Glittering star turns for Maria Aragon, Mart Escudero

ARAGON. Age-appropriate renditions.

Maria Aragon isn’t just another kooky novelty act from cyberspace— and her self-titled debut album proves it. The 11-year-old Filipino-Canadian YouTube sensation captured the imagination of Lady Gaga—and the rest of the world—after her video performing “Born This Way” went viral.

In her seven-track recording, Aragon sweeps music lovers off their feet with age-appropriate renditions of songs whose themes suit her tweener sensibility. Nope, you won’t hear the adorable tyke “mirroring” steel-voiced divas with larynx-breaking bad habits—as she beautifully demonstrates in the stirring but birit-lite cover of Lea Salonga’s “You’re My Home.”

We’re happy to note that the collection has no throwaway tracks: The slowed-down, acoustic vibe of Aragon’s “Born This Way” “youthens” the appeal of Gaga’s dance hit even more.

Jingle

And, if you miss hearing a talented child performer sing like a kid, Maria’s remakes of the New Seekers’ 1971 jingle, “I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing,” and Barry Manilow’s well-loved 1977 ditty, “I Can’t Smile Without You,” won’t disappoint.

Maria has another advantage: She doesn’t sound like any other singer, even when she’s doing covers. The young performer’s honey-coated vocals are further showcased in the inspirational “Follow Your Dream” (about finding your place in the sun) and the anthemic “One Hope, One Dream,” in which she demonstrates her clean shifts from chest to head tones.

Aragon likewise shines and soars in the lone Tagalog cut, “Kung Bubuksan Mo Lang Ang Puso.” Her slurred Ls are perceptible, but you can’t deny Maria’s effort to do away with the inappropriate North American twang.

Cult comedy

ESCUDERO. Gender-bending gusto.

For his part, Mart Escudero is making his bid for screen stardom via Jade Castro’s “Zombadings 1: Patayin Sa Shokot Si Remington.” In the laugh-out-loud cult comedy written by Castro, Raymond Lee and Michiko Yamamoto, the 21-year-old “Starstruck” alumnus proves he’s not just another pretty face by taking on a gender-bending role—and acing it!

In the movie, Escudero portrays 21-year-old homophobe, Remington Martinez, who wakes up one day inexplicably “swishing” his way out of the closet.

To his horror, he sees himself slowly “transforming” into a flaming homosexual: He begins mouthing swardspeak, dresses up as a woman—and, worse, he starts seeing his flirtatious best friend, Jigz (Kerbie Zamora), in a “different” light! Suddenly, Remington is torn between his bosom buddy and the pretty girl next door (Lauren Young).

The culprit: A curse made some 15 years ago by a distraught Roderick Paulate. With “gaydar”-wielding bigots, gays-turned-zombies, and a serial killer slowing him down, the panic-stricken protagonist has to race against time to find the “antidote” for his dilemma—otherwise, the curse will become permanent! What to do?

Marian Rivera, Paulate and Eugene Domingo are seen in head-turning cameos, but their stellar participation in “Zombadings” in no way overshadows the fact that the film truly belongs to Mart, who bravely plumbs and plunges into his character’s persona and psyche—with comedic flair and gender-bending gusto!