Will Rustom reveal ‘something’ in Big Brother’s house?

Curtain-raisers:

• Dante Mendoza’s digital film Masahista made a clean sweep of the Young Critics Circle Awards, it being the lone nominee for Best Picture. It also won the awards for Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Visual Design, Best Editing, Best Sound and Best Performance by a Lead Actor for Coco Martin (beating Jaclyn Jose who played his mother). It’s the first time in the 16-year history of the YCC Awards that only one film was nominated for Best Film. Masahista was chosen from a field of five digital films shown in commercial theaters last year. The other movie nominated for Best Screenplay was GMA Films’ Let The Love Begin. Mendoza’s second directorial work, Kaleldo, is set to be shown first week of March, with Juliana Palermo, Cherry Pie Picache, Angel Aquino, Alan Paule, Lauren Novero, Criselda Volks and Johnny Delgado among the members of the cast.

• Thalia is now an American citizen. According to Thalia-watcher and Funfare contributor Leo Udtohan, Thalia (real name: Ariadna Sodi) took her oath as an American citizen last Jan. 11 in New York where she lives with her husband, music executive and former Sony Music head Tommy Mottola (previously married to Mariah Carey). "Thalia has been living in the US for eight years," reported Leo, "and has been married to Mottola for five years. The couple has no child yet. Thalia hasn’t made it clear if she will also keep her Mexican citizenship. While Thalia always professes pride in her heritage, her visits to Mexico City have become less frequent since the kidnapping (and release) of her sisters Laura Zapata and Ernestina Sodi."

• Last call for Torres High School alumni and teachers of Class 1956: A class outing will be held today and tomorrow in Subic. The affair will be incorporated into the school’s golden-jubilee memorabilia. You only have a few hours to register. Call Carmeling Castillo at 255-1970 or Fely Velasco at 254-3748.

* * *

The names of the 14 participants of the Pinoy Big Brother Celebrity Edition will be revealed tonight at the start of the 57-day show, telecast "live" from Baywalk.

These past few weeks, there have been speculations and wild guesses who the lucky ones are. ABS-CBN guys have been tight-lipped on the identities of the "magic 14" because of an ongoing "guess who" contest.

Although Funfare knows (well, more or less) who they are, I won’t spoil the fun by naming them, except to hint that two of them are SEA Games stars, one a couturier, one a controversial sexy starlet, one the young actor-brother of a sweet young actress who goes "bold" in a men’s magazine pictorial, one an actress who talks to the trees and the flowers and, well, tune in to tonight’s show and find out.

The loudest whisper is that Balikbayan actor Rustom Padilla is on the short list. Once inside Big Brother’s house, Rustom will reportedly reveal "something" about his not-really-so-secret personal life, "something" he has been aching to let out of, yes, the closet. If and when Rustom does that public confession, it would be anti-climactic, according to those in the know – that is, if he makes it to Big Brother’s house.

At stake in this edition of PBB is P1-M for the lucky celebrity housemate who will also get to choose a charity to be given P1-M (part of the winner’s prize package).

Pinoy Big Brother is the Philippine franchise of the global reality TV show Big Brother created in The Netherlands by Endemol, an entertainment company which also created Fear Factor.

"The PBB Celebrity Edition is more civic-oriented than the regular PBB," said Business Unit manager Laurenti Dyogi. "But it will also be fun for the housemates and the viewers."

Pinays In Beauty Pageants Abroad

The first runner-up finish of Filipina beauty Kirby Ann Basken in the just-concluded Miss Norway contest has renewed interest in other Pinays who have figured prominently in beauty contests abroad.

But first, here’s a backgrounder on Kirby from Funfare’s "beauty expert" Felix Manuel (in cooperation with Joey Cezeare, Gery Yumping and Francis Calubaquib):

Kirby, 20, was one of the 24 Miss Norway 2006 candidates chosen from more than 1,200 applicants, the biggest turnout ever. Kirby is the first half-Filipina/half-Norwegian to join the contest. The list of 24 was trimmed down to 12 and then to eight, based on the number of SMS-votes cast by the public. The two winners will represent Norway in this year’s Misses Universe and World pageants.

Kirby worked as a model in the Philippines for almost a year and appeared in several commercials (for Bingo Biscuits, Johnson’s Baby Cologne, KFC, etc.). She’s currently taking a "qualifying year" so she can enter a university and take up Psychology and Social Sciences. Her dream is to work with children and teenagers with psycho-sociological adjustment problems. Kirby loves to write and has, in fact, written several articles for the website Youth for Youth. She enjoys dancing, climbing and spending time with friends.

And here’s Felix’s list of Pinays who have also shone in beauty contests abroad:

• Celita de Castro, Bb. Pilipinas first runner-up in 1976 and later represented Hawaii in the 1977 Miss USA pageant where she was a semi-finalist.

• Honey Castro, Miss Washington in the 1986 Miss America pageant, won third runner-up honors.

• Dianne Schock, Miss California-USA 1991. Her parents met in Subic, then the family went to live in the US. She was declared second runner-up in the 1991 Miss USA pageant

• Suzanne Viasenor Fahling, Miss Tourism World title in 1995. Prior to that, she was 1988 Miss Philippines-America, 1989 Bb. Pilipinas USA and went on to win first runner-up in the 1989 Bb. Pilipinas pageant.

• Vanessa Minnilo, 1998 Miss Teen USA who is now a correspondent for Entertainment Tonight.

• Maria Kang, who represented the Philippines in the 1998 Miss Petite Teen International pageant in Texas and won the pageant. She returned to Manila in 2003 to compete in the Mutya ng Pilipinas pageant where she was chosen Miss Talent.

• Leilani Dowding, she represented Great Britain in the 1998 Miss Universe pageant in Hawaii. It is interesting to note that she was waiting for a friend along the streets of London when a member of the Miss Great Britain organization spotted her and persuaded her to join the pageant.

• Angela Perez Baraquio, whose roots are in Pangasinan, became the first Miss America winner of Asian descent in 2001.

• Alicia Altares, who represented Canada in the 2002 Miss International pageant. She joined the 2003 Mutya ng Pilipinas pageant and placed third runner-up.

• Therese Lorraine Lizardo, who represented the District of Columbia in the 2004 Miss America pageant. She is a cum laude graduate from George Washington University with a triple baccalaureate degree in psychology, biology and women’s studies.

• Mara Morelli, Miss Italia nel Mondo last year, is the daughter of former model Diwata. Will she join this year’s Miss Philippines-Earth pageant?

Incidentally, the final screening for the official candidates to the 2006 Bb. Pilipinas Pageant will be held today from 4 o’clock onwards at the Expo Centro (beside Farmers’ Market) in Cubao, Quezon City.

Those interested may secure application forms at the Binibining Pilipinas Charities Inc. (BPCI) Secretariat at the Araneta Coliseum and at all Pizza Hut outlets. Or they can download the form at the Bb. Pilipinas webpage (www.bbpilipinas.com) and fax the same to (632) 911-2771. You may call the BPCI Secretariat staff at (632) 911-3101 extensions 8283 and 8246.

Applicants must be 17 to 25 years old, Filipino citizen, at least 5’5" tall, with pleasing personality and a high school graduate, and of good moral character.

Things to submit: Original birth certificate (authenticated by the National Statistics Office), certified true copy of high school or college diploma, Philippine passport (if any), close-up and full-body photos, and written consent from parents (if applicant is 17 years old).

Three winners will be chosen to represent the country in the Miss Universe, Miss World and Miss International contests.

* * *

E-mail reactions at [email protected]