Who will play Marimar in the hit soap?
Starstruck winner Jennylyn Mercado must be extremely happy these days. She's just finished a highly successful fantasy series on TV, and her relationship with handsome young actor Patrick Garcia has come along smoothly thus far.
Shortlist
Now she's been shortlisted, Showbiz Tsismis sources have confirmed, to be one of the lead roles in the remake of the popular Mexican soap Marimar, which captured the fancy of the entire nation some years back. Jennylyn is being considered for the plum role once played by Latin cross-over sensation Thalia.
The role of Marimar was alleged to have been offered to another top teen sensation, Angel Locsin, but the young actress, who has been GMA 7's top artist for some time, was said to have turned down the role to study fashion in London.
Hmm. Maybe Angel has a short memory or isn't aware of what has happened to the likes of Sandara Park and Heart Evangelista. Both were at the peak of their careers but were quickly forgotten when they decided to take a break from showbusiness. They did come back, but with a whimper, and found they have no career to speak of.
ingrate?
Angel has been accused by many for being stupid (let alone an ingrate) for turning down a GMA 7 offer to cast her as Marimar. It was GMA 7, of course, who made a big star out of Angel, picking her up from bit roles into stardom via such huge TV hits as Mulawin, Darna, Majika and now Asian Treasures.
Her handlers have been busy putting out the fire, saying she's loyal to GMA 7 and has no intention of leaving the top station in the country. No reason to, they say, because she's on top of her game and it wouldn't make sense to transfer to the rival channel which has been struggling to compete with the Kapuso network.
Jennylyn
Jennylyn Mercado has also been confirmed to portray the lead role in a movie opposite Bong Revilla.
The film, tentatively titled Resiklo, has been selected for the annual Metro Manila Film Festival in December.
Jennylyn is said to have edged out Roxanne Guinoo for the coveted role.
TV ratings battle
Fight is in the morning slot
It looks like the next big battle for TV supremacy is going to happen in the morning to afternoon slot.
The Kapuso network has safely cornered the evening primetime category with such top-raters as Lupin, Asian Treasures and Impostora. Kris Aquino has moved back again to the morning slot to team up with Boy Abunda and hopefully manage a more respectable rating against rival programme Sis. Here's how the top programmes performed last week:
- Sis 11.2% (GMA 7) v Homeboy 9.4% (ABS-CBN);
- Eat Bulaga 20.5% (GMA 7) v Wowowee 20.1% (ABS-CBN);
- Sinasamba Kita 17.3% (GMA 7) v Kapamilya Cinema 13.5 (ABS-CBN)%;
- 24 Oras 25.9% (GMA 7) v TV Patrol World 21.2% (ABS-CBN);
- Asian Treasures 30.1% (GMA 7) v Maria Flordeluna 29.9% (ABS-CBN);
- Impostora 26.5% (GMA 7) v Walang Kapalit 27.7% (ABS-CBN);
- Lupin 31.3% (GMA 7) v Which Star Are You From 21.3% (ABS-CBN).
No wedding bells, yet
Fresh from her successful 20th anniversary concert, teen superstar Judy Ann Santos and sweetheart Ryan Agoncillo (above) categorically denied they will be taking wedding vows this year.
Many were expecting Ryan to make his proposal during the Judy Ann's made-for-TV special concert, but nothing of the sort happened. Instead, the couple made it very clear there will no grand wedding this year.
