Melanie to put up modelling school

Jasmine Putting Up A Good Fight

It seems that Jasmine Trias, the only Filipina on the American Idol elimination round after Camille Velasco was booted out, is on her way to, let’s keep our fingers crossed and pray, a good finish.

In the latest episode of the popular talent-search, Jasmine has stayed.

"She’s putting up a good fight," said Funfare’s Toronto-based "international correspondent" Ferdinand Lapuz.

The three African-American girls on the show – now known only by their first names, La Toya, Fantasia and Jennifer – are, so to speak, tough nuts to crack. One of them, Jennifer, has been booted out in this week’s elimination round.

"I got goosebumps when I heard Jasmine’s version of I’ll Never Love This Way Again," said Ferdinand. "She’s the only Asian, and a Filipino at that, to have gone this far on American Idol. Ibang putahe si Jasmine; she’s so refreshing."

Will Jasmine be "it"? Who knows? Stay tuned.

* * *

It’s not a school in the strict sense of the word, not yet anyway. But it will soon be. Mark my word – or her word.

"When I say I will do it, I will do it," said Melanie Marquez, the girl from Pampanga who rose from her humble beginnings to become Miss International (in 1979).

Give her enough time and she will.

In the meantime, Melanie is starting from scratch by holding a summer workshop which she calls Summer in Fashion with Melanie Marquez, starting with 10 students in each class to be held at her house-turned-office on East Maya Drive, Philamlife homes, Quezon City. The "curriculum" includes Personality Enhancement, Posture, Make-Up, How to Dress Up and How to Walk Properly (you know, Melanie Marquez style, which is more like gliding than walking on the fashion ramp).

Asked why only 10 students per session, Melanie said that she wants a hands-on kind of workshop.

"I will personally attend to each of the 10 students."

Scheduled twice or thrice a week (depending on the number of students), one hour per session (Melanie plans to have eight a day), the workshop will admit both boys and girls who aspire to be models (or, for the girls, to be beauty queens) or to simply develop self-confidence. Sessions will start first week of May and those interested may start calling up 815-4872 (look for Melanie herself) for reservation (workshop fee is only P5,000 per).

"On the first day," said Melanie, "I’ll have a getting-to-know-you session. I’ll ask my students, ‘What do you want to be?’, so I will know in what category I will train them and what aspects of their personality I should concentrate on. You may want to be a model pero mas bagay ka pala maging beauty queen, so I’ll concentrate on your potential as a model."

The workshop is long overdue. Since she became an international beauty queen (a most "quotable" one, I should say; and you better not judge Melanie because, ehem, she’s not a book!), friends and even strangers have been asking her to share her modelling know-how with the thousands out there who dream of following in her (and other beauty queens’) glamorous footsteps.

"Then, Eat, Bulaga! invited me to sit as just (for 11 episodes) of the Ganda ng Pare Ko segment (sponsored by Sunsilk Shampoo). That’s when I started thinking, ‘Why don’t I finally begin working on a modelling school?’ So here I am, starting."

It’s the right time. Melanie isn’t as busy with showbiz as she used to be, more preoccupied as she is with her role as wife to Adam Lawyer (it’s his surname, no wonder she’s often mistaken for being an abogado) and mother to her six children – Manuelito (22, by Senatoriable Lito Lapid, a medical assistant based in Las Vegas); Mazenne (14, by her former Arab husband); Maxine, 12, and Michelle, 8 (by former husband Derek Dee); and Adam, 2, and Abraham, 11 months (by Adam).

"See," said the thrice-divorced Melanie, "I deserve my Miss International title kasi ‘international’ din ang mga anak ko – may Filipino, may Arab, may Chinese at may American."

Melanie and Adam got married six years ago. For a while, they lived in Adam’s ranch in Utah, USA, until Melanie decided to come back (while Adam remains in Utah, coming and going several times a year). Like Adam, Melanie is now a Mormon (converted from Catholicism five years ago), serving the Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter-Day Saints, and is the president of the Relief Society.

The Summer in Fashion with Melanie Marquez is, according to Melanie, a first (small) step toward her putting up an agency/school with branches in the US and in Europe.

"It will also be a placement agency, like the Ford Modelling Agency," said Melanie. "I’m glad na kahit papano ay makakatulong ako sa mga batang gusto rin maging katulad ko."

Good luck, Melanie, and may your tribe increase!

Mayor Vi Caught In A Tight Fix

Politics does make strange bedfellows out of showbiz folk. The May 10 elections have divided movie people into two sides the way Charlie Heston parted the Red Sea in that unforgettable scene in The Ten Commandments. Either you’re pro-this or pro-that. There’s no grey area.

Because she happens to be running under the GMA banner, Lipa City Mayor Vilma Santos was caught in a tight fix when the team of her dear friend FPJ asked for a permit to hold a rally in Lipa. Did she or didn’t she give a permit?

As Mayor Vi said, "Everything happened because it’s election time. After the elections, things will go back to normal I’m sure."

One thing about Mayor Vi...she refuses to resort to "dirty" politics. She doesn’t throw back mud even if mud is thrown at her; she doesn’t "character-assassinate" even if her opponent(s) try to tear her apart. She perfers "clean" politics (if there’s such a thing) and lets per performance speak for itself, for her.

"Ayaw ng mga Lipeño ang mapanira," said Mayor Vi who’s running for her third and last term.

Reacting to potshots that she isn’t a "24-hour/full-time" mayor, Mayor Vi said, "Basta, my achievements will speak for me. I’ve sacrificed my career when I became Mayor of Lipa but I can never sacrifice my family. If I do, para ko na ring isinakripisyo ang Lipeños. I’m glad that I can have enough time for both my family and my obligations to the Lipeños."

Is It Or Isn’t It — A Ghost?

Here’s a reaction to Funfare’s recent feature on (Hollywood) Movie Mistakes, from reader John Petiza Maninang, Makati City:

This is in reaction to your column last Monday, April 5, 2004. I can’t believe that the little boy’s ghost in the scene from Three Men and a Baby was plain rubbish.

It was 1989 and I was working then with CompuVideo International Inc. (a production house dealing with TV commercials and AVPs) when all this story of this ghost from the scene of the said movie became an issue. I remember watching it on one of the episodes of Joe Quirino’s late night show. We at the production house was so curious that we even viewed the scene "frame by frame," not just once, but a couple of times. It wasn’t even close to Ted Danson’s face and body frame. It was a little boy staring directly at the camera. Tumayo pa nga mga balahibo namin while we were viewing it. There has been so many versions about this ghost story but there is only one thing I can assure you and your readers, it is for real. I don’t know  how to explain it but my eyes won’t betray me.

There. Decide for yourselves.

(E-mail reactions at [email protected])