Erika Mae Poturnak (left) and Kobe Paras
If a picture paints a thousand words, then the sweet Instagram snaps of Kobe Paras and Erika Mae Poturnak in Bali say a mouthful. Erika is the mini-me of her mom, Ina Raymundo. She’s definitely star material. But when I met Erika a few years ago, she told me that she was not too keen about joining show biz.
I asked my good friend Benjie Paras how he feels about his son Kobe’s budding friendship (or romance?) with Erika. “I would rather not comment because I don’t meddle in Kobe’s personal life. He’s of age already, and I trust that he knows how to make the right decisions,” explains Benj. “But as far as his basketball career is concerned, I will keep guiding him since that’s my expertise.”
The “Tower of Power” (Benj’s PBA moniker ) leaves the ball in Kobe’s court when it comes to matters about the power of love.
Pops Fernandez
Pops to help local celebs go global
My close friend Pops Fernandez is set to launch an international biz venture soon. I am not at liberty to divulge details yet, but suffice it to say that her biz will pave the way for local celebrities to go global.
Another thing on Pops’ “to-do” list this year is the reactivation of her love life, if somebody worthy comes along. That’s a double “wow” in 2022 for the Concert Queen.
Beauty Gonzalez
Beauty on lies that ruin
#RealityversusExpectation is all over social media. Fake it till you make it. GMA 7’s new series “The Fake Life” is all about lies that ruin ties. It airs weekdays after “Raising Mamay” on the network’s Afternoon Prime block.
Topbilled by Beauty Gonzalez, Sid Lucero and Ariel Rivera, it follows their intriguing journey as Cindy, Mark and Onats, who play a love masquerade.
Here’s my chat with Beauty:
What will the character you portray teach women about love?
Cindy will teach us that nobody is perfect and everyone has different motivations in life that are sometimes at odds with our values and morals. Love doesn’t always happen as planned or imagined, but we do what we can or what we think is right at a given time.
In what way can you relate to your character?
I am a Gemini, so I can relate to the fact that there are at least two sides to every story and both can be wrong, and both can be right. It really depends on which part of me is looking.
What do you find fake about life in show biz?
Some situations and scenarios are fake by the nature of the industry being make-believe. But I know that most, if not all, the emotions involved are pulled from a place of sincerity and truth.
Ben&Ben’s latest campaign
Smart unveiled its latest campaign featuring Ben&Ben as the group headlines Apple Music’s (AM) Spatial Audio, which allows subscribers to listen in surround sound with compatible headphones and earphones.
AM now boasts a library of over 90 million songs—and counting—spanning every genre in high-quality Lossless Audio. Avail of a free six-month trial subscription to AM by downloading the GigaLife App and activate the AM offer on the app’s home screen for an immersive listening experience.