ON THE SET OF "MAGANDANG BUHAY" - ADVANCED TAPING FOR VILMA SANTOS' BIRTHDAY PRESENTATION

I was invited last week by VSSI Prexy Mr. Jojo Lim to be part of the studio audience for Ate Vi's birthday presentation of ABS-CBN's morning show "Magandang Buhay." My answer was a big yes of course.  VSSI is an acronym for Vilma Santos Solid International which is the most prominent fans club of Vilma Santos.  Ate Vi was scheduled to leave for HK in a week's time so they had to tape the show in advance.  This will be aired on November 2 & 3 i.e. a two day birthday presentation, just in time for Vilma's actual birthday on Nov. 3.

I arrived at the audience entrance at exactly 12:15 (meeting time was 12:00).  We were told that the taping would start at 2:00 pm but as usual, it didn't start on time.  Vilmanians occupied half of the audience lounge (the other half were occupied by "Tawag ng Tanghalan" auditionees and a few seats by Miss Q&A aspirants).  It was interesting to watch the ongoing audition; aspiring singers, young and old, were asked to sing at least 3 songs before a screening judge without music accompaniment at all.

Security at ABS-CBN was tight, but no complaints here, they're just doing their job. I saw some prominent Vilmanians at the lounge including VSSI VP Ed Santiago, Trivia King Alfonso Valencia, Miss Earth swimsuit designer Ricky Abad and Olongapo's City Councilor Edic Piano.  There was also a mini awarding rites organised by millennial Vilmanians headed by Anj Chua (a budding filmmaker) and Kathleen Ocampo Puno.   The poll was conducted online and among the awards given were Selfie King and Queen (Doods and Hilda), Ms. Congeniality (Ricky Abad), "Hahamakin Ang Lahat" (Willie Fernandez) the fan who traveled the longest mile, rain or shine, just to attend a Vilma Santos event.  It was of course just for fun.

After waiting at the audience lounge for an hour or so, we were then escorted by Marshalls to the studio of "Magandang Buhay." The main hosts Karla Estrada, Jolina Magdangal and Melay Cantiveros were already in the studio.  A very familiar face was very visible in the studio, yes... it's Darla, of course everyone knows who Darla is.  He used to be the creative writer of the defunct "Kris TV" before he handled "Magandang Buhay." There were about 4 big cameras positioned in the studio and the head writer's staff stood beside the cameramen near the stage, each of them holding scripts  serving as an idiot board for the hosts to read from time to time. Another one was assigned for audience control;  he would tell the audience when to clap or applause to make the show look livelier on TV.  So this is how things goes behind the camera.  

A few celebrities came to greet Vilma, among them were Charo Santos, Xian Lim and Roderick Paulate.  There were also video clip greetings from Kim Chiu, Maja Salvador, photographer Raymund Isaac (who is one of Vilma's closest friends) and from Vilma's 2 sons (Luis and Ryan).  Charo Santos was actually taping for MMK but when she learned that Vilma was taping at Magandang Buhay studio, she dropped by just to greet her. 

One of the highlights of the show was the surprise Zumba dance number of Ate Vi with the Zamora brothers (Joshua and Jason of The Maneuvers).  Vilma slayed the zumba dance to the tune of "Wonderful World."  Jason told us they had no rehearsal at all but no surprise there since Vilma is a great dancer (remember during her Vilma and VIP days where she would open the show with grand production numbers?).  I have the full video of the dance number but we were told not to post it online before the actual telecast, so be it, we don't want preempt the show.

Please view on this link to watch the dance number

The hosts interviewed Vilma about her humble beginnings and her rise to fame.  She also talked about her family, friends and politics.  After the taping, Vilma left with her sister Emelyn and niece Karla but before this, she instructed Jojo Lim to treat all the Vilmanians for dinner.  The choice was "Gilligans," a popular restaurant nearby.  You may think it is expensive... well not quite, nearly half of the Vilmanians in attendance are in their 60's so we took advantage of the 10% senior citizen discount scheme so it makes a lot of sense.

To sum it up, thank you to VSSI and to "Magandang Buhay" staff for having us and of course big Thank You to Ate Vi.   Once again Happy Birthday to Ate Vi and we wish you good health and more blessings to come.