My Labsters

By Jill Beltran

Thousands of couples had done the famous lip-locked again for the celebration of the annual Lovapalooza on the Day of Hearts.

Dubbed as “Red Hot Valentines,” this year’s Lovapalooza held at SM Mall of Asia Saturday night (February 14) was rocked by overwhelming performances of four of the most-hottest bands today – Bamboo, Pupil, Spongecola, and Rico Blanco.

Their music was backed by 50-piece orchestra of SM Mall of Asia called the Metro Philharmonic Orchestra.

View photos of Lovapalooza 2009

Jad Dereza, Press Communication Assistant of MTV Philippines, said that although there were no records to be beaten this year, about 45,000 to 50,000 couples flooded the event.

At exactly 9 p.m. all couples smooched for about 10 seconds while colorful fireworks brightened the entire place. Spongecola made the moment more intimate as they sang Close-up’s promotional theme song “Closer You and I.”

From a promotional venue for CloseUp Toothpaste, Lovapalooza became an annual Valentine event for lovers in the country.

The first Lovapalooza was held in 2004 at Baywalk Roxas Boulevard in Manila.

The Philippines through CloseUp had grabbed the Guinness Book of Record from Chile for having the most-number of couples kissing simultaneously with about 5,347 pairs kissing on the eve of Valentine’s Day.

In 2005, Lovapalooza was simultaneously held in four major cities in the country including Manila, Angeles, Cebu, and Davao. However, the record was taken by Hungary producing 5,875 kissing couples.

In 2006, the simultaneous kiss-fest dubbed “Lovapalooza 3” tried to reclaim the title from Hungary but fell short. That was when popular bands in the country and celebrities have been tapped to grace and add zing to the event.

In 2007, about 6,124 couples successfully reclaimed the record as they simultaneously kissed in the north open lot of SM Mall of Asia in Pasay.

Last year, in “Lovapalooza Frost Fest,” CloseUp chilled out from record-breaking and gave away diamond-studded Crystal Frost necklaces to 100 winning couples who participated in the kiss-fest.

Till next Lovapalooza…Happy Heart’s Day!

And it all began…with Richard and KC wanting to work together in a movie.

Being exclusive talents of rival networks, this seemed like an impossible dream.

But the two young stars were so adamant for this to happen that they were able to make their two film home studios come to an agreement to let them star opposite each other in a movie.

Star Cinema already showed the first Richard-KC movie last August.

Now for this Valentine’s season, it is GMA Films’ turn, in cooperation with Regal Entertainment.

When I Met You is the second (and possibly the last) movie of Richard and KC together.

In When I Met You, Benjie (Richard Gutierrez) plays a young pilot struggling with his career. He finds himself trapped in a meaningless relationship with his girlfriend who uses her wealth as an excuse to manipulate his every action.

Jenny (KC Concepcion), on the other hand, is her family’s breadwinner who tries to make ends meet by working as a mall promodizer. The obedient daughter that she is, she hangs on to her controlling, well-to-do boyfriend at the expense of her own happiness.

Separately, Jenny and Benjie have led lives confined within the walls of the choices others made for them - devoid of meaning, fulfillment and self-realization. But things changed when an unfortunate incident, which turns into a magical moment, brings them together. They meet and suddenly, life for the two of them begins. Is love about what is right… or what is real?

This is the question that will be answered by When I Met U, the much-awaited Valentine movie offering of GMA Films and Regal Entertainment, topbilled by the blockbuster loveteam of Valentine box-office king Richard Gutierrez and tinseltown’s most promising sweetheart KC Concepcion.

Together for the second and possibly the last time, they star in this light romantic-comedy film, helmed by award-winning director Joel Lamangan, which is certain to make hearts melt this Valentine’s season.

Backdropped by the pristine beaches of Coron, a small island located at the tip of Palawan, Benjie and Jenny’s love story flourishes beautifully on the shores of this local island paradise.

Coron, which is quickly shaping up to be another prime tourist destination in the Philippines, is incidentally one of KC’s most favorite vacation spots.

Richard, on the other hand, openly declares his love for the beach. No wonder the movie hits closer to their hearts and thus makes working on it a pleasurable experience for the two of them.

With a deeper understanding of each other’s personalities, Richard and KC are sure to bring sweeter, more comfortable and more credible performances than when they first appeared on the silver screen. Suffice it to say, When I Met U is one heart lifting story moviegoers should not dare miss.

In the course of the coming weeks, fans may get a glimpse of the gorgeous pair in different mall shows and TV guestings while promoting their upcoming movie. They also just finished working on the movie’s soundtrack, including the theme song “When I Met You” sang by KC herself.

The movie also stars Iya Villania, Alfred Vargas, Cherry Pie Picache, Tirso Cruz III, Chinggoy Alonzo, Chanda Romero, Bubbles Paraiso, Paolo Paraiso, Chariz Solomon, Bearwin Meily and Mavi Lozano.

When I Met U hits theatres nationwide on February 11 with a premiere night on February 10 at SM Megamall. (Press release)

Lovebirds may find this Star Cinema film a pre-Valentine treat.

The first movie team-up of Angel Locsin and Piolo Pascual, “Love Me Again (Land Down Under),” showcases the best of Bukidnon and Australia.

Angel plays a role of a cowgirl named Arah who goes to the Land Down Under (other term used referring to Australia) to seek greener pastures for her family and a cowboy named Migo (Piolo).

Migo is madly in love with Arah and would go to the ends of the earth to follow her.

“Love Me Again” had a successful premiere night last January 14, Wednesday. It is now showing in theaters nationwide.

Here are photos taken by Sun.Star Manila reporter Jill Beltran during the premiere night.