Whatever happened to Banig?

First, a few words about Yul Servo in Mass, stage adaptation (by Rodolfo Vera, directed by Chris Millado) of F. Sionel Jose’s novel, which had its final run last Sunday afternoon at the CCP’s Huseng Batute Theater.

As Pepe Samson, the probinsyano caught up in the maddening spin of city life (very much like Julio Madiaga, played by Bembol Roco, in the Lino Brocka classic Maynila: sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag), Yul gave a powerfully engrossing performance; so good was he that you’d think he was to the theater born.

Mass was only Yul’s third or fourth theater outing but he has already mastered the medium with fluid facility, delivering kilometric lines without the slightest buckle, his acting enhanced by his graceful body movement (unhampered by the cramped but intimate venue which made the audience not just spectators but part of the play).

Cheers to Yul (and the other equally good actors; watch for a full-length review in The STAR by Ibarra Mateo).

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Of course, you remember Banig, don’t you? Her full name is Josephine Roberto and she was so nicknamed (Banig) because, according to the late Bert "Tawa" Marcelo when Banig first competed in the Bulilit Hamon sa Kampeon, Banig would wet the mat (banig) on which she used to sleep.

These days, Banig doesn’t sleep on the mat anymore. She is also a big girl now, already into her early 20s, finished with school in Los Angeles where she and some members of her family migrated after she won the popular US-TV Star Search. Later, when Banig guested on Arsenio Hall’s show, she made Hall laugh when asked what her favorite food was and she said, "McDonald’s spaghetti" because Hall didn’t know that that item was indeed included in the McDo menu in the Philippines although not in the US.

Nothing much has been heard about Banig since then, until in December last year when she wowed an SRO audience at her concert at the Hollywood Palladium in L.A.

The latest good news is that Banig has just released her first single entitled Boogie on the Dance Floor which is being played on over 80 stations all over the US, taking the No. 3 spot on the urban chart on CMJ Magazine (one of the music industry’s top leading radio trade magazines). Stations like KCSS (#5), KGFN (#5), KMUD (#7), WDCE (#7), WRFT (#5), WRST (#6) and WSHC (#4) have placed her on their Top 10 urban and dance playlists, calling the song "a great club banger hit for the coming summer."

According to Maria R. of Double Play Entertainment in L.A., who relayed the news to Funfare, "The song is a crossover pop/R&B dance anthem. The single has different remixes including an urban Atlanta flavor mix (Ruff Party Remix) with a tongue-twisting rap sequence by up-and-coming female rapper/producer Jojo... Boogie on the Dance Floor certainly possesses the potential of a club hit and a party favorite. It’s starting to hit the club scene in Miami, the US Dance Capital."

The other good news, said Maria R., is that singer/songwriter/producer Banig is busy working in her Hollwyood soundtrack debut, including three songs which she wrote and produced with Jhoanna Roberto, an upcoming songwriter/producer/rapper. The movie (title of which Maria R. forgot to mention) will be released in the US this summer. The other artists on the soundtrack include former New Kids on the Block’s Jordan Knight, J. Records recording artist Mario (with the hit song Let Me Love You) and a few other big-name ones.

Well, what more can we say but, "Congrats, Banig! Keep up the good work!"

Readers’ reactions

More "Pinoy sightings" in foreign films...

• From Vicki Ramos, Sydney, Australia: The Filipina lady who appears with Rob Schneider in Deuce Bigalow is Rob’s own mom, Pilar Schneider.

• From Joanne Quiambao, Toronto, Canada: I’m watching Without a Trace which stars Antony La Plagia. The story is about a nanny who kidnaps a baby. The nanny is a Filipina. I don’t know her name but she looks somewhat like Maan Dionisio (who played Kim in Miss Saigon and Eponine in Les Miserables). On the list of guest stars are two Filipino names, Esperanza Catubing and Jennifer Aquino.

• From Joy Morales, L.A.: There’s a Pinay in the TV show Queer Eye for a Straight Guy. Her name is Honey Labrador, one of the gal pals.

• From Bebet Trinidad: I’m the wife of Ferdi Trinidad, brother of Corky and Noel, who requested me to send you this message: Barbara Perez also made quite an impression on Peter Brown, one of the young actors in Merril’s Marauders (starring Jeff Chandler, with our very own Luz Valdez) which was shot here in the Philippines. Mr. Brown in fact was so smitten by Barbara that he proposed marriage to her. I know this personally because Mr. Brown even asked me to be the matchmaker.

• From Charles Jay Pacinos (no address given): I have a cousin who continuously trying her luck in Hollywood and I hope she makes it. Her name is Nadja Merced Pionilla, a pure Filipina, who starred as one of the eight students of Kona Pal High School who made a project (a solar car) in the Tri-Star movie Race the Sun which starred, among others, Halle Berry, Jim Belushi, Casey Affleck and Elisa Dushku, along with Filipino actors Dion Basco and Anthony Ruivivar. Nadja also did a small role in the Jim Carrey starrer Grinch. She was born in Pagbilao, Quezon. Her father, Agerico Pionilla, is from Pagbilao and her mom, Victorialita Merced, is from Baguio City. The Pionillas are good friends of director Gil M. Portes who also hails from Pagbilao. Nadja is now in California, still pursuing acting, singing and dancing lessons to improve her craft.

A Binibini aspirant’s dilemma

When the new batch of (2005) Bb. Pilipinas hopefuls are presented today at the Oasis Floating Restaurant in Gateway (the newest "in" place in Araneta Center, Cubao, Quezon City), Gwenaelle Ruais will surely stand out mainly because of her height. At 6"1", Gwen is the tallest among the candidates, three of whom will be named Bb. Pilipinas-Universe, -World and -International at the grand finals at the Araneta Coliseum on March 19 (Saturday).

A finalist in the recent MTV VJ Hunt, Gwen is in a dilemma: The Binibini candidates are billeted at a five-star hotel for two weeks and the authorities of La Salle where Gwen is a B.S. Management student won’t allow her to miss her classes that long. Will Gwen choose school and quit the contest?

Discovered by beauty expert Garre Blanco, Gwen is one of the six candidates endorsed by Boyet Blas (relative of the owners of LEA Productions) of Mabuhay Beauty. The five others are: Gionna Cabrera (5’10"), Joanne Padilla (5’9"), Angelique Gustanki (5"9"), Mariflor Perez (5’8") and Rica Taylor (5’7").

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