Vincent Anthony Garcia brings you all the gossip from the Philippines.
Charice Pempengco's star sparkled yet again, as she wowed Queen of Talk Oprah Winfrey when she performed on Oprah recently.
Charice, who has also had guest appearances in The Ellen Degeneres Show in the US and The Paul O' Grady Show in the UK, sang Whitney Houston's I Have Nothing to the delight of the audience.
Charice's appearance was part of Oprah's special episode on the world's smartest kids, featuring 10 of the brightest children from around the world. The 15-year-old Filipina singer was the only Asian in this year's batch.
Oprah was allegedly so impressed that she slipped some shopping money into the singer's pockets and had the teenager's hair done by one of her very own stylists. Just weeks back, Charice's performance on The Paul O' Grady Show received two standing ovations - a first for the show, according to producers.
Missing Sarah?
Who says Sarah Geronimo's star has waned? Contrary to widespread belief, she has not been out of circulation. She is, in fact, very much around - and in a big way as the next big star handpicked by fashion tsar Ben Chan.
Geronimo has been selected as the next celebrity endorser of the fashion and lifestyle brand HerBench. This is Geronimo's first endorsement of a clothing line.
Being a HerBench endorser has become quite a coveted gig in Manila, and Geronimo is thankful for the opportunity.
When our Manila mole had the opportunity to talk to her after a presentation of the brand to ask where she has been all this time and if there were any truth in the rumour that she was pregnant, Sarah gamely replied: "Not true at all. I've been busy performing abroad, that's why I haven't been around much."
Richard resigns
In an obvious attempt to cool down the tension between two of the country's hottest male celebs, Sunday's top-rating noon-time musical variety show SOP accepted Richard Gutierrez's resignation from the show.
His mum, the feisty Annabelle Rama, has been at odds with the show's producer, who, according to her, has been favouring Dingdong Dantes - probably the only male star who can match Richard's popularity.
Richard's fans have nothing to worry about as he is still seen in primetime TV's top-rater Kamandag. He will also be coming to Dubai to shoot the pilot episode of his forthcoming series Asero.
