Pinay second-placer in 2010 Supermodel search

Another Filipina finished among the finalists in the prestigious Supermodel search.

Charlene Louise “Chat” Alagon Almarvez, who’s turning 17 on Jan. 25, placed first runner-up in the 2010 Supermodel of the World search held in Sao Paulo Brazil over the weekend, and got a US$150,000 modeling contract from Ford Models NYC.

Noted Funfare’s “beauty experts” Joey Cezeare, Gery Yumping, Francis Calubaquib and Feliex Manuel (now working as a nurse in New York), Chat is the third Filipina to land in the Top 5, following Melanie Marquez (also first runner-up) in 1986 and Charo Ronquillo (second runner-up) in 2006.

“Chat is statuesque and stunning at 5’9”,” added Felix. “She’s a Business Administration freshman at the De La Salle College of Saint Benilde. She was discovered during a Santacruzan in Laguna. With just a couple of months experience in modeling, she tried her luck and won the Supermodel Philippines search during the Philippine Fashion Week in October last year.”

This year’s Supermodel winner is Karlina of Latvia (Baltics). The runners-up in the following order are Charlene (Philippines), Isabelle (Sweden), Olivia (USA), Maryna (Belarus), Grace (Australia) and Bruna (Brazil).

“They will be featured in the New York Fashion Week Fall 2010 next month,” said Felix. “Ford Models Supermodel of the World is the largest and most prestigious international modeling competition. Established by Eileen Ford in 1980, Supermodel of the World held its first event at the Sporting Club in Monaco.”

The song tells a poignant story

In Northern Ireland, the song Mrs. Robinson (from the 1967 Mike Nichols movie The Graduate) got played on the radio over and over again when a middle-aged government official was exposed to be the lover of a 19-year-old boy in her ward.

In the Philippines, since the arrest of Jason Aguilar Ivler, called “the road-rage killer,” a few days ago after a two-month manhunt, the song Anak is being played and replayed on the radio, all too suddenly taking on a touching meaning in the context of Ivler’s mother Marlene Aguilar-Pollard’s unflinching pronouncement that she would love her son just as much notwithstanding the many names (“monster,” etc.) he’s being called.

Let’s give a keener ear to the lyrics of Anak, composed by Ivler’s uncle Freddie Aguilar (Marlene’s brother):

Nang isilang ka sa mundong ito

Laking tuwa ng magulang mo

At ang kamay nila ang iyong ilaw.

At ang nanay at tatay mo’y

Di malaman ang gagawin

Minamasdan pati pagtulog mo.

At sa gabi’y napupuyat ang iyong nanay

Sa pagtimpla ng gatas mo,

At sa umaga nama’y kalong ka

Ng iyong amang tuwang-tuwa sa iyo.

Ngayon nga ay malaki ka na

Nais mo’y maging malaya

Di man sila payag

Walang magagawa.

Ikaw nga ay biglang nagbago

Naging matigas ang iyong ulo,

At ang payo nila’y sinuway mo.

Di mo man lang inisip na

Ang kanilang ginagawa’y para sa iyo

Pagkat ang nais mo’y

Masunod ang layaw mo

Di mo sila pinapansin.

Nagdaan pa ang mga araw

At ang landas mo’y naligaw

Ikaw ay nalulong sa masamang bisyo.

At ang una mong nilapitan

Ang iyong inang lumuluha,

At ang tanong, “Anak, ba’t ka nagkaganyan?”

At ang iyong mata’y biglang lumuha ng di mo pinapansin

Nagsisisi at sa isip mo’y

Nalaman mong ika’y nagkamali;

Nagsisisi at sa isip mo’y

Nalaman mong ika’y nagkamali;

Nagsisisi at sa isip mo’y

Nalaman mong ika’y nagkamali;

Nagsisisi at sa isip mo’y

Nalaman mong ika’y nagkamali.

Oliver Tolentino on the Golden Globe red carpet

Like the Hollywood stars, 1978 Miss Universe Margaret Gardiner (from South Africa) made heads turn on the wet red carpet (it was raining) of the 2010 Golden Globe Awards held last Monday at the Beverly Hilton with her stunning gown designed by Filipino designer Oliver Tolentino. Now a journalist, Gardiner was there to cover the event.

My friend Tim Evans (of the US Immigration, based at the L.A. airport) and I were at Oliver’s shop in Melrose Avenue, just off Beverly Hills (where the shops of such A-list designers as Stella McCartney, Armani, Balenciaga, Diane von Furstenberg, John Varvatos, Alexander McQueen and Marc Jacob of Louis Vuitton are also located) when Margaret dropped by for the fitting, so tall that Oliver stood a few inches shorter than her.

We’re happy for Oliver whose shop, opened only six months ago, is attracting the elite also especially after he showcased his creations at the Fashion Week in L.A. in October last year, the only Filipino artist in the event.

Oliver is now preparing a gown for the Eco-Chic fashion show in Geneva, Switzerland, using environment-friendly material. The event is being organized by the United Nations and Oliver has been tapped to represent the Philippines.

“I’m using material made of pineapple and abaca fiber, and raw silk cocoon,” said Oliver. “The material was exclusively woven for me by a group assigned by the UN. The lining is pure cotton. No synthetics is used.”

Keep up the good work, Oliver!

And see you soon on the Oscars red carpet.

Those were the days, dear Kris!

I was sorting out my pile of old magazines and guess what I dug up — a copy of an early 1980 issue of Star Monthly (sister publication of The STAR) with Kris Aquino and her dad, Sen. Ninoy Aquino, on the cover. Ninoy was murdered only a few months earlier and in the story Kris recalled the last 1,000 days with her dad.

The story was written by the what the magazine called “The Star’s Super Six” composed of Joy Belmonte (who’s running for Vice Mayor of Quezon City in the May elections), Lourdes Bustamante, Camille Idea, Gilda Punsalan, Tanya Reichert and...guess who?...Mayen Austria.

They were very young then, barely out of their teens and maybe still in high school. Take a good look at the photo that accompanied the Star Monthly story, presumably taken during the Super Six’s interview with Kris. Weren’t they cute? Hmmmm, those were the days?

Who could have guessed that almost three decades later, Kris and Mayen would live three streets away from each other in Valle Verde II and find themselves in a headline-making controversy involving Kris’ husband James Yap?

Asked by Funfare how well did she know Mayen, Kris texted back, “I knew her before we left for the US (so this was 1980) but not close. Her mom’s youngest sister was my sister Pinky’s classmate in Poveda.”

James insisted that Mayen was only a friend from whom he and Kris would order cakes and pastries and that there was nothing “romantic” in their relationship.

It was when Mayen called James to cry on his shoulder over a problem she was having with her boyfriend (somebody else) that the whole brouhaha started. Kris has since decided to move to her sister Pinky’s house with their two sons, leaving James by his lonesome in Valle Verde. Kris said she wanted “to protect” their sons.

Free from the taping of her ABS-CBN soap Kung Tayo’y Magkakalayo (because co-stars Kim Chiu and Gerald Anderson were finishing scenes in their Star Cinema pre-Valentine starrer Paano Na Kaya?), Kris was at their Valle Verde yesterday supervising their transfer to a new house somewhere in Makati City. They are to vacate the Valle Verde house by Jan. 25 and turn it over to the new owner.

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