Nora Aunor NOW + Moron 5 and the Crying Lady

Superstar Nora Aunor certainly made her fans very happy when she held a special get-together for all of them at the Aberdeen Court on Monday. Nora, thru her manager Boy Palma, ardent supporter Albert Sunga (who is also a member of a fans club) and talent manager Noel Ferrer who is helping the superstar with her career, organized the get-together that also served as the launching of NOW (Noranians Worldwide), a new organization that aims to unite all the Noranians not only in the Philippines but from different parts of the world as well.

The various still existing fans clubs of the superstar were likewise present in Monday’s event, including Nanay Ester who is 102 years old, arguably the oldest surviving fan of the one and only superstar and a member of Federation of Nora Aunor Followers, which is the oldest existing fans club of Nora. The fans clubs and their members were all present – GANAP (Grand Alliance for Nora Aunor Philippines), ICON ( International Circle of Online Noranians), Federation of Nora Aunor Followers, Nora Aunor Solid plus the new NOW, who they say have members in the United States, Canada and Australia.

Also present in the event were Nora’s children Matet (with her husband Mikee) and Kenneth, German Moreno, award-winning writer Ricky Lee (who will write the biography of Nora and is likewise being convinced by the superstar herself to direct his debut film with Nora as lead actress) TV5 executive Perci Intalan and TV5 contract star and two-time best actor awardee Edgar Allan Guzman (who played Ate Guy’s son in the TV series “Sa Ngalan ng Ina”) who will play the male lead in the stage adaptation of the Nora Aunor movie “Bakit Bughaw ang Langit” to be directed by Mario O’Hara, with Katherine Luna playing Nora’s role. The superstar is endorsing the said stage adaptation of the said movie.

She has earlier given her nod for the stage adaptation of Lino Brocka’s “Bona” which will feature Eugene Domingo in the role of the fan. Nora is likewise looking for a good material for an original theater project for herself.

Different Noranian groups performed in honor of the superstar, with the ICON group winning the grand prize of P10,000 given by Nora herself. The superstar also gave out three cash prizes in the raffle for the fans worth P60,000 plus other items including cell phones, microwave ovens and a big washing machine.

Nora is leaving for Tawi-Tawi on April 12 to shoot the movie “The Womb” with Cannes award-winning director Brillante Mendoza. She will be in Tawi-Tawi from April 14 to 30 plus they will shoot one day in Bicol, in Donsol, with the butanding. She is also serving as one of the judges in the grand finals of Talentadong Pinoy on May 5 and 6.

Many other projects are being lined up for the superstar including another movie which will be a co-production venture between Regal Entertainment and TV5 that will be the start of a year-long celebration as the superstar marks her 45th year in showbiz next year.

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People are talking about John Lapus and his current starrer “Moron 5 and the Crying Lady” that is making a killing at the box-office. If the current trend continues, the movie might just emerge as the biggest earning local movie at this time of the year, possibly even overtaking the gross of “Praybeyt Benjamin” which earned more than P300 million last year.

But even if those who have viewed “Moron 5 and the Crying Lady” are raving about John’s acting, the Kapuso star and TV host would not want to predict that it would be a cinch for him to win an acting award for his performance.

But he admits being challenged by his role as he was asked to portray various characters. “Nagpalit-palit lang ako ng damit tapos iniba-iba ko lang ang style ng pagsasalita ko pero mahirap pala iyon. Now I could imagine how hard must it have been for Eddie Murphy playing various roles in some of his movies. Di ba may mga pelikula siya na siya ang gumaganap sa ibang roles,” said John.

Sweet is happy that he finally has a launching film under Viva. Even if he can’t claim sole credit for its success (of course, he is sharing the success with his co-stars Luis Manzano, Marvin Agustin, Billy Crawford, Mart Escudero and Dj Durano), John is thrilled that Viva Films fulfilled his of having a solo film. He hopes to do another solo starrer before the year ends.