A Repost From Philstar.com

Willie closing deal with TV5?

Philstar.com - Saturday, September 11

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It’s final: Willie Revillame is set to close a multi-million-peso deal with TV5 anytime now.

This was confirmed to Funfare by somebody close to Manny V. Pangilinan, TV5 big boss.

Funfare tried to dial Willie’s celfone number but the phone just kept on ringing. No answer. It must be true that he has changed his number. He wasn’t available to confirm (or deny?) the report.

The Funfare VDPA said that the show, which will occupy the 6 to 8 p.m. slot Monday thru Friday, will be titled Willing-Willie.

“Willing-Willie magpasaya, willing-Willie mamigay ng regalo at pera, willing-Willie magbigay ng aliw,” said the VDPA. “MVP is giving the show all-support. In fact, he has already met with heads of TV5’s sister companies to do the same.”

Target date of the show’s premiere is Oct. 10 — 10-10-10 — so those building the set are now working double time.

Even before Willie announced a few weeks ago that he was unilaterally cutting his ties with ABS-CBN, he was reported to be “secretly” meeting with executives from both the Kapuso (GMA) and Kapatid (TV5) networks.

ABS-CBN had suspended him for three months (until this month) from hosting the defunct noontime show Wowowee (replaced by Pilipinas Win Na Win with Kris Aquino as lead host) after he challenged to fire Jobert Sucaldito whom Willie accused of hitting him on his (Jobert’s) program on dzMM, the network’s sister station. There were negotiations between Willie and ABS-CBN to return earlier but Willie accused the network of unfaithfulness when he said it changed its plan for him to last July 31, which became one of the grounds for Willie’s filing a petition for the rescission of his contract which will expire in September next year yet.

The court has given ABS-CBN until Wednesday, Sept. 15, to file its answer to Willie’s charges.

Contacted for comment, Bong Osorio, head of the ABS-CBN Corporate Communications texted to Funfare this statement: Willie continues to be bound to ABS-CBN and we will challenge in court any contract involving his production or exhibition of another program with another network.

Endless Love stars on love

Tomorrow’s episode of Ricky Reyes’ Q-11 show Life and Style with Gandang Ricky Reyes (starting at 10 a.m. Sundays) will air its visit to the set of the GMA soap Endless Love where its stars, sweethearts Dingdong Dantes and Marian Rivera, along with Dennis Trillo, talk about love and loving.

Ricky furnished Funfare a transcription of the free-wheeling interview, done in Taglish:

Sweethearts Dingdong Dantes and Marian Rivera with Endless Love co-star Dennis Trillo — VER PAULINO

Marian: Love…ito ‘yung gift na binigay ni Lord na kahit sino hindi puede kumuha. Basta binigay mo ‘yung love mo, ‘yon ang kayamanan na hindi mabibili o matutumbasan kahit anong material na bagay. Mas pinaiiral ko ang love kaysa sa utak. Love muna ako bago utak.

Dingdong: Love…isa siyang action…ginagawa.

Dennis: Love is a monster, kasi halimaw siya. Kapag dumapo sa’yo, kakainin ka ng buong-buo; wala siyang ititira sa’yo. Mag-iiba ka talaga. Gagawin mo lahat para magustuhan ka ng taong gusto mo.

Marian: Kapag in love ka, iniisip mo ‘yung taong love mo bago ang sarili mo.

Dingdong: Good morning, message lang.

Dennis: Kumustahin mo lang siya kung gising na ba siya, kung ano ang balita.

Marian: May sakripisyo siya pero naniniwala ako sa ngayon sa nararamdaman ko, mas matindi ‘yung love kaysa sa sakripisyo o buhay ko.

Dingdong: Sa maraming bagay, magkasama kami ng mahal ko mag-explore sa abot ng makakaya namin. Hindi mo na iniisip, basta kusa lang lumalabas ‘yung initiative mo.’

Dennis: Sign na tinatamaan na ako ay ‘yung may mga ginagawa ako na hindi ko naman usually ginagawa.

Marian: Ako kasi ‘yung taong malambing talaga. Hangga’t kaya ko ipakita at iparamdam, gagawin ko talaga kahit na siguro sa sarili ko huwag na muna ako, siya na muna.

Dingdong: Ako siguro, kahit mali para sa akin, tama na magiging masaya ka pa rin.

Dennis: Marami na akong ginawa dahil sa pag-ibig, eh, pero siguro hangga’t umiibig ka, kahit mali talaga, kahit ano ang sabihin ng tao, wala kang pakialam.

Marian: Doon ako sa masaya ako at sa magpapasaya ng taong minamahal ko.

Dingdong: Nanggagaling sa inspirasyon, eh, at sa ligaya na naibibigay mo sa taong mahal mo. Siempre, doon ka kumukuha ng lakas, ‘yon ang dahilan para alam mo ‘yung susunod na mangyayari sa buhay mo.

Dennis: Parang kakalimutan mo muna lahat kahit buhay mo.

Marian: Ginagawang mali? Wala, eh. Para sa akin, lahat na gawin mo tama kapag in love ka.

Dingdong: Ginagawang mali? Secret!

Dennis: Mga plano? Automatic na ‘yon, eh. Natural na lumalabas sa dalawang taong in love, kahit hindi nila pinaguusapan.

Dingdong: Commitment? Dapat mula sa simula hanggang sa wakas, mula sa umpisa hanggang sa dulo the moment na-confirm mo na mahal mo siya.

Marian: Actually, ‘yung matatamis na salita, eh, wala lang, mga salita lang ‘yon. Mas importante pa rin ‘yung sinabi ni Dong na pinapakita niya kahit hindi siya nagsasalita alam mo na sa tingin pa lang niya na love ka niya at ipaglalaban ka niya.

Dingdong: Mapapa-thank you ka talaga. Thank you, thank you for completing me!

Dennis: Ako talaga, madalas ako mag-thank you. Binabalik ko, halimbawa, gumawa siya ng maganda, siempre lagi akong nagta-thank you pagkatapos ibabalik ko ‘yung favor lasi kasi nakakatuwa na may taong nagmamalasakit sa’yo.

Oops! That’s all for now, lest Funfare preempts Ricky’s show. For the complete exchange of “love-ful” ideas, tune in to Ricky’s show tomorrow morning at 10 o’clock on Q-11.

Reposted From Philstar.com

A Repost From Manila Bulletin

Bata, Django Lose Battle of Safeties

Manila Bulletin - Friday, September 10

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MANILA, Philippines - Disbelief, shock, and sadness descended at Robinson's Place in Manila Thursday night after pool legends Efren Reyes and Django Bust amante were dethroned by a pair of scrappy Indonesians in the PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool.

Muhammad Zulfiki and Ricky Yang, seeded a lowly 16th, beat the country's most renowned pool stars in their own game, winning a battle of safeties in the crucial stage of the match, for an 8-6 victory.

The defeat left the tandem of Dennis Orcollo and Roberto Gomez as the country's remaining hope. The duo are battling - at presstime.

''We missed easy shots off the breaks,'' said a disappointed Bustamante. ''And our plan did not work well.''

''We lost our stroke,'' Reyes, 55, butted in. ''And we had bad breaks. We felt the pressure.''

Although Bustamante and Reyes managed to produce a few remarkable shots, it was clear they left their A-game at home.

In contrast, the Indonesians were a picture of calm and consistency as they battled back from a 3-2 deficit to reach the hill first, 7-5.

The victory advanced the Indons to the quarterfinals where they will face the winner between China and Italy.

Ko Pin-Yi and Chang Jung Lin of Taiwan likewise booked a race-to-nine match in the Final 8 by dumping Japanese Naoyuki Oi and Toru Kuribayashi, 8-2.

Reposted From Manila Bulletin

Reposted From Erin Carlson

Miss Universe Contestant Claims "Sabotage" Led to Her Loss

By Erin Carlson | Wednesday, September 8, 2010, 1:50 PM

Campbell at Miss Universe Australia.

Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

As anyone who's seen "Toddlers and Tiaras" can tell you, the hyper-competitive world of beauty pageants has seen its fair share of adversarial sabotage. But when a contestant claims her evening gown was laced with sharp-edged pins or pepper spray or lipstick stains, the alleged girl-on-girl crime makes headlines around the world.

The latest heir-to-the-beauty-crown to make such a claim is Miss Australia Jesinta Campbell, who says one of her 82 rivals at this year's Miss Universe pageant tampered with her festive national dress just before she took the stage in Las Vegas last month.

"There was a bit of sabotage backstage," she told Australia's Nova 91.9 radio station of her experience with the "national dress" she donned for the event. "When I went to put it on I found about six pins all pinned in the back of it, so when I put it on I scratched all the back of my back. I was like 'Ooh! What's that?'."

Good natured as ever (she did win the "Miss Congeniality" title, after all), Campbell didn't point any fingers at any specific competitors.

"I don't know who it was," she said in the radio interview when asked who she thought the pin-wielding perpetrator might be. "All of that stuff is backstage, so it could've been anyone."

[Photos: See All Contestants From the Pageant]

Campbell placed third at the televised event, held in Las Vegas last month; the winner was Jimena Navarrete of Mexico, and Yendi Phillips of Jamaica came in second. Campbell's be-pinned dress -- intended to represent the land Down Under with an aboriginal-print swimsuit, ruffled flamenco skirt and Ugg boots -- was ridiculed as too costume-y and over-the-top; little did anyone know the pain the 18-year-old Aussie beauty queen felt underneath.

[Photos: Pageant's controversial body paint shoot]

So, whodunit? No one has copped to the prank, but from the large pool of international competitor-suspects, Campbell singles out those from Mexico, the Phillipines, and Central and South America.

"Winning is so important for those girls because they become queens in their country and are worshipped if they win -- and it changes everything forever for them," she told the Herald Sun. "But there were 82 other girls there and I can't narrow it down, so it's a mystery to me."

She added: "But I know who didn't do it -- my best friends were the girls from Ireland, Belgium, Great Britain, and Guam and I know they wouldn't have done that to me."

Miss Universe representative Meagan McCutcheon did not immediately respond to Yahoo's requests for comment.

Campbell is not alone in her pageant problems. In recent years, other pageant frontrunners have been targeted by alleged saboteurs using equally dirty methods: instead of pins, Miss Puerto Rico 2007 claimed her dress and makeup were splattered with pepper spray in an act of chemical warfare. Backstage, winner Ingrid Marie Rivera had to tear off her clothes and rub ice on her face and body; on top of that, she claimed her clothes and credit cards were stolen.

Not surprisingly, Rivera's accusations fanned a media firestorm. After an investigation, police found no traces of pepper spray anywhere; still, Rivera clung to her belief that she'd been sabotaged by jealous and vengeful rivals. In Puerto Rico, she was the metaphorical Nancy Kerrigan with no Tonya Harding to pin the blame on.

That's the thing about beauty-pageant sabotage: perpetrators can go undetected. Even on a far smaller scale. At the Miss South Florida State Fair in 2008, Jessica Wittenbrink snagged the crown despite the lipstick smeared on her evening dress. They never caught the prankster.

"I was bound and determined that I was going to bring my best the night of the pageant," Wittenbrink told an ABC News affiliate, reflecting on her horror. "So no matter what happened, I wasn't going to let anyone take me away from that. As far as the event goes, I try to put it past me, move on, look at the horizon and see what's next for me."

While these acts of anti-congeniality result in trauma for contestants, the added attention from the media and support from fans must help in getting through the ordeals -- and raising their public profiles in the process.

Thanks to her disturbing experience, Campbell -- who's just begun a stint as an entertainment reporter for TV station in her native Australia -- is a now a boldfaced name in entertainment-news circles, and arguably more famous than she might have been had she won the crown.

Reposted From Erin Carlson

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A Repost From Manila Bulletin

Django Concedes He Has to Play Better

Manila Bulletin - Wednesday, September 8

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Manila, Philippines - Despite Django Bustamante's four dry breaks, the Philippines routed Thailand, 8-3, late Tuesday at the start of the PartyPoker.net World Cup of Pool at Robinson's Place in Manila. Thais Nitiwat Kanjanasri and Surathep Phoochalam raced to a 2-0 lead, but won only one rack the rest of the way as Bustamante and Efren ''Bata'' Reyes stamped their class. ''My break wasn't good. It's very disappointing because Efren wants me to break every time, but I never made a ball on the break,'' said Bustamante, the reigning world 9-ball champion in Filipino. ''My partner played great and without Efren we wouldn't have won the match.'' Bustamante said he has to do better against their next opponents - Indonesians Zulfikri and Ricky Yang in the Last 16 late Wednesday. The easy win avenged their 7-4 defeat during the 2007 Southeast Asian Games in Thailand. Against the Indonesians, the Filipinos hold advantage. ''We've beaten them in singles competition but never in doubles. But we'll not take them lightly,'' Reyes, 55, said. Germany's Ralf Souquet and new partner Oliver Ortmann, last year's runner up over at SM North EDSA, also advanced into the next round by turning back Hong Kong's Lee Chenman and Kenny Kwok, 8-4. The most inspiring victory of the day was delivered by Russians Ruslan Chinakhov and Konstantin Stepanov who scored eight straight racks in completing a come-from-behind 8-4 triumph against the 12th seed Canadian pair of John Mora and Jason Klatt. Down 0-4 at the onset, the 18-year-old Chinakhov, the reigning world 9-ball youth champion, and Stepanov, got a new lease on life after their rivals had a dry break in the fifth frame. Teaming up for the fourth time in the event, the Russians never looked back from there, taking the next seven racks to book a round of 16 meeting with Germany on Friday. Chinese Fu Jianbo and Li Hewen, the 2007 champions, also made it to the Last 16 by making short work of Belgium's Serge Das and Noel Bruynooghe, 8-2. The Chinese, who lost to Reyes and Bustamante in the semifinals last year, will face on Friday Italians Fabio Petroni and Bruno Muratore, who advanced into the next stage by ousting crowd favorite Korean girls Yu Ram Cha and Ga Young Kim, 8-6.

Reposted From Manila Bulletin

A Repost From Manila Bulletin

Mayweather Attack Shows Lack of Class

Manila Bulletin - Tuesday, September 7

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If there's somebody who feels terrible for what boxing's former pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather, Jr. pulled off just this weekend, it's probably the fans who have come to love the sport. I just can't seem to understand why ''Money'' needed to do just that. It's simply unprofessional and shows the lack of respect and decency that he has, not only against his perceived ''nemesis'' Manny Pacquiao but, more importantly, to the whole boxing community. It was something which didn't merit any substantial attention but has gained a rather awkward following because it is, as people say, a complete mess. ''The No. 2 fighter in the world pound for pound has the maturity level of a 3-year-old,'' says Michael Rosenthal in his most recent post at The Ring Blog, where he labeled Mayweather's stunt as the most ''ingenuine and immature'' act in the sport so far. ''The video coincided with the beginning of the Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito media tour. Mayweather just couldn't stand the fact his rival was receiving attention and he wasn't so he took his shots at one of the most-decent figures in boxing. Other observers have blamed the sycophants who hover around him for the fact he's a spoiled brat, which obviously plays a role. He must also accept some of the responsibility. The man is 33 years old, for God's sake. Isn't it time he starts acting like it?''

In response, Pacquiao shrugged off Mayweather's comments by labeling his act as ''an uneducated message'' Obviously, we all know where the guy is coming from. Mayweather has been criticized in all corners of the sport as someone who ''refuses to take on the best of the best,'' thus flaunting an unblemished professional record in close to 50 career bouts. The failure to get to terms in a fight with Pacquiao was seemingly just another ploy to market his name and protect his slate. Such was also the reason why critics doubted his apology right after the rant video he hurled against Pacquiao. ''Which was the real Mayweather: The one whose racist and homophobic video rant aimed at Manny Pacquiao offended any right-thinking person who saw it, or the one who later apologized?'' Rosenthal writes. ''The answer is obvious. Mayweather is an obnoxious person who evidently has no sense of decency. He meant everything he said. This is the same Mayweather who called the HBO broadcasting team racist with absolutely no evidence, the same Mayweather who called his multi-million-dollar contract with HBO 'slave wages.' Mayweather can apologize all he wants and claim he ''didn't mean it.'' We know better.'' Beyond all of these, we all know that the guy surely knows what he has done and how it has affected his reputation. He was quick to say sorry and offer his apologies to anybody who was offended by his lousy act. ''He knows he went too far this time, which is why he quickly apologized,'' says Rosenthal. ''He could turn this into a positive, though. He could use it as a wake-up call to change his ways, to treat people as he wants people to treat him and behave in a responsible manner.'' Mayweather still remains to be one of the biggest boxing stars to date. He knows how to box, he knows how to win, and understands what it takes to gain the respect that he longs for. He may show off all his riches and his unbeaten record for the entire world to care, but the ultimate question still remains to be seen. Can he really take the fight against Pacquiao?

Reposted From Manila Bulletin

A Repost From AFP

Heavy tourist traffic endangers Sistine Chapel: museum chief

AFP - Saturday, September 4

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VATICAN CITY (AFP) - – Heavy tourist traffic through the Sistine Chapel is endangering the world-reknowned frescoes decorating its walls, the head of the Vatican museums said on Friday.

"Humans breathe and perspire and the dust and humidity endanger the frescoes," the director of the Vatican Museums Antonio Paolucci told AFP.

Paolucci said that each year, 4.5 million people -- between 15,000 and 20,000 every day -- visit the chapel.

"Too much human presence is putting on pressure and we need to check it carefully and effectively," Paolucci said.

Signs of danger for the frescoes, which include Michelangelo's "The Last Judgement" behind the altar and the nine scenes from the Book of Genesis he painted on the ceiling of the chapel, were detected this summer during a routine dusting.

But Paolucci said the obvious solution, limiting the number of visitors, "would not be right" towards people who come from all over the world to admire the frescoes in the chapel, where the cardinals' conclave gathers to elect the pope.

On the contrary, the Vatican Museums have decided to open their doors to visitors also on Friday nights in September and October.

The Friday night openings "involve a limited number of people and allow to spread out the pressure," Paolucci explained.

He also ruled out a deep restoration of the chapel like the one that took place in the 1980s and 1990s.

Paolucci called for "deploying for the conservation no less creativity and intelligence than that used by artists that created it."

"The means offered today by science and technology are potentially endless," Paolucci said.

"The money, we will find it. No one shirks for the Sistine Chapel," he said.

Reposted From AFP