Showbiz potentials among Bb. Pilipinas hopefuls - FUNFARE by Ricardo F. Lo

Curtain-raisers:

• The rank of ABS-CBN’s News and Public Affairs talents is thinning out, what with several of them throwing their hats into the political ring this May (see what you’ve done, Sen. Loren Legarda!), among them: Assignment host Teddy Boy Locsin for Senator, Noli de Castro for Senator, Ted Failon for Congressman in Leyte, Gilbert Remulla for Vice Governor in Cavite, Mon Ilagan for an unspecified position and Ronald Estella also for an unspecified position. Now, will Korina Sanchez join the fray (please don’t, Korina, don’t!)?

• Even if he’s identified with deposed President Erap, I’ll still vote for Dong Puno for Senator. We need qualified men like him in the Senate.

• Camarines Sur Vice Gov. Imelda Papin should stop taking potshots at Nora Aunor (you know, that Nora should undergo a "drug test," etc.) just because Nora is running (for Governor) under the other party. Instead, Imelda and Nora should have a singing contest during the campaign, so Bicolanos can choose – and vote for – who the better singer is.

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As usual when the prestigious Bb. Pilipinas search comes around, there’s some kind of a guessing game which showbiz girl is joining the contest and who is backing out (for fear of, uh, losing, you know).

Funfare just got the final complete list of the 31 candidates in the 2001 Bb. Pilipinas Pageant to be held on Feb. 24, Saturday, at the newly-repainted Araneta Coliseum ( the yellow-violet combination looks vulgar, don’t you think?).

Yes, Joey Mead (real name: Joanne del Pilar Angeles) is among them and, at 27, is the oldest among the girls and has a good chance to bagging one of the three major titles at stake, Bb. Pilipinas-Universe, Bb. Pilipinas-International and Bb. Pilipinas-World.

No, Bernadette Allyson isn’t in competition, although she was initially reported to be "interested." Now, did Bernadette back out for fear that she wouldn’t make it to the "magic circle"? Or could it be because, according to rumors, she didn’t want to compete with US-bred Cristina Legaspi Fandino, said to be a former girlfriend of Onemig Bondoc who also happens to be the ex-boyfriend of Bernadette?

Joey Mead and Cristina Legaspi Fandino are among the outstanding girls in the batch, according to Funfare’s "beauty experts" (Felix Manuel, Joey Cezeare, Gery Yumping and Francis Calubaquib) who have been observing the girls from preliminary screenings to the elimination rounds to the final selection of the 31 official candidates. The 11 others include: Michelle C. Reyes, a nurse at UST Hospital; Andrea Angela S. Silverio; Sosha Cruzette Copa Benito; Jeremie Antiporda; Maricar Balagtas, former Miss Bulacan and Miss Photogenic in last year’s Bb. Pilipinas search; Gemma Louise Heaton, Elite Look of the Year finalist and semi-finalist in last year’s Bb. Pilipinas search; Mary Grace Delen Roque, finalist at last year’s Bodyshots search; Jeanie Andersen, 1999 Mutya ng Pilipinas runner-up, from Baguio; Jenie Santos Manuel, one-time Mutya ng Pilipinas (2000) candidate; Precious Lara Quigaman, Eat, Bulaga’s Teevee Babe 2001 runner-up; and Ma. Esperanza "Peachy" Manzano, one-time Miss Quezon City and the reigning Miss Tourism International.

Cristina Legaspi Fandino hails from San Diego, California. She was crowned (the very first) Binibining Pilipinas of the World and she represented the Philippines in the Miss Millennium International Pageant last year in Finland. When she arrived three weeks ago, Onemig led her welcomers at the NAIA.

Incidentally, the girls mentioned also have the "most potentials" as showbiz stars.

The question is: Can the Philippine candidates live up to those from India, the country which has been monopolizing all the major international beauty contest these past years (the reigning Miss Universe and Miss World, plus the Miss Asia-Pacific, are all from India which has beaten Venezuela as the beauty capital of the universe/world)?

Last week, I caught the Femina Miss India selection (for the Misses Universe, International, World and Asia-Pacific contests) on the "S" Channel (SkyCable) and the winners are, again, unbeatable. When the contestants first came out in swimsuit, they were all stunning. When they paraded in evening gown, they were all stunning. And during the Q&A portion, they stunned the audience (both those in the venue and, I’m sure, those watching the proceedings on TV around the world) with their wit and intelligence, poise and grace (under pressure) and cool allure.

Sadly, we can’t always say the same thing about local beauties, most of whom look beautiful, all right, but once they open their mouths, everything just falls apart. In India, it seems that the combination of beauty and brains is common among the girls, and how you wish it’s also true among our very own!

But then, let’s keep our fingers crossed that this year’s batch is better than previous ones and that the winners will be good enough to compete with the stunningly beautiful and stunningly intelligent girls from India. Let’s hope.