Wonderful year for Zsa Zsa

PADILLA. Deserves all of the good things coming her way.

After many a sad season, 2015 is shaping up as an annus mirabilis for Zsa Zsa Padilla—and we’re happy for her, because she eminently deserves all of the great things currently coming her way.

Zsa Zsa has always been known as a lovely and gifted singer—with a special Z for “zing!” in spicy and sizzling consonance to her name. Late last year, her best actress award at the MMFF for her performance in “M” (which will be shown again soon) reminded everyone that she’s also one of our best actresses.

Putting her two best suits—singing and acting—together, our hope is that 2015 will see Zsa Zsa finally starring in an original Fiilpino musical!

We trust that she will give this fervent suggestion her serious consideration, because our homegrown musicals need all the stellar help they can get to cope with the “colonial” competition provided by the local audience’s bias for “Broadway” and “West End” imports.

Before that happens, however, we expect more good things to happen in Zsa Zsa’s private life, because she’s found a new love in celebrity architect Conrad Onglao, so that lovely, lilting sound in the distance could be—wedding bells?

Jennylyn’s year

The year 2015 is also turning out to be a particularly good year for Jennylyn Mercado, whose best actress award for “English Only, Please” has made people reassess their heretofore lukewarm appreciation of her career prospects. Yes, she’s been in the biz for more than a decade, but it took her ditzy and yet felt portrayal in her recent film starrer to make viewers realize that she was capable not just of proficient acting, but of standout characterization, as well.

What’s up next? She has a new TV drama series, “Second Chances,” but she shares credits with other stars in it—so, we hope that GMA 7 will take new cognizance of her “post-‘English’” prospects and come up with a new project just for her.

Another thought: Jennylyn doesn’t just act, but also sings and dances, so she would also be a natural for a light-hearted musical-theater outing. The more stars we interest in helping local musicals generate a loyal and supportive audience, the better for us all!

Jolina hits the jackpot

Finally, we’re happy to report that Jolina Magdangal’s show biz comeback by way of the new teleserye, “Flor de Liza” has turned out to be successful, so she and her costar, Marvin Agustin, have a lot to celebrate.

Even better, on “The Singing Bee” last month, Jolina won the top prize, a whopping million bucks give or take a few thousand! How plucky and lucky can anybody get?