool and cries "Ouch!" when she gets wet. She jumps into the fire and cries "Ouch!" when she gets burned. If she is "exploited" as she’s saying she is, she has nobody to blame but herself. She allows herself to be "exploited" with her eyes and ears and other things besides wide open.

I suspect that Maui is making all this noise to get back at Viva for putting her in the "freezer." She hired a new manager (Dondon Monteverde who isn’t lifting a finger, as usual, to put his ward in place) without Viva’s consent. She should be thankful that Viva isn’t suing her for breach of contract.

Or is she doing all this (in "connivance" with Viva?) to drumbeat for Hot Stuff? If she is, then she’s the best endorser of the magazine she’s now denouncing.

Elizabeth Cries ‘Foul!’, Too

Elizabeth Oropesa is hurting and crying "Foul!" for a good reason: In her latest movie, Teamwork Productions’ Homecoming (a 2003 Metro Filmfest entry), she’s billed after Alessandra de Rossi and I agree with Elizabeth that it’s unfair, unfair!

In the movie, directed by Gil M. Portes, Elizabeth and Alessandra are both leads, playing mother and daughter. When ELizabeth complained to direk Gil about the billing, without the all-important "and" that they agreed upon, all direk Gil said, according to Elizabeth, was, "Hindi pa ba binabago?"

Alessandra is a promising actress, all right, with only a Best Supporting Actress to her name, but she’s miles and miles behind Elizabeth as far as achievement is concerned. Elizabeth has a collection of both Best Actress and Best Suppporting Actress trophies, so she has a right to raise a howl against her billing in Homecoming.

"It’s my first time to complain," said Elizabeth. "May karapatan naman po ako, di ba?"

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