Arnell quits GMA 7

Yesterday’s banner story (on the impending MTB revamp in which "heads will roll") drew a spate of inquiries from all quarters but Funfare has vowed to remain tight-lipped on the matter and let the televiewing public watch the "major changes" in the line-up of hosts as they unfold.

Who will stay? Who will go? Whose head will roll? Whose head will remain intact?

Sorry but I’m not saying who and whose.

I wrote that a comedian to be recruited by ABS-CBN "from another channel" might be paired with Ai Ai delas Alas as MTB main hosts along with Edu Manzano and Mickey Ferriols.

Now, here’s a story which I’m not sure has any connection to the MTB revamp:

Arnell Ignacio has quit as host of the interesting GMA 7 show K! The P1 Million Videoke Challenge (which I watch every Sunday night) and will be replaced by Jaya.

There. As brief as brief could be, with no further comment.

You, too, must be wondering just like me: Will Arnell jump ober da bakod to ABS-CBN and surface as – drum roll, please! – as the newest member of the MTB gang?

Things are getting interesting. Don’t change channels now or you might miss the action.

Martin A-Okay In Las Vegas

Fans and friends of Martin Nievera should be happy to know that Martin is doing very well (ehem, an understatement) in his ongoing stint at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas.

I’m also happy to report that, according to Funfare contributor Jennifer Casimero, Martin recently co-hosted the TV show Las Vegas Live with Sheena Easton. The show’s format is similar to that of Kris Aquino and Korina Sanchez’s ABS-CBN show Morning Girls. It’s co-hosted by Sheena and Clint Holmes who was busy rehearsing for his new show that day, paving the way for Martin’s one-show "takeover."

Later that night, added Jennifer, Martin attended the opening of a new TV station at Caesars’ Palace (also in Las Vegas) where he was approached by many people, including magician Lance Burton, who told Martin, "Hey, saw you this morning (on Las Vegas Live). Great job!" Don’t look now but they’re asking Martin to again co-host the show which repeats twice a day on Channel 8 CBS Las Vegas.

Meanwhile, Martin continues to draw raves at Golden Nugget. Here’s an excerpt of a review by Jerry Fink in Las Vegas Sun:

Who is Martin Nievera?

He’s an extraordinary entertainer determined to beat the odds and conquer Las Vegas the way he has conquered his fans in his native Philippines.

The 40-year-old performer is accustomed to singing in front of thousands of people at venues the size of the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Nievera has such a powerful voice that it can fill a huge stadium – it almost overwhelms in the 400-seat Theater Ballroom of the Golden Nugget where he will be performing at least through February.

He is a balladeer who is reminiscent of what Las Vegas used to be all about – performers such as the Rat Pack, Tony Bennett and Nat King Cole who dominated the entertainment scene before the rise to prominence of production shows.

Nievera sings the song of the legends, but he doesn’t do impressions of them. He says he is paying tribute to Las Vegas rather than to individuals.

Atta boy, this Martin! Keep it up!

‘Miss You Na, Tatus!’

Among those deeply affected by the death of award-winning production designer Tatus Aldana (whose remains, now lying at the Santuario de San Antonio in Forbes Park, Makati City, will be cremated tomorrow morning at the Manila Memorial Park in Parañaque City) is Funfare Toronto-based "international correspondent" Ferdinand Lapuz.

Here are excerpts of Ferdinand’s letter to Funfare:

Hi, Ricky,

At 3 a.m. today (Wednesday, Jan. 28, Eastern Time), a text message from Tito Ed Instrella came in: Tatus Aldana just passed away. Prayers please. I hurriedly called direk Mel Chionglo who confirmed the news to me. He was on his way to the hospital. Tatus was at the UP campus together with direk Joel Lamangan for a series of seminars with film students organized by the DGPI.

It took a while for me to believe that the cuddly Tatus was gone. I was able to see during my stay there in January even for a short time. We met at a restaurant somewhere on Tomas Morato together with direk Mel, his friend and UST classmate Edgar Martin Littaua. There, Tatus handed me his Christmas gifts galore. He gave me four shirts, from Mano Po 2, Filipinas, Game KNB? and a Kris Aquino shirt. I will treasure these shirts he gave me along with those of Lagarista and Luv Txt. He also gave me Swatch, kasi alam niya di ako nagre-relo. He even told me not to give it away. But he promised that he would give me a new one next year. Ibang model daw. From there we went to a coffee bar to meet with direk Joel and Tita Dolor Guevarra. Then we would go to Makati to meet with Mother Lily.

To some people, Tatus is just an award winning production designer and to people who have TFC, he is Kris Aquino's best friend. But to me aside from being a true friend, I consider Tatus as the best visionary for Filipino movies. For the past years, Tatus involved himself in the best movies the Filipino Cinema has to offer. His first taste of the film festival fever was in 1996 when he came to Toronto with direk Mel for Lahar. This inspired him to work with the best directors in the business not only as a production designer but as a supervising producer as well.

I had unforgettable moments with Tatus, like what happened at the Chinese Restaurant in Toronto. We were having dinner with direk Mel, Egay and the late Toronto film festival programmer David Overbey. Tatus' spoon fell and instead of standing up to pick up the spoon, he leaned over to his side thus he fell on the floor gradually. But to our surprise, he did not lose his composure. Although all the eyes of the people in the restaurant were on him, Tatus just smiled at them and waved as he stood up.

He was very proud everytime he saw my contributions in your column. In fact, he was the one who persuaded me to write to you during the 1998 Toronto International Film Festival when he was here with direk Chito and Mother Lily for Curacha.

Tats, wherever you are, thank you for being a brother, a friend and a mentor.

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