‘Lost and found’ stars stage auspicious comeback bids

MAGNO (LEFT) AND PRIETO. Most-missed and fondest finds. FACEBOOK PHOTOS

Some stars are terribly overexposed, but other luminaries who happen to be more talented performers are difficult to find on the show biz scene. —Why is that? It’s one of the irritating ironies of local entertainment, and there isn’t much we can do about it—except to celebrate the rare occasions when we do “find” them.

This month, our most-missed and fondest finds include: Iconic jazz and torch singer Jacqui Magno, who resurfaces on July 26 with her birthday concert, “Moonlight and Love Songs,” at Palacio de Maynila on Roxas boulevard. It’s been years and years, but we still remember Jacqui’s luminous, “translucent” and transcendent interpretation of “The Rose” as though it were yesterday.

Also fully deserving of a hearty “welcome back” is former child singing sensation Josephine  “Banig” Roberto, who’s all grown up now and working on a new album in the States. Sure hope Banig has the time and inclination to pay us a performing visit. There are quite a number of people here who remember what a standout performer she was as a feisty tyke, and they sure would like to see how she’s turned out as an adult performer.

Seldom-seen talents

On TV, we’re glad that some teleserye have brought back some seldom-seen talents who should definitely perform more regularly from here on in:

On “My Destiny,” it was a pleasure to see Dennis Roldan making a reappearance after many years as Tom Rodriguez’s dad. Dennis still looks great in maturity, and we hear that he’s become a pastor in the interim. —Welcome back, and here’s to more frequent appearances on the tube!

On “Hawak-Kamay,” the similarly pleasant surprise is the comeback of Jennifer Sevilla as Piolo Pascual’s sister. Unfortunately, Jennifer’s character was (much too soon) involved in a fatal car crash, thus leaving her newly adopted children in the grudging custody and care of her younger brother, played by Piolo.

Still, in the few telecasts in which she appeared, Jennifer’s felt portrayal reminded viewers of her uncommon talent (even if she’s put on considerable weight). So, we trust that, now that she’s been “found,” this won’t be the last time we’ll see Jennifer on the TV screen.

Exceptionally gifted

Another favorite talent of ours, Francine Prieto, is also hard to locate these days, but we’re sure glad that she’s appearing in a series of commercials for a line of beauty products. We trust that producers have been reminded by these endorsements that Francine is very much around, and should be cast in their next projects, because she’s an exceptionally gifted performer.

It was also a fun treat to see former child superstar Niño Muhlach playing one of Richard Gomez’s now middle-aged buddies in “She’s Dating the Gangster.”

As with Nora Aunor some years back, we believe that Niño still has what it takes to come up with an outstanding lead portrayal on the big screen—if a savvy producer will “risk” bankrolling the new production.

It eventually happened, against all odds, in Nora’s case, so we trust that Niño will also be “stellarly rediscovered”—real soon!