Martin confirms breakup

Win some, lose some.

That sums up the current state of Martin Nievera.

The Concert King has just completed a series of concerts at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas (which bloomed with huge billboards showing Martin’s face in close-up) over the weekend. Martin should be screaming with joy, shouldn’t he?

Well, not completely.

He conquered Las Vegas, all right, but Martin has lost his girlfriend Katrina Ojeda with whom he had been going steady for more than seven years, starting in the mid-’90s. It was his romance with Katrina that led to the breakup of his marriage (which has since been annulled) to Pops Fernandez who herself is having the time of her life romancing younger men (Brad Turvey among them).

Last Sunday, The STAR printed the "scoop" that Martin and Katrina had broken up, with one-time TV "weather girl" Cutie del Mar rumored to be the third party. The rumor linking Martin to Cutie started cropping up late last year, bolstered by the fact that Cutie is often seen in Martin’s concerts as part of Martin’s family entourage. Martin tried to downplay the rumor by saying that Cutie is a family friend from way back.

In Las Vegas where Martin maintains a home, it’s Cutie who’s reportedly with him and not Katrina who’s based there. It turned out that Katrina came home to attend the wedding of a relative. Of course, she could have begged off from the family affair and opted to be with Martin in Las Vegas but the fact that she didn’t prompted showbiz observers to conclude that there is, indeed, trouble in her and Martin’s love life.

In a phone patch last Sunday on The Buzz, Martin confirmed to hosts Boy Abunda and Kris Aquino that, sob and sigh, he and Katrina had broken up, without confirming if Cutie caused the rift.

"Katrina lives in a different world from the one I’m in," said Martin. "There are certain things that she’ll never understand," including his being seen with other women (Cutie being one of them).

Martin should be back anytime now. He and Regine Velasquez will have two repeats of their recent smash-hit concert at the Araneta Coliseum, first in Pampanga and then on June 14 (Saturday) also at the Big Dome.

"What’s sad about the whole thing is that now that I have fulfilled my dream of making it in Las Vegas," Martin said, "Katrina is not with me. You see, Katrina and I shared this dream. She is part of this dream’s fulfillment."

Oh, well. As I was saying, win some, lose some.

‘Starless’ wedding?

By this time, Donita Rose and Eric Villarama shall have swapped "I do’s" at the Bacara Resort in Santa Barbara, California, a few miles away from Los Angeles. The wedding was set yesterday (June 9, California time) and some 110 guests were invited, including the principal and secondary sponsors, some of whom were in Manila.

There was just a little hitch, though (if hitch it was) and I hope it was ironed out at the last minute. Except for Ruffa Gutierrez, Donita’s bosom friend, there might not be other big stars in the event. Many of those invited, especially from the Philippines, begged off for an understandable reason: they had to fly all the way to California and spend for their own accommodation and transportation. That’s very expensive!

Somebody commented that the less guests here would be, the more Donita and Eric could save. The charge is $240 per head. Less "heads," less expenses nga naman. As is the tradition/practice in America, it’s the bride (in this case, Donita) who’s spending for the wedding. I heard that Donita’s budget is $60,000 (roughly P3 million) but Eric volunteered to chip in some $5,000 (roughly P250,000).

The whole event was to be covered by GMA 7 which got the "rights" to it. With so many celebrities begging off, whoever was writing about the event for GMA must require all his/her creativity and resourcefulness to make it in- resting and exciting. You couldn’t focus on just the bride and the groom for two (or more) full hours, could you?

Let’s see how the wedding coverage would come out.

Lea’s wedding set for Jan. 6

Meanwhile, the wedding of Lea Salonga and Robert Chien will go on as scheduled on Jan. 6, 2004, in Los Angeles (not Hawaii as earlier reported).

There’s a sad note to the much-awaited affair, though. Robert’s mother suffered a stroke (due to aneurysm) several weeks ago and she now lies in coma at an L.A. hospital, surviving on a respirator and other tubes attached to her body.

A Funfare source said that half of the mother’s brains (affected by the aneurysm) had been surgically removed and it’s only a matter of time before Robert, an only child, decides to have the tubes removed and let his mom go in peace. Robert’s mother is divorced and, unlike his father, hasn’t remarried. Lea is there to give Robert all the moral support that he needs in critical times like this.

But before the January 6 wedding, Lea will first go on a three-month US tour of Flower Drum Song which closed prematurely on Broadway last March.

What’s up?

• Reader Jose Custodio called Funfare’s attention to a comment made by Donita Rose about having sex with anyone after her marriage. What Donita meant was that, being a Christian, she doesn’t believe in pre-marital sex and will have sex with her husband (Eric Villarama) only after their wedding.

• Philippine Airlines flight PR 103 from L.A. to Manila last June 5 was delayed due to a slight technical problem. I was impressed with the graciousness of the crew during the five hours we spent at the L.A. airport. The crew included Captain Augusto Samia; First Officer Martin dela Cerna; Second Officers Zenon Lukban and Dennis Gaona; Purser Jesuslino Seranilla; Flight Stewards Antonio Razon, George Reunilla, Raymon Muñoz, Telesforo Limjap, Herminio Ragon and Robert Ko; and Flight Attendants Magia Dado, Aren dela Cruz, Mylene Bancairen, Michelle Montesa, Amor Reynoso, Cherry Wijangco, Genaflo Lituanas, Jean Guintu, Arlene Barretto, April Ramos and Teresita Dominguez. Keep up the good work, guys.

• Here’s the lineup of performers at Moomba (near the corner of Roces Avenue and Quezon Boulevard, Quezon City) for June and July: Francis Soriano, June 13, 20, 26 and 27, and July 4, 7, 14, 18, 21, 25 and 28; Jimmy Bondoc, June 12 and 19, and July 3, 10, 17, 24 and 31; String of Souls, June 9, 16, 23 and 30. See you at Moomba.