Aside from acting, teen star Janella Salvador is also blessed with musical talent. On 'Gandang Gabi Vice' on Sunday, Salvador showed that she can sing the high notes of the classic song 'Lovin' You.'
Paul Soriano and Toni Gonzaga. (Photo by Mico del Rosario as posted on Instagram by Bianca Gonzalez)
Just last August, Toni Gonzaga declared that she was in no hurry to tie the knot and join the bandwagon of engaged celebrities that eventually got hitched by the end of the year.
“Ang pag-aasawa, hindi minamadali. Darating din yun. Kung hindi this year, eh di next year,” Toni told InterAksyon and other entertainment media at the time.
“Next year” is now this year and on Sunday at “The Buzz”, Toni and director Paul Soriano announced their engagement, ending speculations about the latest state of her personal affairs following her absence from the showbiz talk show that she co-hosts with Boy Abunda and Kris Aquino.
The 33-year-old filmmaker said that he popped the question to Toni during her birthday dinner at her residence in Taytay, Rizal. For her part, the 31-year-old actress slash singer slash TV host, also known as the Multimedia Star, noted the patience of Direk Paul over the course of their seven-and-a-half-year relationship.
“I remember there were times when he asked me, ‘Tin, for the past seven years, I was never a priority in your life, it has always been God, your family, your work, and me. I’m always the third. And I’ve accepted that for seven years’,” she recalled.
Now that she has accepted him, Toni vows that Direk Paul will be her number one and only priority when she becomes his wife.
One of the most sought-after talents of ABS-CBN, Toni has been an omnipresent sight on the network since moving there from GMA Network where she started her career. Aside from the “The Buzz”, she is also a mainstay of “The Voice of the Philippines”, “ASAP” and the sitcom “Home Sweetie Home” which she topbills with John Lloyd Cruz.
Last year, she was paired with screen heartthrob Piolo Pascual in the blockbuster romantic comedy drama “Starting Over Again” that earned over P500 million in the box office. That same year, she headlined her own successful solo concert “Celestine” at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Direk Paul’s career is not going so bad, either. An award-winning film director whose work includes the acclaimed sports drama, “Thelma” and the upcoming Manny Pacquiao biopic, “Kid Kulafu” which is now in post-production, he also produced the acclaimed Cinemalaya indies, “Dagitab”, “Mariquina” and “Transit”, the country’s official entry to the 2013 Academy Awards.
Toni’s best friend, Bianca Gonzalez, who herself recently married basketball star JC Intal, congratulated the happy couple on Instagram as she reposted a photo taken by Mico del Rosario.
“It is SOOO wonderful to be a wife to a good, good man and God has blessed us both with such good men,” Bianca posted.
Toni and Direk Paul have not yet announced a date for the wedding but they declared it will definitely happen this year.
Los Angeles – Trying to preserve one’s youthful look is usually the goal of most of Hollywood stars. For Fil-Am actor Allen Evangelista, though, it wouldn’t be a problem.
The 33-year-old Angeleno looks so young he was cast as an 18-year-old in the latest sci-fi movie produced by Michael Bay (“Transformers” franchise) and directed by upcoming director Dean Israelite.
Born and raised in Los Angeles to Filipino parents (Alfredo Evangelista from Manila and Aurora Evangelista from Pampanga), Allen thanks his Filipino genes for looking so young.
Allen Evangelista and wife Christina Burhoe (Photo by Ruben V. Nepales)
He said, “It must be my Filipino genes. I am very lucky. I graduated from high school three times already on television. I will probably be carded for the rest of my life.”
So how did he get into acting and what made him decide to become an actor, we asked.
“I was working at a store and a lady went up to the manager and said, ‘I hope that child has a permit to work.’ She thought I was a minor or something when I was actually already 18 (that time). It turned out that lady was a soap opera star. So when she found out I was already 18 years old, she told me I should consider acting because I could get a lot of roles for looking so young and that it would be a big plus here. As a result, I attended an open audition in front of several casting managers and I just got lucky.”
In the teen thriller adventure film, which also stars Jonny Weston (“Taken 3”), Sofia Black-D’Elia (“Gossip Girl”), Sam Lerner (“Suburgatory”) and Ginny Gardner (“Glee”), Allen is one of a group of high school teenagers who discover a time-travel machine at the basement of their friend’s house. They discover its limitless potential and inadvertently put their own lives in danger.
He recalled how he got his role as Adam in “Project Almanac.” “It was a long process of audition that lasted for six months. We had a lot of back and forth. They auditioned other actors too. Then casting was done in New York and all around the U.S. I just got really lucky,” he said.
While in school, Allen admitted he was not as techie as his character, Adam. “I love science too but not to the degree of my character. But I was good with computers and video games.”
Allen revealed the last time he was in the Philippines was when he was seven years old. “I went with my mom to her province in Pampanga,” he said. “I remember going fishing there but that’s all I recall.”
Now married to the lovely Christina Burhoe who could easily make it as an actress (“but she is a full-time mom right now” according to Allen) and a father to their three-year-old son Hudson, Allen looks forward to going back to the Philippines with his family one of these days.
Allen said he is not fluent in Tagalog but “I understand a lot of it like the food and when I get into trouble. My parents spoke to me in Tagalog but I was not paying attention then and I lost it.”
He said his favorite Filipino dishes are pancit palabok, adobo, and lechon.
For him, the most challenging part of doing the sci-fi movie was “pretending the camera was my love interest. Because in the movie, my love interest was supposed to be the one filming everything. But in reality, it was this cameraman who was holding the camera. So it was pretty tricky to be looking at the camera lovingly while the camera guy actually was holding it.”
“Project Almanac” is distributed by United International Pictures through Columbia Pictures and opens in the Philippines on Feb 4.
Enchong Dee performed 'Seloso,' one of the tracks in his self-titled album, on 'ASAP' on Sunday. He was also awarded a gold record plaque three months since he first released his first solo album.
Martin Nievera marked the 20th time that he celebrated his birthday on the ABS-CBN variety program “ASAP.”
