Just who is Pauleen Luna?
Only 16, Pauleen is a veteran of commercials, having done ads for Sunsilk, Eggnog, Seacrunch, UFC, Jollibee, Globe and Smart. Armed with enough confidence from these ads, Pauleen decided to enter show business and enrolled herself in an acting workshop in ABS-CBN’s Center for Communication Arts, Inc. under Beverly Vergel. Pauleen’s beauty and talent were immediately noticed by Beverly who introduced her to Johnny Manahan. Mr. M encouraged Pauleen to join ABS-CBN Star Magic.
Pauleen was first cast in Berks and other TV guestings followed. But her biggest break came when she was asked to play a young mermaid in Marina. She was paired with upcoming actor Gabb Drilon. As soon as the fantaserye wrapped up, Pauleen was cast in SCQ Qpids and Bora, both on ABS CBN.
All sorts of stories spread like wildfire in showtown. Pauleen says her parents were the most affected by all the unflattering talks. Unable to stop the tsismis by keeping quiet, she decided to break her silence.
"Did Diether Ocampo court you?" I asked her on The Buzz.
"Yes," she candidly answered.
But it happened when she was 14, "pero hindi po kami naging mag-on," she adds.
So there. It’s clear that Diether courted Pauleen before Diether and Kristine became an item. Pauleen also admitted that Kristine indeed talked to her. "She spoke to me nicely and decently."
Actually, also on The Buzz, when I asked Kristine about rumors involving Pauleen, she said that she’d rather not talk about them, as they would just complicate things. There were other concerns they had to fix.
It was I who raised the name of Pauleen, not Kristine contrary to what some people have written.
In the few meetings I have had with Pauleen, I saw how this girl has been raised well. She is polite and amiable. She is also God-fearing. Asked how she’s dealing with intrigues in tinseltown, she said, "God is always there to protect me!"
Her message for Diether and Kristine, "If you love each other, go!"
Pauleen is right. Life is short. You have the right to enjoy it.
The album clinched the No. 1 slot in the French Jazz Charts and remained on the American Billboard Charts for a whopping 26 straight weeks. Locally, The Boy Next Door climbed the lucrative Astroplus Album Best-Sellers Chart, gaining the No. 7 spot barely three weeks after its release and was featured in DWBR 104.3’s "Nice and Easy" back to back with jazz icon Harry Connick Jr.
Stacey’s album has been dubbed as her finest CD to date and for the very first time, breaks away from her usual renditions of The Great American Songbook. It has touches of great American songsmiths in the ’50s and ’60s, including Carole King’s You’ve Got A Friend and Paul Simon’s Bookends, among others.
The Boy Next Door is a collection of songs associated with some of Stacey’s male musical heroes including Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Nat King Cole and James Taylor. It features 16 breathtaking performances including Tony Bennett’s The Best Is Yet To Come, Burt Bacharach’s What The World Needs Now and many more.
Stacey Kent’s The Boy Next Door is available in all Astroplus and Astrovision shops and other major music shops nationwide.