Serna: Good ‘press’ show

THOUGH their names and faces had been splashed all over the pages of Cebu dailies and TV stations, still I would like to congratulate the winners of the recent Mr. & Ms. Press Freedom 2012 pageant, namely: Ed Buenaviaje of Cebu Daily News and Grace Lacamiento of The Freeman.

Likewise to Davinci Maru (Sun.Star Cebu, runner-up) and to Carmel Matus (CDN, first runner-up), Katreena Bisnar (KBP, second runner-up) and Cheska Geli (Sun.Star, third runner-up).

As reported before and after the pageant, GMA-7 stars (La Diva, composed of Aicelle Santos, Jonalyn Viray and Maricris Garcia) as well hunk Mikael Daez and Andrea Torres graced the occasion. “Asia’s Power Trio,” La Diva, performed some numbers.

Of course, I have to congratulate the Wicked Sisters (composed of beauty queens Anna Maris Igpit, Karla Paula Henry and Sian Elizabeth Maynard) for a job well done in coordinating and directing the proceedings; also to Jude Bacalso for hosting the casual interview.

Thanks too to Salonga Music for the sounds and to Highlights Bar of Harolds Hotel. It was simply the perfect venue for the event.

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Questions as to why there was no turnover of the “crown” by last year’s Ms. Press Freedom (there was no male counterpart for two years) hounded the minds of some members of the Entertainment Media Group (E-Group) and the audience.

Phoebe Kaye Fernandez explained when we met her at the general assembly of the Cebu Federation of Beat Journalists that she accepted a hosting job that same night because she was not informed beforehand about the press event.

Some E-Group members found the explanation insufficient though because being a journalist herself, she must have full knowledge of the celebration’s activities, more so with her responsibilities as the then outgoing queen.

Anyway, with the success of the event, the E-Group now feels a little pressure to make another leveling up for next year’s edition. Take a bow, E-Group.

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Pop princess Sarah Geronimo (the “Pop Star Princess” tag that other camps insist on giving her is simply so wrong for me) was in Cebu last weekend for a concert dubbed Pistahang Cebuana!, which is Cebuana Lhuillier’s gesture of thanksgiving and gratitude to its over two million clients all over the country for their steady patronage for the last 25 years.

Sarah first met some members of the Cebu entertainment media and bloggers at the Summit Hotel a day before the show. She was a picture of a happy young woman when she did so—no trace whatsoever of the rumored failed-before-it-could-even-officially-start romance with Gerald Anderson. Or has it really failed or simply hushed?

Anyway, she admitted that sometimes due to exhaustion and other factors, she wished she could have a different career but since she could not think of other things that she can excel in other than singing and of all the blessings that came her way because of singing, her gratitude surpasses those negative thoughts.

She is also exerting efforts to make her other passion materialize, that is, drawing.

She often goes out with her family and friends (Rachelle Ann Go among them) to watch movies, among other things, in her free time.

Sarah also divulged that the third part of her movie team-up with John Lloyd Cruz is currently being shot and might be shown towards yearend.

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Sarah’s guests in the show were Mark Bautista and Eric Santos. The two had solo numbers which were well-applauded. Their trio with Sarah interpreting Freddie Aguilar’s Anak with some Cebuano lines was, I believe, the night’s most applauded number.

The show was enjoyable except that when the momentum goes up, the organizers come in for some speeches, raffles and a video show. Perhaps a better sequencing of numbers can be drawn up next time (after another 25 years?) to avoid self-destructive actions.

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In one of the Press Freedom week gatherings, not a few grumbled about the emcee’s repetitive jokes centering on the age and appearance of the people called to participate in an activity that had clicked in the beginning but had become offensive later on.

His ad lib was also pointed out as a factor that stretched the program till midnight and had some attendees desperately fighting off drowsiness. Some observed that the emcee was a little inebriated later in the program, thus his actuations.