2009 08/12-08/18

MANILA MAIL COMMUNITY

Celebrating his birthday this coming August 28th, Daly City Coulcilman David J. Canepa, right, is shown here personally congratulating WCOPA Winning Singer and Performer, Divo Bayer for his successful concert held last Saturday in South San Francisco.

Photo by Richard Lao.

Miss Philippines' Bianca Manalo's height, beauty and changing looks everyday is attracting alot of attention inThe Islands of the Bahamas, where the 2009 Miss Universe Pageant is being held. Finals will be telecast liveAugust 23rd on NBC.

Bea Alonzo and Derek Ramsay will ignite the screen when "And I Love You So" opens this Friday, August 14th, at the UA Stonestown Twin Theaters located at 501 Buckingham Way, San Francisco, CA 94132.

Sam Milby and Bea Alonzo teams up on Star Cinema's "And I Love You So", opening this Friday in San Francisco.

Among the hundreds of Pistahan Parade participants are TFC's Balitang Amerika's Miss Henni Espinosa and Mr. Steve Angeles. Photo by Ariel Fulgado

Approximately 50,000 trooped to the Yerba Buena Gardens this weekend, for the 2-day 16th Pistahan Parade and Festival Celebrations. Photo by Ariel Fulgado

Star Cinema”s “And I Love You So” Opens in SFO This Friday

Bea Falls In Love with Sam & Derek;

Pinoy Big Brother director Laurenti Dyogi’s film comeback

to screen in U.S. theaters this August

You’ve seen it on the hour by the hour on your TFC screens. Finally, on the occasion of TFC’s 15^thand Star Cinema’s 16^th anniversaries, ABS - CBN International’s Starry Starry Store brings to the U.S. the much awaited And I Love You So, a contemporary drama on love, loss and letting go.

So many exciting things are going for this film. It is the comeback movie for popular director Laurenti Dyogi, the man behind the huge success of ABS - CBN ’s reality shows Pinoy Big Brother andPinoy Dream Academy. His last film was Now That I Have You in 2004, starring Bea Alonzo and then on-screen partner, John Lloyd Cruz. And I Love You So stars today’s hottest and most beautiful celebrities in the Philippine movie industry in their first team-up: Sam Milby, Bea Alonzo and Derek Ramsay.

It is wholesome young actress Alonzo who underwent intense transformation for And I Love You So. Her role is no longer that of a sweet teenager, but of a fully grown woman – sensual and comfortable with her body and sexuality. As this role calls for seductive attires and intimate scenes with her hunky male co-stars, Alonzo underwent a physical regimen that included bikram yoga sessions and a strict no-carb diet, losing 15 pounds and toning her body in the process.

But the tougher challenge was how to channel the emotions of her character, Lara, a woman who after losing her husband of five months on her 24^th birthday thought she could not go on living, much less fall in love again. Every time Lara loses a loved one, someone had been there to cushion the blow. When her mother died when she was 14, her father consoled her. When her father passed away six years later, her family was there. But when her husband died, no one could offer any consolation – not her siblings, in-laws or friends. She had lost the love of her life and she felt very much alone as she watches her business, her life, and her world collapse before her.

With her predicament, how would Oliver (Derek Ramsay) and Chris (Sam Milby) figure in her life? Will she finally move on?

“Summer movies are usually packed with action, thrills, suspense and animation, but the reality is it is a season that has given us the best love stories on cinema, too,” said Kerwin Du, ABS - CBN North America’s head of theatricals. “Call it counter-programming but And I Love You So fills that need for many moviegoers to think and feel. After all, many of us have had summer romances as part of our life experiences so it’s something people can relate to.”

The theatrical schedule of And I Love You So is as follows:

SAN FRANCISCO (August 14-20)

UA Stonestown Twin

501 Buckingham Way

San Francisco, CA 94132

SAN DIEGO (August 14-20)

UA Horton Plaza

475 Horton Plaza

San Diego, CA 92101

LAS VEGAS (August 14-20)

Regal Village Square Stadium

9400 W Sahara Ave.,

Las Vegas, NV 89058

LOS ANGELES-CERRITOS (August 21-27)

Cerritos Stadium Cinema

12761 Towne Center Drive

Cerritos, CA 90701

HONOLULU (August 28-September 3)

Regal Dole Cannery Stadium 18

735 Iwilei Road #B

Honolulu, HI 96817

SEATTLE (August 28-September 3)

Parkway Plaza Stadium

5910 South 180^th Street

Tukwila, WA 98188

CHICAGO (September 11-17)

The Pickwick Theater 1

17 South Prospect Ave.,

Parkridge, IL 60068

For more information, please visit www.abs-cbnglobalmovies.com or call 1.800.227.9676.

SEEN IN THE CITY

‘Summer Night Of Music With Divo Bayer’ Wows Bay Area

A multitude of conerts and shows graced the different venues in the Bay Area and most of them either banked on the star performer’s popularity or ephemeral hype but the tal;ent and the showmanship delivered during the actual show were either mediocre or just pure entertainment.

Last Saturday evening at the South San Francisco auditorium, “Summer Night of Music withDivo Bayer” may not have filled the rafters but the audience who have fortunately opted to take the opportunity to watch this show did themselves a big favor of enjoying and experiencing a tour d’ force perfomance we rarely experience on live performances. Divo Bayer proved himself to be deserving of the tag ‘Emperor of Soul’ or more so as ‘Celebrity Entertainer of the Year’ for his showmanship can command multiple standing ovation. Bayer can belt out any genre of music from pop,music to classical opera music. The audience were soothed by her rendition of his early hits like ‘NgayongNandito Ka, and his Star Quest medley. But what really brought the audience to hold-your breath syndrome was when he sang ‘Sometime, Somewhere,’ an original composition of maestro-composer Ryan Cayabyab and his heartstopping version was more than enough to save your money for the tickets to his show. His range is far from a lot of actors-singers or pretending to be singers who after a few songs you will urge yourself to leave the venue for they really don’t know anything about music.

Even the guest singers like Sage, Trina Diomaranan, AriannaTolentino, ArnelRosanes were just real troopers themselves who had their share of musicsl greatness causing the audience to be proud of their Filipino lineage. But it was the all-male chorus of Overseas Foreign Workers(OFW) from Saudi Arabia known as the Prime Note Ensemble that roused the suience during the opening when they sang “Star Spangled Banner and our Philippine National Time and then followed by their hair-raising version of “Circle of Life” that preconditioned the audience to a night of absolute vocal showdown. When Divo Bayer joined the Prime Note Ensemble in singing Puccini’s “NessunDorma” the audience were just like being treated to a moment of musical greatness that nobody got tired or even thought of their call of nature excuse for they did not weant to miss a single second to this great show.

Kudos to the stage director Noel Nuguit and the producer Teresa Labitoria for making this visceral and musical sahow a reality. It is seldom that the Bay Area audience get a chance to get this kind of sublime state of musical journey and it you will say after the show that you more that your money’s worth.

Seen in the audience were Councilman of Daly City Dave Canepa, State Commissioner Ray Satorre, Businesswoman and Fashionable Lady of the Year Susan Pacifico, and a lot more of prominent men and women of the community.

TO-BE-SEEN IN THE CITY

Miss Philippines Shines In Miss Universe 2009

It has been 10 long years since a Philippine candidate to the Miss Universe Pageant figured prominently (thanks to 199’s 1^st runner-up, Miriam Quiambao!). In the Bahamas right now is our bet, Bianca Manalo, who is one of the early favorites (again!) to bring home the crown, if postings and unofficial rankings online are to be believed. They paraded in National Costumes last Monday night. Preliminary judging takes place on Sunday.

There are talks online that the judges will not only pick Top 15 from the preliminary round - they will also allow an extra beauty into the semi-finals voted on by the Bahamas people through newspaper and SMS voting.

The semi-finalists will not be announced until Sunday, August 23, when Miss Universe 2009 will be crowned. Good luck, Bianca!

PERSONAL NOTES

Advanced Happy Birthday to Daly City ’s youngest Councilman, David J. Canepa. My personal good friend first before he became a Councilman, David still doesn’t fail to attend every major Filipino event, to continuously express his deep appreciation to the community who supported him all the way to his victory during the last history-making local elections. Happy birthday and long live, Councilman Canepa!

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