Lia ‘re-invented’ in Colombia for Miss U tilt

Like her predecessors, 2006 Bb. Pilipinas-Universe Lia Andrea Ramos underwent a crash training (in poise, etc.) under Colombian pageant guru Alfredo Barazza, a personal friend of Bb. Pilipinas Charities, Inc. head Madame Stella Marquez-Araneta (who hails from Colombia; the first ever Miss International, remember?).

"The training will definitely boost my morale and self-confidence," Lia told Funfare’s "beauty experts" Felix Manuel, Joey Cezeare, Gery Yumping and Francis Calubaquib before she left for Colombia last June 11. "It will add to the training I had under former Bb. Pilipinas winners and my Dale Carnegie mentors."

Lia should be back by now, set to fly to Los Angeles where the 55th Miss Universe contest will be held on July 23 at the Shrine Auditorium, ready to face the more than 80 other candidates from around the world. It’s the first time for the pageant to be held on US soil since 1998 when it was staged in Honolulu.

"We spent the last eight years taking the show around the world," the "beauty experts" quoted Paula Shugart of the Miss U Organization as saying. "Now it is our chance to return to the US and show all of our international contestants, along with their friends and families, one of the greatest cities in the world."

A UP graduate, Lia should feel right at home in L.A. because that’s where her parents, Ferdinand Ramos (a finance manager) of Davao and the former Rosalia Aquino (a registered nurse) of Cagayan, are based, along with two of Lia’s three younger siblings.

"I’ll feel comfortable in L.A.," said Lia, "and the expected support from our kababayan not only in L.A. but all over the US will be a great morale booster."

The "beauty experts" noted that Lia, 25, is the eldest Bb. Pilipinas to ever compete in the Miss U pageant, the first beauty from Davao to win the Bb. Pilipinas-Universe title (Nelia Sancho, also from Davao, was first runner-up to Gloria Diaz in 1969; she won as Queen of the Pacific in 1971) and the first from Mindanao to represent the country in the Miss U pageant (1968 Bb. Pilipinas-Universe Charina Zaragoza represented Manila in that year’s Bb. Pilipinas contest, although her parents are from Zamboanga). Lia was a semi-finalist in the 2001 search for Global Queen.

Whatever happened to 1994 Miss U Sushmita Sen?

Speaking of Miss Universe title-holders, have you ever wondered whatever happened to India’s Sushmita Sen who won the title in the pageant held in Manila in 1994?

Well, Sushmita became a famous movie star in India’s Bollywood, just like her first runner-up Aishwarya Rai (who went on to win the Miss World crown the same year) and Spain’s Amparo Muñoz who also won her Miss U crown in the Philippines when the pageant was first held here in l974.

I remember how Sushmita answered the decisive question (for the three finalists), "What is the essence of being a woman?," with wit and intelligence, saying in gist that being a mother is part and parcel of the essence of being a woman, thereby winning not only the hearts of the audience (at the PICC and those watching the glittering ceremonies at their homes) but also the nod of the judges.

Well, I just got my copy of the June 2006 issue of the Reader’s Digest (to which I’ve been subscribing for years) and guess who’s featured – yes, Sushmita Sen with her adopted child named Renee (from a French word that means "to be again").

Asked by RD why she decided to adopt a child, the witty/intelligent Sushmita said, "I’d always wanted to be a mother and being a mother was more important to me than having a baby. I hadn’t found the right man, and I didn’t want to get married for the wrong reasons."

Very Sushmita Sen, isn’t it?

(Note: For the full story on Sushmita Sen, get a copy of the Reader’s Digest at the nearest newsstand.)

Twilight Dancers cast completed

Funfare’s roving correspondent Ferdinand Lapuz has this interesting report:

Brillante Mendoza’s Centerstage Productions has completed the casting of Twilight Dancers, Mel Chionglo’s follow-up to his Sibak (Midnight Dancers) and Burlesk King.

Allen Dizon, Lauren Novero and StarStruck Season One Avenger Tyrone Perez are the male leads in what will be the last installment on Chionglo and Ricky Lee’s macho-dancer series.

Both Sibak and Burlesk King had their world premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival and were both acquired for foreign distribution in North America, Europe and Asia.

Cherry Pie Picache, who appeared as a prostitute in Sibak and as a lesbian in Burlesk King, might be included in the cast pending final negotiations.

Other members of the cast are Ana Capri, IC Mendoza, Glaiza de Castro, Arnell Ignacio and director Joel Lamangan, plus young actors Terence Baylon, Chester Nolledo, Dennis Recto and Kris Martinez (as macho dancers).

Twilight Dancers will have its Philippine premiere in September.

As member of Ignatius Film Canada, I will again represent Twilight Dancers in the international festival circuit as I did for Magnifico, Babae sa Breakwater, Masahista and Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros.

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