A new world out there for Juliana

One of the more effusive acceptance speeches in last Saturday’s First Golden Screen Awards of the Entertainment Press Society came from newcomer Juliana Palermo, who was crowned with the Breakthrough Performance Award for playing the lead part in the controversial film www.xxx.com. "This is better than winning a crown," she gushed, referring to her rejection – for still unknown reasons – in the last Binibining Pilipinas pageant.

Although despised by most feminists for "its exploitation of women," www.xxx.com was really one of the better-made films last year. It is technically superior – particularly the grainy, yet innovative cinematography that all the more underscored the sleazy world of cyber pornography.

www.xxx.com also boasts of the fine performances of the cast members: Angelu de Leon as the original superstar of local cyberporn, Carlo Maceda as the geek computer hacker and even Girlie Sevilla as the cold and indifferent cousin of the lead star, Juliana Palermo.

Juliana, for her part, gave an impressive screen debut here in www.xxx.com that was truly deserving of her Golden Screen trophy.

Some press people who saw the film quickly assumed Juliana’s remarkable performance in the film was due to the fact that she was practically playing herself in the movie – which isn’t all quite true.

Sure, there are notable parallelisms between her life and that of her www.xxx.com character Joanna. For one thing, Juliana was really a balikbayan like Joanna. But she didn’t come home pregnant like her screen character did. And no, unlike Joanna, Juliana never resorted to prostitution – was never even tempted to, even in the direst of times. To begin with, there were never even temptations because – as her manager Jojo Gabinete claims – she looks "intimidating" to most dirty old men.

Juliana’s camp, however, does not dismiss totally some of the striking similarities between www.xxx.com’s Joanna and the true Juliana. "I would say 50 percent of the www.xxx.com character is Juliana," says Gabinete, "because like Joanna, Juliana is frank, a fighter, independent and a survivor."

Juliana Palermo is really Alvi July Juanico in real life. Alvi comes from the names of her parents Alexis and Virgilio. And July? Well, she was born on July 12, 1985 – in Davao.

By the time she turned 10, her parents had already separated – with her mother bringing her to the US where the young July embraced a totally different culture. While still enrolled in Hollywood High School, she fell in love with another Fil-Am youngster, Christian Bermudez, to the chagrin of her mother who thought – and rightfully so – that July was still too young to get involved in a serious relationship.

In 2002, rebelling against what she felt were her mother’s severe rules, she packed her bags along with her adventurous spirit and flew back to the Philippines to live among friends and to face an uncertain future here in Manila.

Tall (5’7"), dusky and very attractive, she easily became a popular product endorser (for Globe, Ponds and other consumer goods). That same year, she flew to her hometown in Davao and was crowned Miss Kadayawan. Even that early, top designer Renee Salud was already encouraging her to join beauty contests on the national level.

But beauty contests had to wait. There was the offer to do the lead part in www.xxx.com and she couldn’t pass up the offer. It was www.xxx.com director Tikoy Aguiluz who gave her the name Juliana (because it was close enough to her real name July). Palermo came up because her features have shades of Italian – although she swears that "I am very Pinay." (Her favorite food is okra dipped in bagoong.)

Juliana Palermo was already doing quite well in her career when her manager Jojo Gabinete decided to put her on suspension late last year. It turned out that she fell in love (with cage star Mark Caguioa) and was unable to fulfill her showbiz commitments. The last straw was when Juliana stood up Dolphy in one of the tapings for Home Along Da Airport.

After languishing in the freezer for four months, Juliana is back to conquer anew the world of show business. But prior to that, she decided to once and for all try her luck in Binibining Pilipinas. Pageant officials unfortunately turned her down and nobody knows why. It is generally assumed that she was rejected as early as Round 1 because of her image as a sexy star (and not with her nude FHM calendar).

But there is still a new world out there for Juliana. At the moment, her schedule is already filled up with guest spots in TV programs – mostly with GMA 7.

On May 5, she will begin taping for her month-long appearance in the Channel 7 sitcom Lagot Ka, Isusumbong Kita! There is another film in the offing, except that she is not allowed to disclose the details yet to anyone — especially to a person in the press.

But I do appreciate her honesty – especially when she openly admitted that being a movie star was never really her dream (although she is already beginning to enjoy life in show business) and that she is in this profession only as a means for survival. She dreams not only for a good life for herself, but also for a younger brother in Davao who is blind and autistic.

Fortunately, unlike her www.xxx.com character Joanna, Juliana has better options in life. In the film, Joanna tries to hide the fact that she appears naked in the Internet. It’s so different for Juliana whose Fil-Am classmates back in the West Coast now cheer her new-found success through The Filipino Channel in the States. Yes, the two women are different. It is Juliana who is blessed – oh, so blessed. And this time around, Juliana says, swearing by her Golden Screen trophy, she’ll be better appreciative of her blessings.