Weddings of the year
Celebrity weddings are the stuff fairy tales are made of. And for singer Jolina Magdangal and Rivermaya lead vocalist Mark Escueta (pictured), one of the more well-loved couples in the industry, their exchange of vows was magical. In fact, they were married twice, as if one promise of eternal love wasn't enough.
Early this year, young actor Oyo Boy Sotto exchanged "I dos" with drama princess Kristine Hermosa (right). Their romance started in 2009. Two years later, they wed in an intimate ceremony in Batangas. They are now expecting a baby girl in January, and they have chosen the name Andrea for the child, the first of the 10 they hope to have.
Beauty and Brains
It has been quite some time since the Philippines had a major winner in the beauty pageant-modelling competition circuit. But Danica Magpantay (right) started the year right with her victory at the Supermodel of the World contest in New York, organised by the prestigious Ford Modelling Agency. Then in September, the Philippines went crazy with Shamcey Supsup's third runner-up finish at the Miss Universe Pageant in Sao Paolo, Brazil. Although she didn't win the crown, she managed to place higher than Venus Raj's fourth runner-up finish last year. Two months later, Gwendoline Ruais (left) showcased yet again the beauty and brains of Filipinas when she took first runner-up honours in the Miss World beauty pageant in London. The Miss World title remains elusive to Filipina beauties, but Ruais did enough to make her country proud. Expectations are high that next year will be a winning year for the Philippines.
On a high
Christian Bautista became this year's hottest singer when his A Wonderful Christmas album became a certified diamond hit. The only other artist to have achieved this goal this year was the band Sponge Cola for their album Araw. Oras. Tagpuan. Regine Velasquez remains the best-selling woman artist, while Jose Mari Chan holds the record for the best-selling OPM album Christmas in Our Hearts.
Return of the Legend
Perhaps the biggest newsmaker of the year is none other than the legend herself, Nora Aunor. For eight years, she lived a "quiet" life in the US. Though intrigues and controversies hounded her, she would either remain quiet or just issue a statement through her publicist. Then in August, she returned to a raucous welcome. She was mobbed by her loyal supporters and showed critics she was still the country's one and only "superstar". She has since starred in a drama series on TV5 and is filming a bio-flick about Emilio Aguinaldo, the first president of the Republic of the Philippines.
Box Office success
It was a year of breakthroughs as well in the movies, with the Vice Ganda-starrer Praybeyt Benjamin (pictured) breaking box office records to become the highest grossing Filipino movie of all time. Just a few weeks before, the Anne Curtis-Derek Ramsey-Cristine Reyes flick No Other Woman became a surprise hit taking the highest-grossing Filipino film tag until Ganda's movie was released. Just when everybody thought Filipino films would be hard-pressed to cross the 200-million peso mark because of hard times, Praybeyt Benjamin did 330 million pesos (Dh27.77 million), while No Other Woman (below) grossed 276 million pesos.
