Jack will keep his promise to Pinoy fans

When Jack Jones mounts the stage of the Smart Araneta Coliseum (where he has performed years ago) tonight, he will fulfill his promise to his Filipino fans — that is, to sing The Lorelei.

When he met with a handful of journalists last Tuesday afternoon at the Roma Café of the Manila Hotel where he’s billeted with his wife, Eleonora, Jack confirmed what he told The STAR in two separate interviews in three years.

“When I first came to Manila,” he recalled, “I had no idea that The Lorelei was a hit here; it wasn’t a hit anywhere else. When the producer told me to sing it, I said,  ‘No, I won’t sing it.’ Then, I learned that the audience might be disappointed if I didn’t, so I sang The Lorelei.”

The song inspired a movie by Premiere Productions in 1974 right after the Miss Universe pageant was first held here, starring Miss Finland Johanna Raunio (who was among the five finalists, cast as a mermaid) and model Raul Roa (Monasterio). Another mermaid movie was made in 1994 after the second staging of the Miss U pageant here, titled Si Manolo at Michelle, topbilling Miss Australia Michelle van Eimeren (who was among the contestants) and Ogie Alcasid who was the mascot Manolo during the pageant. It was during the pageant that the two became sweethearts who later got married and eventually broke up.

“The Lorelei is also my favorite movie,” said Eleonora (a Polish-German whose maiden surname is Janowska).

The couple has been married for five years (“We are for keeps,” said Jack in a previous interview).

Asked how they keep their marriage intact, Jack smiled.

“You should be a lover and a best friend to your partner.”

During his dinner-show tomorrow, Feb. 14, at the Manila Hotel (produced by Beth Tagle’s Promotions for the Yolanda victims; call Manila Hotel at 527-8802 or 527-0011; or Salute at 911-5615), Jack will fulfill another promise — yes, to serenade Eleonora with a “surprise” song.

You wonder, does Jack sing Eleonora to sleep and with what song?

Answering for Jack, Eleonora broke into mild laughter.

“It doesn’t take much,” she admitted. “I can sleep in two minutes.”

The young generation of music-lovers (familiar with Jack’s songs, thanks to the album collections of their elders) must have wondered who the singer is in the award-winning movie American Hustle, dedicating I Got Your Number to Amy Adams and Christian Bale in the scene showing them starting a relationship. Unbilled, Jack is mentioned in the credits at the end of the movie.

During the Tuesday merienda presscon, Jack asked for a cup of coffee after the brief open forum. I noticed that he didn’t touch the glass of (cold) water in front of him. What does he do to keep sounding the way he did back when he first burst onto the music scene?

“I can’t understand it,” Jack repeated what he told The STAR in the previous interview (adding that he has quit smoking many years ago, and he stays away from his wife when she’s smoking). “I’m very grateful for it. I can’t really sound exactly the way I did when I was just starting but I assure you that my voice is intact and it has more edge to it, more depth to it. I don’t know why but I thank God for that. I’ll keep singing for as long as I can. I work a lot and I’m singing all the time. Even if I’m not working, I do sing a lot. You just have to keep using your voice; you can’t stop.”

Maybe it helps that he and Eleonora live at an ideal area at the outskirts of Los Angeles.

“It’s a warm place,” said Eleonora. “A nice, warm place where there’s hardly any rain the whole year round.”

Aside from being a singer, Jack also used to act in Broadway plays, with The Man Of La Mancha as his most memorable performance in which he sang The Impossible Dream.

“That song is the one I would like the world to remember me for,” said Jack.

Aside from The Lorelei, that is.

Eugene vies for Best Actress at Asian Film Awards

BREAKING NEWS: Eugene Domingo has scored her second Best Actress (international) nomination from the Asian Film Awards to be held at the City of Dreams Casino Resort in Macau on March 27, for her performance in Jun Lana’s Mga Kuwentong Barbero (Barber’s Tales), which won her Best Actress at the 2013 Tokyo International Film Festival.

In 2012, Eugene won People’s Best Actress (for Ang Babae sa Septic Tank) at the Asian Film Awards where she unwittingly stole the scene onstage when he kissed Hong Kong Actor Andy Lau.

More than 60 entries from various Asian countries are competing at the awards, with Barber’s Tales as the only Philippine entry.

Roy Alvarez, 63

“He was a good man and a good friend, walang negative feelings, always positive.”

That’s how Perla Bautista remembers Roy Alvarez who died of heart attack last Tuesday (Feb. 11) at 4 p.m. while watching TV at home. He was 63.

“Besides an environmentalist,” added Perla, “Roy was a devout Catholic, just like me. We both have very personal relationship with God.”

Born Leandro Delantar Alvarez on March 23, 1950 in Pagbilao, Quezon, Roy is survived by his Nieves Campa-Alvarez and their only child Miren.

He was not just an actor but also a director and scriptwriter for film, television and theater; a lecturer and speaker on Consciousness Development, Inner and Outer Ecology, Healing Mother Earth and Zero Waste Management.

He was in the cast of the GMA soap Villa Quintana at the time of his death.

His wake is at Santuario de San Jose in Greenhills, San Juan City.

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