ABBA mania to hit Manila next month

Curtain-raisers:

•  It’s definite: A Kapamilya is jumping ober da bakod to the Kapuso Network. Any day now, he will sign an exclusive contract with GMA. Meanwhile, Ogie Alcasid is keeping everybody guessing whether he will remain a Kapuso when his contract expires in June. Or will he turn Kapatid (whose big boss, MVP, is Ogie and Regine Velasquez’s wedding sponsor)? The not-so-secret negotiation is underway. Will the price be right?
• So where are you spending the Holy Week (must really be holy, huh)? A popular May-December couple (not married, just going steady) will hie off to Macau, just the two of them (excluding the barkada). A few years ago, the guy also spent the Lenten break in another Asian country with his now-ex-girlfriend who is happily married to a businessman. It was also a strictly “good for two” retreat.
• Ever wondered whatever happened to Cynthia Ugalde, 1962 Miss Philippines? In a letter to Funfare, Cynthia wants to inform beauty-watchers that she and her husband Dr. Oscar Pelaez Tan have resettled in the Philippines from the US. “Oscar and I, together with our daughter Camille, have just joined the Rotary Club of Quezon City,” wrote Cynthia. Oscar is a former president of the Far Eastern University (FEU) Medical Alumni Society in New York, which honored him at a dinner-dance last year.

We knew the songs, all right, but it was only when my friend Raoul Tidalgo and I watched Mamma Mia! on Broadway a few years ago did we realize that those songs were by ABBA. It happens all the time, you know. You’re familiar with the songs but you can’t quite put the names of the singers to them.

Anyway, get ready for ABBA  songs when the ABBA Mania Tour 2013 hits Manila and Cebu next month, with performances at the Pacific Grand Ballroom of Waterfront Hotel, Cebu City on April 20; La Proa Ballroom, L’Fisher Hotel, Bacolod City, April 24; Newport Performing Arts Theater, Resorts World Manila, April 25; and SMX Convention Center, Lanang, Davao City, April 27.

Despite the influx of new groups, ABBA continues to lure millions of fans, young and old alike, to their shows around the world. Since 1999, the Swedish pop group has done successful tours in the United Kingdom and other parts of the world.

ABBA is one of the most popular and most enduring bands of all time. The group shot to fame after winning the Eurovision contest in 1974, so far selling more than 378 million records which sold even more after they were featured in the movie Mamma Mia!

(Note: For tickets, call [02]908-8833, [032]232-6888, [032]231-5342. [032]233-0445, [034]468-0168/468-0130 or [034]709-1999.)

(E-mail reactions at [email protected]. You may also send your questions to [email protected]. For more updates, photos and videos visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on www.twitter/therealrickylo.)

Naga beauty is 2013 Mutya ng Cagsawa

Louise Pauline Christelle Rosales of Naga City was named 2013 Mutya ng Cagsawa at the recent Magayon Festival held in Daraga, Albay. Runners-up were Jian Cayla Salazar (left) of Guinobatan, Albay, first; and Angelie Aubrey Asuncion (right) of Tabaco City, Albay (second). A look-alike of 1996 Bb. Pilipinas-Universe Aileen Damiles, Louise also won two special awards, Miss BDO Remit and Best in Production Number. — Reported by ‘beauty-watcher’ GERRY DIAZ