The power of Geronimo

Filipino pop princess Sarah Geronimo rocked last Sunday when she performed at Stadium Badminton Cheras, Kuala Lumpur.

Brought in by Celcom Axiata, many fans gathered at the venue long before the scheduled time of the concert in anticipation of seeing the beautiful and stylish Geronimo.

The 22-yearold singer/ actress was marked by many to be the next big thing in Asia, making waves in her native The Philippines as well as attracting a healthy following here in Malaysia.

Her debut performance in Malaysia was a testament to her reputation and talent as Geronimo had fans eating out of her hands as she belted out her own hits from

The Philippines as well as well-known international hits. Starting off at a little past 2pm, fans needed little coaxing to show how much they wanted to see their idol on stage when they squealed her name in unison.

Soon after, the Asian pop icon appeared, together with her sexy dancers. Kicking off the concert with the triple sexy hit London Bridge, Here I Come and De Ja Vu, the petite, sweet singer welcomed the audience along with her sexy troupe.

Geronimo proved that she not only had the voice but the moves to go along with it, proving that she is also an established dancer as well as actress and singer.

Speaking mostly in Tagalog and a little English, the entertainer frequently showed her excitement for being able to perform in front of her fans that afternoon.

"Hello Malaysia, I am so glad to be here," said Geronimo.

She also mentioned, in an interview later, that she would also love to collaborate with Malaysian artistes in the future. It was easy to understand the fans' appreciation of Geronimo.

She is a very experienced entertainer. Geronimo started singing when she was six. In 2002, she joined the talent competition 'Star Of The Night' and emerged as champion; launching her career in the Filipino entertainment industry.

She won an exclusive 10-year contract with the Viva Entertainment Group and recorded her first album, Popstar: A Dream Come True in 2003 and sold over 210,000 copies in her home country.

She continued to release nine more albums, the latest — Sarah Geronimo: Just Me in 2008. The singer, actress and dancer took a short break while her 'Star Of The Night' companion (he won second place) Mark Bautista kept the audience mesmerised with his rendition of Le Ann Rimes' I Need You and Filipino number Baliw.

Bautista's good looks and equally mesmerising voice got many female fans in the audience excited, who tried to get closer to the charming entertainer when he stepped off the stage and onto the arena.

However, tough security proved to be on their toes while Bautista gave the audience air kisses in support of their enthusiasm.

Together with Geronimo, the two combined their vocals in a few songs including Kasalanan Ko Ba, Please Don't Stop The Music and Michael Jackson's Wanna Be Starting Something.

The crowd, consisting mostly of Filipinos, lapped it up with a lot of excitement. "Are you having fun?", Geronimo asked the audience many times and they showed appreciation with shrieks of "I Love You".

Both Geronimo and Bautista engaged the audience throughout the show and had no qualms of showing how they, too, enjoyed entertaining the crowd.

After two hours of non-stop entertainment, the duo presented tickets to Manila to three lucky members of the audience. The duo also met lucky fans at a special meet and greet session after the concert ended.


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Sarah G. & Joy B. are like two peas in a pod

It’s too early for it but if ever Joy Belmonte’s life story would be filmed, I’m sure she would pick only one actress to play the title role — Sarah Geronimo.

“She’s my favorite actress,” said Joy who...look at the picture closely...could be mistaken for Sarah’s twin sister. “She’s wholesome on and off camera, untainted by unsavory rumors. She’s an ideal daughter and that makes her a good role model for the youth.”

Empowering the youth is part of the platform of Joy who’s running for vice mayor in Quezon City in the May elections as incumbent Q.C. Vice Mayor Herbert Bautista’s running mate.

Like Sarah, Joy is a good role model. Born with the proverbial silver spoon in her mouth, she could have chosen an easy life after graduating from Ateneo de Manila (with a degree in AB Social Sciences, combination of Sociology, Anthropology and Political Science), the daughter of Q.C. Mayor Sonny Belmonte (who’s running for congressman in the fourth district of the same city, also in the May elections) and the late civic leader and this paper’s founding chairman Betty Go-Belmonte instead opted to work with NGOs that brought her to little communities in as far away as Bukidnon.

“The experience opened my eyes to the inequalities in our society,” said Joy who was a member of the Jesuit Volunteers Philippines (JVP) in school and, as a student, founded an organization with the grassroots youth in Libis, Quezon City. “There are some who are very wealthy and given so much in life and some with almost nothing.” (Actually, Joy’s dream was to be an archaeologist, largely influenced as she was by her parents’ love for culture, art and history. She’s married to Dr. Raymund Alimurong by whom she has a baby, Gael.)

Also involved in empowering women and an advocate of issues concerning violence against women, Joy as member of the Ilaw ng Bayan Foundation set up Husay Pinay which helps organizations with livelihood projects
market their products and conduct business-skills training.

Joy was a revelation when she met the movie
press Monday last week at a well-attended presscon held at the function room of the Imperial Palace Suites hosted by Regal Matriarch Mother Lily Monteverde who is believed to have a “Midas Touch” because candidates she endorses finish winners.

“I’m a friend of the Belmontes,” said Mother Lily in her welcome address, “I believe in the Belmontes.”

It’s understandable why Joy is having her “baptism of fire” with the movie press which is noted for its unmitigated style of asking questions — Joy has showbiz connections. Pioneers in journalism, the Belmontes also published the movie magazines
Moviestar, Movieland and Movieworld, aside from the Daily Star (forerunner of The Philippine STAR and Pilipino Star Ngayon) and Fookien Times (1926-1972, with Betty’s dad, Dr. Jimmy Go Puan Seng, as publisher). (Trivia: The surname of the late actor Ricky Belmonte, Jesus Cruz in real life, was taken from the Belmontes.)

Joy and her Poveda schoolmates used to write for Star Monthly, another Belmonte publication. One time, Joy and Kris Aquino (from Poveda, they would become schoolmates at Ateneo) were assigned to interview what Kris described as “an ordinary policeman,” who turned out to be Fred Lim (now Mayor of Manila) and when their picture came out in the papers, Joy was identified as “a friend of Kris Aquino.”

“That was my claim to fame,” said Joy at the presscon, eliciting laughter from the movie press.

Several actors are running for councilor in Q.C. including Glenda Garcia, Alfred Vargas, Ara Mina. Ricky Davao, Roderick Paulate, Arnel Ignacio and Maria Isabel Lopez.

“Actors and actresses have a very important role to play in our society,” said Joy, especially in Quezon City which is known as City of Stars.

Her answer to criticism that she doesn’t have “experience” in politics?

“Totoo po ‘yan,” Joy spoke in fluent Filipino, “wala akong karanasan bilang halal na politician, pero marami akong karanasan sa lingkod-bayan. Naging volunteer teacher ako sa Bukidnon at nagturo sa mga anak ng mga magsasaka. Dinanas ko ang hirap doon. Marami akong sinapiang organisasyon at foundation na ang layunin ay volunteerism at public service. Sa pagpasok ko sa pulitika, dadalhin ko ang paglilingkod nang walang kapalit at pang-sariling interest.”

Three days after the movie presscon, Joy had a merienda meeting with Sarah at the EDSA Shangri-La coffee shop. Also present were her brother, STAR president/CEO Miguel Belmonte, Viva boss Vic del Rosario Jr. and his son Vincent, and Sarah’s parents. Sarah is endorsing Joy’s candidacy.

The two did look like two peas in a pod, looks- and other-wise, from their shy smiles to their fine manners.

Sarah’s mom Divina took exception to a report on The Buzz that Sarah was leaving home to live alone...or to live-in with rumored suitor Rayver Cruz? Not true, according to Divina.

“When my sister, who lives in Negros, heard the news she almost suffered a mild stroke,” said Divina, who was offended by the story. “Our family has intact values and stories like that are shocking to us. To us, showbiz is just work. At home, we are like any family, katulad pa rin noon. Importante sa amin ang values,” adding that neither is it true that she’s meddling in Sarah’s love life. “Our relatives have been asking why I’m allowing Sarah to live by herself, because they were misled by the (Buzz) report and I told them, ‘Hindi totoo ‘yon. Hindi ko siya papayagan’,”

Turning 22 on July 25, Sarah said that she knows that showbiz is not forever, so she’s taking advantage of the opportunities coming her way, as in making hay while the sun shines. In short, to use a cliche, love can wait, never mind if the queue of “prospective suitors” is getting longer and longer. “Work nang work na lang muna,” she smiled.

She’s now shooting Hating Kapatid, her first movie with Judy Ann Santos, directed by Wenn Deramas for Star Cinema/Viva Films, with JC de Vera and Luis Manzano as leading men.

“It’s a dream come true,” said Sarah. “I’m a Juday fan.”


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