KUH Ledesma, Pops Fernandez and Jaya are together for the first time in the concert “3 Divas” at the Special Events Center of the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino at Coachella Valley, Southern California on November 12.
Kuh says: “We have matured as singers and as believers in the Lord. We have prepared something really exciting for the audience. We have become sisters in Christ.”
Pops says: “I’ve already toured the US with Kuh in the ‘Divas to Divas’ concert some years back but first time ko with Jaya, so I’m excited and I hope the audience will like what we’ll do together and of course, what us three independent women will do for them in one show.
It will show them how we have evolved as performers and as friends.”
Jaya says: “I feel so honored to be performing and bonding with Kuh and Pops as I know I will learn a lot more from them. It’s a good time for me to watch them together and be blessed by their presence. I’ve performed with Kuh before and through the years, I’ve learned so much from her and our relationship became even better.”
We tell them we were there when they were launched. Kuh left Music & Magic in 1978 and went solo, with the late Bibsy Carballo introducing her to us in her office then in Herran.
She hit it big with “Dito Ba?,” the theme song in Vilma Santos’ blockbuster movie shot in Amsterdam, “Miss X.” Pops was introduced by Sen. Tito Sotto to a handful of writers in 1985 and she was just then a wisp of a girl. She went on to do hits like “Little Star” and “Just Say You Love Me” and hit it big on TV in “Penthouse Live” with Martin Nievera.
Jaya was introduced by Pilita Corrales and Danny Tan as a Viva singer in 1995 and she made lots of hits like “Wala Na Bang Pagibig,” “Dahil Tanging Ikaw” and “Laging Naroon Ka”. And now, they’re all music icons in their own right.
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Ian Veneracion stars in the first Pinoy mini-series to be shown on Prime Video, “One Good Day,” produced by Studio Three Sixty and directed by Lester Pimentel Ong. The show was shot on location in Iloilo City where the local government and business supported them wholeheartedly, allowing them to shoot freely in Iloilo’s old mansions and their progressive business district.
So what is his role in this action drama? “I play Dale, a former mobster,” he says. “I was a streetkid na tinulungan ni Joel Torre, a gambling lord na dahil sa akin, lumaki ang kanyang Rodrigo Crime Organization at naging very powerful kasi we can help put government officials in office.”
He decided to retire when he is diagnosed to have a brain tumor. But Joel won’t let him go and convinces him to return as a mobster. At first, he doesn’t want to go back to a life of crime and violence, but when his wife, played by Rabiya Mateo, is murdered by their rival camp led by Menchu Lauchengco with Aljur Abrenica as her henchman, he is forced to get out of retirement and go on a final mission before having a truly “One Good Day,” as the show’s title says.
“When their offer came and they told me it’s going to be action, I got really excited,” says Ian. “Kasi na-miss ko talaga mag-action. Lately, I’ve been identified with romantic drama with the series I do on TV and with my career as a singer. Dito, we introduce a new kind of action on screen, you’d be surprised.”
He also has a Metro Manila Film Festival entry, “Nananahimik ang Gabi,” a dark suspense thriller for Rein Entertainment where he plays the sugar daddy of young star Heaven Peralejo. “One Good Day” will start streaming on Prime Video starting November 17. Don’t miss it!
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‘Doing ‘The Flower Sisters’ is a dream come true for me kasi noon ko pa gustong makatrabaho si Aiko Melendez, even when I was still with the other station. — Beauty Gonzales’
Beauty Gonzales really became so busy when she moved to GMA-7. She is never without an assignment. She transferred to GMA just last year and was quickly given an afternoon drama pairing her with a younger leading man, “Loving Miss Bridgette.”
This was quickly followed by “AlterNate” that paired her with Dingdong Dantes. Then she did “The Fake Life” with Sid Lucero and right after it ended, she’s now in “Mano Po Legacy 3: The Flower Sisters” that starts airing this week.
“I’m really so thankful to GMA kasi hindi ako nababakante at ang gaganda ng projects and roles na ibinibigay nila sa akin,” she says. “Doing ‘The Flower Sisters’ is a dream come true for me kasi noon ko pa gustong makatrabaho si Aiko Melendez, even when I was still with the other station. It’s one of my bucket list items and now, it’s finally happening. So salamat talaga.”
She and Aiko play half sisters, along with Thea Tolentino and Angel Guardian. They all have the same father, Leopoldo Chua, played by Paul Salas as a young man and by Lloyd Samartino when he gets older.
“I enjoy working with everyone in the cast,” she says. “Aiko is so effortless in her scenes at marami kami ritong scenes na patalbugan at patutsadahan so abangan nyo. I enjoy naman working with our younger sister na sina Thea and Angel kasi nakakabagets sa pakiramdam being with them.”
