Friday, July 25, 2008 Serna: ‘John Lloyd has qualities of a potential boyfriend’ By Roger Serna Sounds and images
ALTHOUGH the Cebu concert going crowd has earned the reputation of being hard to please and very discriminating, the case of the recent show of Spiral Staircase was a different story.
The crowd was considerate even when there were times Pat Upton sometimes forgot the lyrics and just mumbled something (to the effect of “watermelon, watermelon”).
There were also times when the vocalist could not start right on target. It was understandable as the Spiral Staircase was a group that rose to fame during the 60s and that was over four decades ago.
Still there were many who stood up and danced to the rhythm of the songs that they could relate with.
Pat, by the way, was the only remnant of that group. It was to the credit of the producers that they got a good back-up band from Manila which served as the vocalist’s saving grace.
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Men shedding tears in public, much more on nationally broadcast television shows, has become regular fare of sort (unlike many years ago) with no adverse effect on their gender image.
In one episode of Pinoy Dream Academy, when mentor-director Joey Javier Reyes conducted a sensuality session, the male scholars unabashedly shed copious tears.
Cebuano hunk, Van, even had a hard time recovering from that session so that when the it switched to another lesson, mentor Joey had to transfer him to another room and had Hansen provide him comfort and company.
If these scenes had happened a few years ago, the reaction would have been different. These men would be labeled as effeminate as a consequence. Times have really changed.
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Days before the Ms. Universe final selection and coronation, I wrote about my optimism that the country’s rep, Bb. Pilipinas-Universe Jennifer Barrientos, will finally end the long wait (35 years to be exact) for another Filipina to win the crown.
Jennifer also voiced out her desire to win saying, to the effect, that she’ll bring home the crown and make her countrymen proud. Of course, she failed.
While others said that Jennifer’s overconfidence became her unmaking, I’d say it was her own way of conditioning and motivating herself so as not to feel inferior. To say that she was not good because she did not grab even a semi-final slot or a special award is quite unfair.
In a beauty contest, or in any other contest for that matter, the contestants put their fates in the hands of the judges. That the Ms. U candidates are the prettiest and the best bets from their respective countries is a given.
So when the judges don’t find the qualities that they are looking for, or as what Visayans say wa matipohi, there is nothing a candidate can do.
I agree with some beauty contest experts when they described Ms. Barrientos as the best Philippine candidate since Nina Ricci Alagao who ranked 11th at the time when semi-finalists were only 10.
Jennifer can still hold her head up in front of other people. Despite not winning any award, she did not do anything that disgraced the country either.
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Sarah Geronimo and John Lloyd Cruz met the Cebu entertainment beat press last week to promote A Very Special Love, a co-production of Viva Films and Star Cinema.
Viva’s Cebu big boss Boy Bosque revealed that the theme song of the same title was actually part of an old album of the pop princess (he promised to give this columnist a copy).
John Lloyd describes his leading lady as very natural and who does everything with grace. He adds that Sarah’s outlook in life is very virginal — nnocent, pure, true — to which the young lady could just smile.
Sarah did not mince words when she declared that John Lloyd has the qualities she is looking for in a potential boyfriend. A Very Special Love is currently shown in movie houses nationwide.
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It was so nice to see the interest, energy and enthusiasm of the young, Cebuano composers when they tried their best to come up with compositions during the recent sessions conducted by the Prov’l. Council for the Welfare of Children in preparation for the “2nd Children’s Popular Music Festival.”
The outputs were encouraging. The 10 finalists have the potentials of a hit. It is hopes that the Cebuanos will patronize these songs as much as they do Bisrock songs that are still faves in the airlanes.
