Calzado catapults into the big league

Vincent Anthony Garcia brings you all the gossip from the Philippines.

Lucky Iza

Calzado catapults into the big league after Hollywood break

After scoring the biggest break of her career when she shot a film in Hollywood last year, Iza Calzado suddenly became one of the major stars in Philippine showbusiness.

She has, of course, played lead roles in a number of TV programmes, and a movie with Taiwanese superstar Ken Zhu, but Iza has never really carried a movie or TV show on
her own.

This year, Iza was cast in a primetime TV series that bears her name: The Iza Calzado Anthology, a sure sign that she has indeed arrived, thanks to her Hollywood pedigree.

Lady luck seems to be smiling at this amiable superstar, because Iza will soon be able to add another feather in her cap when she represents the Philippines in the Artists Awards in Seoul, South Korea.

Who's lying?

Perhaps the most popular of the EB Babes, a dance group of the country's number one noontime show, Lian Paz found herself in the eye of the storm when news of her break up with popular teen actor Mark Herras broke out recently.

In press statements, Mark admitted that the cause of the couple's break up was a third party, and the culprit was no other than Lian and an upcoming model-basketball star.

However, Lian denied the accusations saying it was Mark who was constantly spotted with other women, even while they were together. This is another case of he-said, she-said, and if most surveys are to be believed, Lian's got the vote of fans on this one.

Vincent rules!

Bueno wins music contest on Austrian TV

On the heels of Charice Pempengco's much publicised appearance in The Ellen Degeners Show, another Filipino has done his country proud. Vincent Bueno defied all odds to win the first-ever Musical! Die Show (Musical! The Show), a televised musical competition where contestants perform songs from some of the most memorable musicals, in Austria.

The only Asian contestant among the 10 contestants, Vincent beat Eva Klikovics and Gudrun Ihninger in the finals to win the title as well as the 50,000 euros (Dh269,289) cash award.