Liezel's advice to Mariel

In a phone patch with Startalk last Saturday from Australia, Liezel Sicangco said that she’s happy for her ex-husband Robin Padilla and Mariel Rodriguez who got married in Igorot rites last week in Baguio.

“Robin is the jealous type,” Liezel said, addressing Mariel. “He doesn’t want his wife to look at other guys. Seloso siya maski sa mga pinsan niya.”

Liezel and Robin have been divorced for more than two years. She has remarried and continues to live in Australia.

According to reports, Robin and Mariel have been actually married thrice – first in India in Muslim rites when they were there for vacation early this month (during the Ramadan), and in Christian rites after their Igorot wedding.

Liezel, herself a Muslim, confirmed that it’s okay for a Muslim guy to be wed in Christian rites if his partner is Christian.

Asked what her wish for the newly-weds was, Liezel said, “Sana magka-anak na sila para sa akin na lang si Ali.”

Ali is one of the ex-couple’s four children. Two daughters are here with Robin while one is with Liezel. Ali has been the bone of contention between the ex-couple. Liezel’s wish to have Ali back in Australia to continue his studies has been granted by Robin. The boy is scheduled to fly to Australia today.

One more thing, said Liezel.

“(The camp of) Robin owes me an apology for making me appear mukhang pera. Hindi pa sila humihingi ng apology sa akin.”

Incidentally, Robin and Mariel might star together in a movie to be shot in India. As reported, they are not going back to the ABS-CBN show Pilipinas Win Na Win (PWNW) from which they resigned before going to India.

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Charice as featured in Newsweek: Performing at the Canal Room in New York City last April

Check out the latest issue of Newsweek and be proud of the glowing article about our very own Charice, in which her mentor David Foster predicts, “In my opinion, she will put the whole of Asia on the map as a huge global superstar.”

As we all know, Foster admitted in previous interviews that Charice reminded him of Celine Dion when he heard Charice sing for the first time.

Here’s what the intro of the Newsweek story says:

As any would-be American Idol knows, taking on a song by Whitney Houston or Celine Dion can be a kiss of death. The songs are so demanding that contestants often find themselves in the judges’ firing line for attempting one. So when 15-time Grammy Award-winning producer David Foster says that 18-year-old Filipino singer Charice reminds him of a young Dion, the industry takes note. Foster knows what he’s talking about: he produced the French Canadian Dion’s debut English album, Unison. Charice reminds me of when I saw Celine 20 years ago,” he says. “In my opinion, she will put the whole of Asia on the map as a huge global superstar.”

The article recalls how Charice was discovered via the YouTube and caught world attention when she guested first on Ellen DeGeneres’ show followed by that of Oprah Winfrey (who is Charice and her brother Carl’s ninang sa binyag; Foster is a ninong, too) and several others, until she was tapped to play a Filipino student in the hugely-successful youth-oriented TV show Glee in its new season which starts airing this week.

The Newsweek story ends this way:

Now the young singer has to negotiate the shift from belting out covers of romantic ballads to becoming a pop princess who sings her own songs. Singing Lady Gaga’s hit Telephone opposite Lea Michele in Glee will no doubt reinforce perceptions she can make it as a pop star. Ryan Murphy, the creator of the award-winning TV show, has said he was so touched by her audition that he felt compelled to get her a “really good” role. “When that girl opens her mouth, angels fly out,” he said.

But she has already learned that fame can be fickle. After she was reported to have used Botox to “prepare” for her Glee role, some fans criticized her. To avoid the fate of countless young stars who made it and then let it all slip away, she will have to keep her head firmly on her shoulders. But with Foster having officially taken on the role of godfather, and Oprah in her life as her quasi fairy godmother, it looks like this Cinderella could continue her happy fairy tale.

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Siblings Kim Paolo, Ana Kristina and Juan Karlo on a beach in New Zealand days before the Sept. 25 premiere of Miss Saigon in Dunedin, also in New Zealand. The Felicianos are from Hagonoy, a coastal town in Bulacan. — Photo courtesy of Ana Kristina Feliciano

Did you know that three Bulakeño siblings are cast members of Miss Saigon in New Zealand, opening Sept. 25 at the Regent Theater in Denedin?

They are Ana Kristina , 19; Kim Paolo, 17; and Juan Karlo,15; the first three of the five children of Celestino Feliciano and Nene Vivas of Hagogoy town.

A report by The STAR correspondent Dino Balabo, Miss Saigon-Dunedin is top-billed by another Filipina performer named Maria Christina Bergantinos from Laguna who currently lives with her family in Hamilton, New Zealand. Bergantinos earlier played the lead role of Kim in Miss Saigon-Hamilton.

In an email to The STAR, Nene Feliciano said her children were thrilled to become part of the blockbuster musical that contributed to Lea Salonga’s international stardom.

“They are all thrilled and excited with this production just the same as the whole Dunedin Operatic Society,” Balabo quoted Feliciano as saying. “Miss Saigon is Kaye’s (Ana Kristina) first theater performance. Paolo and Karlo on the other hand, did their first theater performance at Waikouati, Otago last May.”

She said that her children inherited their singing talents neither from her nor from her husband Celestino.

“Siguro nabuo ang tiwala sa sarili nila dahil sa palagi naming sinasabi na samantalahin nila ang pagkakataon na napunta sila dito sa New Zealand, gawin nila ang lahat ng puede nila magawa, sa school at sa iba pang mga bagay,” she said.

Feliciano also said her children’s perspective were broadened when they migrated to New Zealand as they joined speech, singing and dancing contests in schools. “They became interested in musical instruments as their schools offered lessons in playing different instruments.”

Balabo learned that the Felicianos migrated from Bulacan to Palmerston, New Zealand in 2008 after Celestino was hired as shift administrator of Goughs and Hammer Company.

One-time a student of the UST in Manila, Ana Kristina transferred to the University of Otago where she is currently in her sophomore year as Commerce student major in Tourism.

Kim Paolo is in his senior year at East Otago High School and plans to take Zoology major in Marine Science for his university studies, while Juan Karlo is on his second year at the same school and plans to take Mass Communications.

The Feliciano siblings auditioned for Miss Saigon last June 19 at Dunedin and later informed by the producers that they all got their part for the musical. 

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