NOW UNITED ROCKS MANILA!

Heavy rains didn't stop fans from watching new pop group Now United perform at Venice Piazza, an upscale mall in Taguig City last Sunday. The group which includes the Philippines' very own Bailey May is in Manila for the last leg of the their Asian promotional tour. 

The group performed four songs before an upbeat and screaming crowd who trooped to Venice Piazza Mall despite heavy rains. Only 12 of the 14 member pop group made it to their Manila tour.  Diarra Sylla of Senegal lost her passport while in Japan  and UK's Lamar Morris had also problems regarding his passport.  Special guest Kyle Echarri of The Voice Kids Season 2 performed 3 songs.  

NOW UNITED IS IN MANILA

Bailey May's fans trooped to the Airport to welcome him and other members of the new pop group Now United

Now United, the new pop group created by Simon Fuller is in Manila for their last leg of their Asian promotional tour.  They have just been to Korea and Japan. The group also visited Germany, Russia, Finland and Senegal among others.  They are scheduled to perform on Saturday at Eastwood and Sunday at Venice Piazza in BGC. 

Now United is a global pop music group featuring 14 singing and dancing artists from 14 countries which includes the Philippines' very own Bailey May.   Simon Fuller, who's also the creator of American Idol and Spice Girls, started searching for young singers for a group formed of members around the world.  14 young singers and dancers of different nationalities we selected.  The selection took place through digital platforms like Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. 

Here are the names of the 14 member pop group :

        Any Gabrielly - Brazil

        Bailey May - Philippines

        Diarra Sylla - Senegal

        Heyoon Jeong - Korea

        Hina Yoshihara - Japan

        Joalin Loukamaa - Finland

        Josh Beauchamp - Canada

        Krystian Wang - China

        Lamar Morris - UK

        Noah Urrea - USA

        Sabina Hidalgo - Mexico

        Shivani Paliwal - India

        Sina Deinert - Germany

        Sofya Plotnikova - Russia

KRIS AQUINO PAIRS WITH JULIA AND JOSHUA IN HER COMEBACK MOVIE "I LOVE YOU HATER"

Kris Aquino is back on the big screen after a 3 year hiatus and pairs with onscreen partner Joshua Garcia and Julia Baretto in Star Cinema's latest offering "I Love You Hater."  The movie is expected to redeem Kris Aquino's status as a box-office star since her last two movies  "All You Need is Pag-ibig" and "Etiquette for Mistresses"  didn't fare well at the box-office. 

Kris plays Sasha Imperial, a former broadcast journalist who successfully embarked a career into digital content production. In the movie, Joshua Garcia and Julia Baretto find themselves as rivals hoping to get the attention of their CEO played by Aquino. The plot looks good for a romantic comedy in a millennial setting;  Joshua disguises himself as a gay man to keep his job in a back office saturated by gays. Kris was effortless in portraying her role as a budding social media mogul as it is so close to her real life persona.  The side plots  are interesting enough to make the movie more engaging but I guess the screenplay and pacing didn't seem to click with the audience.  John Estrada plays Kris Aquino's ex but sorry they have no chemistry enough to create "kilig" to the audience.  It would have been okay if they had Dieter Ocampo or another actor play the role.  I am not sure if this is just my opinion or what...but I guess if the movie was directed by another director say Cathy Garcia Molina, it might have been different.  The cinematography is impressive though; the drone shots showing overview of the metropolis are awesome.

The movie reportedly gross P5.5 million on its opening day.  For a local movie to gross for P5.5M on opening day isn't that bad but since this is a Kris Aquino movie, expectations were high considering that it also stars two of the most popular young stars today, Joshua Garcia and Julia Baretto. Surprisingly, there weren't much millenials among the audience, instead I saw a lot of people in their' 30's, 40's and 50's.  I watched the movie on the second day of showing at Mega Mall.  The movie is still worth watching anyway and might catch up at the box-office in the weeks to come.

WHAT'S NEXT FOR TEEJAY MARQUEZ?

No doubt Teejay Marquez has made a milestone in his showbiz career by penetrating the Indonesian showbiz scene via his dubsmash videos which went viral in 2016.  He may not be a big star there but certainly he has made a mark and gained droves of fans in the Southeast Asian country of nearly 300 million population.  

He has done a movie called "Dubsmash: The Movie" and appeared in several TV shows.  He is also made it to the cast of Indonesia's version of Taiwanese hit soap "Meteor Garden" titled "Siapa Takut Katij Cinta ("Who's Afraid of Love").  Looking at the meet and greet event for STKC cast in Jakarta earlier this year, there's no doubt that he has indeed gained a tremendous following in Indonesia with his charm and good looks, but sad to say, not quite, in his home country.  

Before he embark his showbiz career in Indonesia, Teejay did several projects in his former home studio GMA 7 but in 2015, he transferred to ABS-CBN and  appeared in supporting roles in a few soap operas.  His stint on Kapamiliya network was somewhat cut short when he decided to go to Indonesia. 

He announced earlier this week on his Facebook account that he'd met with ABS-CBN big bosses and the possibility of having a teleserye with Kapamilya Network.  Apart from his talent agency in Indonesia, Teejay is managed in the Philippines by ALV Talent Circuit headed by Arnold Vegrafia.   He is currently in the country and will soon star in a movie to be directed by Adolf Alix, Jr.

TRANS WOMAN TO COMPETE IN 2018 MISS UNIVERSE

26-year-old model Angela Ponce of Spain, makes history as the first trans woman to compete in Miss Universe. In her Instagram post - she wrote in Spanish, "Wearing the name and colors of Spain before the universe is my great dream." She continued, "My goal: to be spokesperson for a message of inclusion, respect and diversity not only for the LGBTQ community but for the whole world."

The Philippine's representative Catriona Gray was asked to comment on this issue shown on national television.  She said "personally, I have no problem with it.  But I do understand why there's quite an uproar among all the fans and different people looking at the issue."  She added that it all depends on the Miss Universe Organization "if they allow it, that's their prerogative. if the contestant can go through the casting process, become a candidate, and earn the right to represent her country, then why not? 

Except for Colombia and Puerto Rico, most of the so called powerhouse pageant countries like Venezuela, USA and the Philippines have already elected their respective delegates for the upcoming Miss Universe. 

Among the front runners or pre-pageant favorites includes Sarah Rose Summers (USA), Catriona Gray (PHILIPPINES), Tamaryn Green (SOUTH AFRICA) and Sthefany Gutierrez (VENEZUELA).

It was reported earlier this year that the Philippines will host the 2018 Miss Universe but the new Department of Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat decided to cancel the country's bid to host the pageant pointing out that the department needs to fix a lot of things and holding another Miss Universe pageant is not a priority.  Her predecessor Wanda Tulfo Teo resigned from her post following a Commission on Audit (COA) report on the department's awarding P60 million ads to a company owned by her brother Ben Tulfo.  Teo, who initiated the plan to host the pageant, denied the accusation. 

Thailand and Vietnam have reportedly bid to host the pageant this year.