We look back at the past 12 months and relive the most sensational stories and personalities that made headlines in Philippine show business — from shocking scandals and outrageous intrigues to inspirational triumphs and achievements at home and on the global stage.
Hits and misses
John Lloyd Cruz maintained his box office appeal with a string of hits, with this year's top-grosser Miss You Like Crazy, his reunion flick with Bea Alonzo (above). But the biggest surprise was the box office magic cast by comedian Vice Ganda — his debut film, Petrang Kabayo (bottom), is 2010's biggest earner. It was also Eugene Domingo's year as the comedienne racked up one hit after the other, with Here Comes the Bride, Mamarazzi and Working Girls all figuring in the top 10.
On the music scene, Regine Velasquez (right) mesmerises yet again with her latest album, Fantasy, which became a gold-certified hit in just two weeks, a testament to the drawing power of Asia's Songbird. Not to be outdone, Christian Bautista released A Wonderful Christmas that has been unbeatable in the charts.
On the tube, Sarah Geronimo's much heralded soap, Idol, did not even complete one full season before it was axed, making its demise one of the most talked about flops of the year. Perhaps the Glee-like material paled in comparison to the original or the more successful Diva, which starred Velasquez.
Glaiza de Castro (right) successfully went from a character actress everyone loved to hate to a leading lady with her successful Grazilda still sizzling as one of prime time's top-raters.
Scandals and shockers
Willie Revillame (right) will have bittersweet memories of this year, when he was unceremoniously suspended by ABS CBN for his public outburst on Wowowee. He threatened to leave if network executives didn't fire a radio announcer for criticising his show. The management's choice — suspending their highest-paid talent and axing his show — led Willie to TV5, where he has a new show and has been enough of a threat to ABS CBN that his former bosses have filed two multi-million peso lawsuits against him for breach of contract and copyright infringement. The cases are still ongoing.
The other big scandal that rocked the industry involved John Lloyd Cruz and his current girlfriend, actress Shaina Magdayao (below). Rumour would have it that the two were found to have been brought to a hospital in a very compromising situation. The story ran for months, until Cruz and Magdayao decided to deny it.
Lucky for them, Filipinos are quick to forget. Cruz just had another blockbuster recently with My Amnesia Girl, opposite Toni Gonzaga, and a top-rating prime time series, the ongoing Immortal, opposite Angel Locsin. Magdayao, meanwhile, is doing well with her own noontime soap, Alyna.
Winning moments
This year was a proud one for beauty, fashion and entertainment. Venus Raj (pictured) had a major stint at the Miss Universe pageant in August, finishing fourth.
Across the Atlantic in London, Mich Dulce won the hearts of London fashionistas when she won the International Young Creative Entrepreneur award for Fashion at London Fashion Week in February. Nine months later, another Filipino would do the country proud when Allen Lorico won the grand prize at the Japan Fashion Design Contest, marking the first time in 47 years that a foreigner won in the tough and prestigious competition.
And who could have missed Charice Pempengco's rise to international superstardom?
Hellos and goodbyes
One of the most talked about separations was that of Kris Aquino and James Yap. The high-profile celebrity couple finally called it quits around the middle of the year. They refused to divulge the details of the separation, although both confirmed that no third party was involved.
For the fans of the Kim Chiu and Gerald Anderson (pictured) love-team, this was a sad year because their beloved stars parted ways. Though they never admitted they were together, people assumed they were an item on- and off-screen.
From heartbreaks to happy moments, Regine Velasquez and Ogie Alcasid finally exchanged vows on December 22, after three long years of being engaged, in what was definitely the wedding of the year. It was held at the hillside of the elite Terrazas de Punta Fuego resort in Batangas. The guest list was a virtual who's-who in Philippine entertainment, business and politics. Velasquez was stunning in her red wedding gown, made for her by Hollywood-based Monique Lhuillier.
Star of the year
This year saw the remarkable rise and rise of Charice Pempengco. She was simply unstoppable — from an international album that debuted on the Billboard Top 10, to a much publicised appearance on the hit show Glee, she showed why she's ready to become, in the words of star-maker David Foster, the next Celine Dion and Hollywood's Asian Superstar.
Her debut single, Pyramid, made it to number four on Yahoo's "2010 Year in Review: Most Irresistible Lyrics" list, a notch higher than Filipino-American Bruno Mars, who took fifth spot with Just the Way You Are.
J-14 magazine put her on a pedestal, bestowing on her the "Icon of Tomorrow" award. As a testament to her growing stature, an Emmy Award-winning director followed her for 30 days for a documentary that was shown on Teen.com; and she joined international superstars Kylie Minogue, Sheryl Crow, Josh Groban, Jessica Simpson and Mariah Carey in performing at NBC's 78th Annual Christmas Tree Lighting event at the Rockefeller Center in New York.
Looking ahead
As 2010 draws to a close, we look forward to another year of exciting stories in Philippine entertainment, with new stars on the verge of shining ever brighter with the likes of Andi Eigenmann (pictured), Jillian Ward, and Solenn Huessaff. Expect more variety as a new TV station is aggressively challenging the duopoly of top networks GMA 7 and ABS CBN. And we're hopeful that the film industry will have another fruitful year in the independent film festival circuit abroad.
