Kapuso stars win hearts of Bicolanos

MANILA, Philippines - With the majestic Mayon as the backdrop, GMA Network mounted its signature Kapuso Day in the city of Legazpi in Albay, Bicol last Sunday, Aug. 12, at the Ibalong Centrum for Recreation, powered by a line-up of reliable and fresh love teams, teleserye stars and some of its favorite performers.

Seen at the Kapuso Day were Richard Gutierrez, Sarah Lahbati, Elmo Magalona, Julie Ann San Jose, Geoff Eigenmann, Alden Richards, Louise de los Reyes, Derrick Monasterio, Kristoffer Martin, Jennylyn Mercado, Rochelle Pangilinan, Mark Herras and Sam Pinto.

The whole-day event gathered steam with Party Pilipinas, followed by a remote live telecast of H.O.T. TV, GMA 7’s newest showbiz-magazine show on Sunday afternoons, with Jennylyn. The day climaxed with the Kapuso Night, which brought the stars back onstage for a high-energy evening of songs and dances, including a telling duet of a possible off-screen romance developing between Richard and Sarah, co-stars in the primetime soap Makapiling Kang Muli. During the show, hosts Rico Robles, Pekto and Anna Maris Igpit teased the Kapuso leading man how in the past, he never performed during regional shows, but ever since Sarah became his co-star, he has been doing so.

The STAR also had the chance to catch up on the latest news of the other Kapuso stars who flew in for the event.

Sam, named as this year’s FHM’s Sexiest, was asked what she thinks is sexy. She readily agreed that she’s not a voluptuous beauty, but she defined sexiness as “being comfortable with oneself, being confident — for me that’s sexy.”

She commented on her back-to-back winning of the sexiest title: “I’m very honored, I wasn’t really expecting it this year.”

Sam also clarified about the issue that personal money was used to propel herself to the top of the list, saying that the initiative of her fans to give away prizes to those who voted the most for her was simply misinterpreted.

“My mom is usually very chill with this, but the issue had my mom really reacting to it,” she added, stressing that “I didn’t spend money for myself.”

Sam, who’s starring in a Metro Manila Filmfest entry with Sen. Bong Revilla, Vic Sotto and Judy Ann Santos, thinks that everything is happening fast since she joined showbiz almost three years ago, that she does feel the pressure of living up to expectations, although she couldn’t be happier.

This year, she became a household name as Neneng B., who’s the target of pick-up lines in the hit and irreverent Bubble Gang segment Boy Pick-Up, which also spawned a movie.

She shared, “Almost everywhere I go, people come up to me and say pick-up lines. It’s really funny.”

And the funniest for her? “One said, ‘May dala ka bang payong?’ ’Bakit?’ ‘Umuulan kasi ng kagandahan,’ (laughs). A barrista in a coffee shop said this!”

Meanwhile, Geoff, a fan favorite in regional roadshows of GMA, said, “I really like going around (the country) and seeing all the fans happy with the shows that we do.”

Geoff is the star of the afternoon prime drama, Kasalanan Bang Ibigin Ka, where he is pitting acting talents with his father, Michael de Mesa.

“Working with my father is masaya. It’s a different experience. We have different things to talk about now,” Geoff said.

Geoff is considered one of the top Kapuso male leads, and in his ongoing soap, he has managed to surprise and impress his dad in showdown scenes. But being part of the “acting dynasty” of the Eigenmanns spells a lot of pressure, said Geoff, candidly adding that he still has a lot of proving to do.

“I’ve never been nominated for anything. (I’m still) very far away. Di pa ako Eigenmann. I want to be nominated... for anything,” he said.

Meanwhile, some issues that struck his family are no secret to showbiz followers, especially how the sad separation of his famous acting parents, Michael and Gina Alajar, played out before the public years back.

With that, father and son portraying conflicting characters in Kasalanan Bang Ibigin Ka naturally raises questions on whether or not some scenes would bring past issues to the surface.

But Geoff stressed that he harbors no resentment towards his father, although there was a scene in the teleserye that had Michael asking his son if he was.

Geoff related, “There was just one scene wherein afterwards my dad approached me and said, ‘Seryoso ka ba wala kang dinadamdam kasi pag tinitingnan mo ako ng ganun, na-a-apektuhan talaga ako.’ But I assured him, ‘Wala talaga dad, trabaho lang.’”

He added, “For me there’s no point in reliving the past because you can’t even change it. So, you should always look forward, move forward.”

They are even open to their mom marrying again, but ”she doesn’t want to. She said she already has us (her three sons).”

For Geoff, he was able to reach this mindset because “we in the family, we don’t talk about it. We don’t think about the idea that we’re incomplete. We moved on and we try to see the good in everything.”

Also at the Kapuso Day was the newest team-up of Mikael Daez and Andrea Torres, who are the lead cast of the revival of the hit teleserye Sana Ay Ikaw Na Nga, with its previous incarnation starring Dingdong Dantes and Tanya Garcia.

The chemistry of Mikael and Andrea, who both started out as commercial models and who first worked together as supporting characters and not as a pair in My Beloved, already had its “acid test” of sorts when they were instructed to do a kissing scene during the first screen test.

Mikael said that he’s happy that GMA noticed their potential as a love team. “I think they’re taking a risk but I think it’s a risk that’s well-thought-out naman. Hopefully, it will really become successful.”

Sana Ay Ikaw Na Nga, which will premiere in September, is also the first top-billing project for the both of them.

Mikael said, “I’m very happy. I mean, I think everything is a process, I wasn’t impatient, I didn’t complain and I felt all my roles in the past helped me for this moment.”

Another team-up that drew in the crowds at the Kapuso Day in Legazpi City was JuliElmo (the uni-name fans gave to the tandem of Julie Anne San Jose and Elmo Magalona).

Julie Anne and Elmo’s loveteam is getting tested for the first time at the box-office with their film Just One Summer now showing in theaters nationwide.

For Elmo, he credited his father, the late master rapper Francis Magalona, for his foray into showbiz. “This loveteam wouldn’t have happened. Wala po akong parang ganitong success right now. I’d still keep on doing what I want to do just for him to be proud of me. I always feel his presence.”

When his father was still alive, according to Elmo, “I didn’t see doing this before. I’d do theater at school before, but I never really thought of entering showbiz. But right now I’m really grateful and I feel blessed. And just the thought of people looking up to you, you don’t want to waste it.”

 The highlights of the Kapuso Day in Legazpi can be seen in the two-part Let’s Fiesta TV Special airing on Aug. 26 and Sept. 2 via the Network’s regional stations in Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Dagupan, Ilocos, CDO, GenSan, Bacolod and Bicol.