A new bet for stardom

I have a new bet for stardom: Her name is Janine Gutierrez.

My gut feel that says there is a new major star rising in our midst began pulsating the other Sunday.

It was another one of those days when I woke up late — in the afternoon, in fact — and I turned on the TV set to GMA 7’s Party Pilipinas and saw a most beautiful sight. She looked like a young and fresh Rosanna Roces. Okay, make that a virginal Rosanna Roces.

The Gutierrez twins Richard and Raymond handed her a bouquet of flowers and I realized later that it was most fitting that they were the ones welcoming her to Party Pilipinas: They were her uncles!

When the camera panned to the audience area, there were familiar faces. The first one I saw was Jacquielou Blanco (her aunt) and then Lotlot de Leon. That was when I finally realized that this was Ramon Christopher and Lotlot’s eldest: Janine, who is now 21 years old.

Of course, I still remember the circumstances of her parents’ early marriage, but not her subsequent birth. However, I do recall Mamita Pilita Corrales’ TV interview one time in the early ‘90s. Asked to describe her granddaughter Janine, Asia’s Queen of Song quipped with pride: “Ay, Elizabeth Taylor!”

The late Ms. Taylor was the yardstick for beauty for several generations. When I finally saw Janine as a girl of maybe one or two years old — in a showbiz feature, again on TV — I thought to myself: The Mamita wasn’t exaggerating. Janine was, indeed, a pretty baby. When Pilita chose to compare Janine to Elizabeth Taylor, perhaps she was referring to the Hollywood legend’s one-of-a-kind pair of violet eyes.

Janine’s eyes — I noticed when I finally saw her in the flesh when she appeared on Startalk — were not exactly in any hue of purple. But they looked different — and most beautiful on her.

However, what I found more amazing was her politeness. It was only a week after her launch on Party Pilipinas, but she already displayed such exemplary people’s skills. I was in awe seeing her greet everyone — from hosts to production staff — with genuin

As a graduate of ADMU with a degree in European Studies

e warmth and courtesy.

Most people in the entertainment profession would only give importance to on-cam talents. Very few would bother with the staff and the little people in the studio. But I saw how Janine went out of her way to be nice to everyone around her.

Actually, this admirable trait I saw in her no longer surprised me. I’ve already written before how well Pilita brought up her two kids: Jacqui and Monching. Even Eddie Gutierrez and Annabelle Rama for that matter have great PR skills. Now you know where Janine got her good breeding.

In due fairness to Lotlot’s side, you can say anything you want about Nora Aunor now, but I have nothing to complain about her kids. While I had a misunderstanding with Lotlot once (it started with a phone patch she refused to grant), I know she is still a good person. (Maybe this was why Lotlot was given four adorable children — with Janine also excelling in academics, being in the dean’s list at Ateneo where she took up European studies.)

For the sake of Janine, I am letting bygones be bygones — even if I still had other Lotlot incidents after that. Oops, I’m getting carried away by my emotions again. I’m ending it here, okay?

The truth is, Nora should also give credit to Lotlot for being a responsible “Ate” to Ian, Matet, Kiko and Kenneth de Leon while they were growing up. The way I understood it, Lotlot was the glue that kept Nora’s biological and adopted kids together.

Lotlot carried on with her role even if she was attending to her own career as one of Regal Film’s hottest properties in the late ‘80s — making low-budget pictures with Ramon Christopher that made a lot of money for the movie company.

Janine’s entry to this world, however, made Lotlot set aside whatever plans she had to take over Nora’s throne as movie queen. But what do you know? Given Janine’s potentials, she may just end up as the next superstar.

When she kissed me goodbye last Saturday, I told her to come to me if she needed help for anything. I wish her well. A girl as nice as her deserves only the best this world could offer.