Brazilian hunk is Mr. World

First, the not-so-good news: Marco Antonio Hetalia Tamayo, the Philippine bet in the just-concluded Mr. World contest held in London, came home empty-handed, just like his four predecessors.

But the very good news, according to Marco (who was indisposed, nursing a fever, due to the heat wave in most of Europe, almost throughout the contest activities), learned a lot in his week-long stay in London where he touched base with Pinoys there. "Now I know why our migrant workers are called unsung heroes," said Marco who hails from Davao City. "They help a lot in propping up our economy."

Felix Manuel, one of Funfare’s four "beauty experts" (also including Joey Cezeare, Francis Calubaquib and Gery Yumping) now working as a nurse in London, covered the Mr. World contest and filed the following exclusive report:

Last Aug. 9, grand finals night, Marco was still feeling unwell and dreary. Just the same, he tried hard to put his best foot forward and to make a lasting impression... successfully, I guess.

It was the fourth edition of the Mr. World contest which started in l996 and the first time for the event to be beamed to more than one billion people around the world. The contest is organized by Julia Morley’s company (which is also behind the Miss World pageant) while the Philippine bet is chosen by the Bb. Pilipinas people (led by Madame Stella Marquez de Araneta and Pitoy Moreno).

The board of judges was composed of reigning Miss World Azra Akin of Turkey, Tom Muyens (of Belgium, the first Mr. World), TV personality Jodie Marsh, Cleo Rocos (an actress and comedienne), TV presenter Sophie Blake, GQ picture editor James Millinger and fashion photographer Amelia Troubridge.

Chosen Mr. World 2003 was Mr. Brazil Gustavo Cabral Narciso, 24, a top model and TV actor in his country who wants to be a lawyer specializing in international taxation. He was the best-looking in the batch of more than 35 candidates.

First runner-up was Mr. Lebanon Assaad Tarabay, 21, who’s pursuing a business-marketing course. He was funny and witty, so everyone simply loved him.

Second runner-up was Mr. Belgium Fabien Hauquier, 26, who is involved in the restoration of period furniture. He stressed that it’s important for everybody to stay healthy as he recalled that his own mom survived a brain-tumor surgery a year ago.

The seven semi-finalists included:

• Mr. Mexico Jose Luis Resendez Santos, 24, a telenovela actor.

• Mr. Venezuela Andres Eduardo Mistage Pirilli, 21, a chemistry student who was the crowd favorite.

• Mr. Aruba Kelvin Osmond Halley, l8, who studied in Holland and speaks four languages.

• Mr. Barbados Ronnie Morris, named Mr. Talent, a renowned entertainment journalist and singer in his country.

• Mr. Singapore Lic Hua, 25, holder of a Business Adminstration degree and an insulin-dependent diabetic.

• Mr. China Shuan Jian Zhou, 26 (and the tallest contestant), an Electrical Engineering graduate and a holder of an M.A. in International Finance.

• Mr. Malta Matthew Saliba, 22, whose advocacy is to help stop domestic violence because he himself is a victim.

Our very own Marco lost but he gained lots of friends. He will concentrate on the Physical Therapy licensure exams and plans to practise his profession as soon as possible.

I would like to thank the Miss World organization for allowing me to cover the contest and the Paul Ridley Limited (especially Jemma Pike and Charlie Brougham) for helping me all the way.

Harlemm Lee Pinoy At Heart

Funfare’s recent item on Harlemm Lee who won the reality-TV Fame contest, qualifying him to be a member of the cast of the musical Fame which will be restaged soon on Broadway, got loads of response from all over. Most of the letter-writers were surprised to discover that Harlemm (whose real surname is Woo; middle name is Sevilla) is a Filipino whose parents are both from Nueva Ecija. Harlemm never mentioned that he’s Filipino all throughout the contest, all right, but he never denied that he’s one. At one point, he did say that his dream was to sell "a million albums in China."

Among the readers who learned about Harlemm’s "Filipino-ness" only from Funfare were Rogerdxq, Danny (who pointed out that there was another Pinoy in the Fame show, named Jamie Tiangco), Michael McGillicuddy, Mylene (of Hayward, California), Toni (of Anchorage, Alaska), D. Cruz, Elma Lupo, Lloyd Holden, NGARRY, Gerni Yambao, Mitch Villegas (of Chino Hills, California) and Jennifer Velasquez.

Here are three more:

• Bernie Rafael: We would have been more proud of Harlemm if he mentioned that he’s (half-)Filipino. Anyway, there are more popular reality-TV shows here in the US featuring Filipinos and other Asians. Melissa of the Real World MTV series (Real World New Orleans) always shouted to the world how Filipino she is. I wish Harlemm would do the same.

• Dara: My husband and I watched Harlemm throughout the whole episode of Fame here in the small city of Olympia, Washington. I thought that Harlemm was Chinese because during the interview before his last and overwhelming performance (that landed him the victory and the grand prize of a recording contract with Wire RecordingCompany) he was talking about his dream of having a recording in China. But I was also moved by his humility and honesty, especially when he admitted that he lied about his age (37 and not 27). We are very proud of him!

• Joyce S (of North Carolina, USA): I watched Harlemm on Fame and I even voted for him. He’s really an outstanding performer. I’m proud of him now that I learned that he’s a half-Filipino, even if he never mentioned his Filipino heritage throughout the contest. I hope Filipinos in America will continue to support our kababayan trying to make it in Holklywood and Broadway.

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