Friday, October 06, 2006 Serna: Let’s drink to that By Roger Serna Sounds and images
THE long wait for a Miss World crown to be brought home extends to next year (and hopefully not until eternity). The country’s bet, Boholana Anna Maris Igpit did give her best based on the footages yours truly saw on TV.
It’s just that it’s still not the country’s time to be acknowledged in that particular pageant as in other international beauty pageants. That time will come, eventually. So far, the Miss World and Miss Earth titles remained elusive.
Even early favorites, Misses Venezuela, India, Puerto Rico and others did not make it to the elite circle of six where the top three were picked (with the crown won by Miss Czech Republic with Misses Romania and Australia completing the royal court).
How true was it that the judges had a hard time deciding on the second semi-finalist from the Asia-Pacific group that instead of just two (the first being the group’s topnotcher in text and internet votes), Asia-Pacific was represented by three semi-finalists? Hurrah for those from Asia-Pacific!
A friend brought up this idea: had Anna Maris announced even during the Bb. Pilipinas search that she’s from Cebu, would Cebu have gone out of its way to support her so as to land her in the Miss World semi-finals?
Hmmm... hard to tell.
Not to put the Boholanos down, this friend contended that in the past two editions of the Pinoy Big Brother, Cebu passionately supported candidates that in the end emerged as winners. Yours truly had to remind this friend that the reality show’s reach was mostly nationwide with only a fraction perhaps from those outside the country.
The friend insisted. Well...
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The popular group Westlife performed the Josh Groban hit (and now also its own hit) You Raise Me Up and the Bette Midler original (from the movie For The Boys) The Rose (a personal favorite) during the pageant.
Having missed the group’s recent show at the Araneta Coliseum (for financial reasons mostly,hehe), seeing them in the Miss World pageant was a welcome surprise.
Fans of the Bee Gees could have turned sad or nostalgic upon seeing Robin Gibb performing solo (with three back-ups). He was far from the Robin Gibb during the Bee Gees heydays, quite understandable.
He looked thinner and frail. He even faltered in some notes of his Night Fever-Staying Alive medley. Nonetheless, Robin was able to show that the Bee Gees legend lives on.
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Contrary to what had been floated a couple of years back, it was not Mariang Kakaw nor Torta festival that the municipality of Argao came up with during its town fiesta last week but the Pitlagong Festival, Cebu’s youngest and newest festival thus far.
If I’m not mistaken, pitlagong is that strip of bamboo designed with a brush-like contraption at the end, used to clean the bamboo containers that trap coconut sap which, when processed, is known as the local drink tuba.
The sap, in its unadulterated form, is also an important ingredient (said to be a natural preservative) in the making of the torta delicacy so in any way, the festival is still related to the town’s famous product. To the Argaoanons, congratulations!
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M.Lhuillier Phils.’s main endorser, the multi-media and multi-talented artist Ogie Alcasid comes back to Cebu for a major concert this weekend, Oct. 7 to be exact, dubbed Komi-Konsyerto.
Slated at the New Cebu Coliseum starting at 8 p.m., the concert also features Michael V, Wendell Ramos, Antonio Aquitania, Lovi, Francine Prieto, Budoy & The Jr. Kilat Band and the Maneouvres.
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For those who can’t get enough of just watching their idols on the wide screen or on television, Sandara Park and Joseph Bitangcol will visit Cebu again (upon the invitation of Rosemarie Gaisano and facilitated by Julian ‘Japan’ Cañete) this Sat., Oct. 7, for one of the activities related to the 13th anniversary celebration of Gaisano Country Mall.
The duo will be at the Balamban Sports Complex at 3 p.m. and at the Country Mall grounds at 8 p.m. Make sure you are at a vantage position to see your idols up close and personal.
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A few friends from the entertainment media (Kriss Relatado of Banat News and The Freeman, Jonas Ray Panerio of the Cebu Daily News, Dodong Morallo of Sun.Star Superbalita and yours truly) gathered together at the newly opened Tableya Choco Shoppe at corner Morales-Escario sts. last Friday upon the invitation of Paolo Gonzalez and his partners from the Tenchavez clan – Gary, Christine, Greggy and Ghea.
We partook of the delectable cookies and pastries and the choco-based drinks. A suggestion which was considered by the young entrepreneurs was to offer the choco-based kinutil which is a concoction of tuba, chocolate, orange juice and fresh egg.
Why not indeed? It might turn out to be its best-seller. O ha!
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In our brief chat over lunch last week, Cueshé divulged that while it is enjoying the limelight, it still continues to hone its craft further especially with the cutthroat competition of bands in Manila these days.
Cueshé manager, Michael Sarthou, said that the group has tapped the services of Cebuano music wiz Victor Oria to attain this objective. The group also has spent its income on ‘fixed investments,’ that is, real property. That’s nice!
