Security overkill
MANILA, Philippines—To put it mildly, news photographers were peeved during the Swing Out Sister concert at the Araneta Coliseum on Monday.
PDI's Rudy Esperas complained, "We were held for more than an hour in a corner at the coliseum entrance, and were not allowed to use the toilets." This, despite the media passes issued, Esperas said.
He added: "Inside, we were restricted to a spot so far away from the stage, that even our zoom lens wouldn't work. I went near the stage, but another security person stopped me."
What's the deal, guys? Everyone in the audience with a cell phone camera who wanted to take pictures was free to do so.
Honorary Pulitzer
NEW YORK-Thanks to Bob Dylan, rock 'n' roll has finally broken through the Pulitzer wall. Dylan, one of the most acclaimed and influential songwriters of the past half century, received an honorary Pulitzer Prize for his "profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power." It was the first time Pulitzer judges awarded an art form once dismissed as barbaric, even subversive. AP
Pavarotti lip-synch
ROME-The maestro who was conducting Luciano Pavarotti at the opening ceremony of the Turin Winter Olympic Games in 2006 has revealed that the ailing tenor lip-synched his performance. The late singer's manager said Monday the bitter cold of the outdoor event made a live performance impossible. Leone Magiera, who worked with Pavarotti for years, said in a recently published book that the rousing rendition of "Nessun Dorma (Let No One Sleep)" was prerecorded before the ceremony because "it would have been too dangerous for him to give a live performance in that physical condition." AP
Awkward sex scene
NEW YORK-Rosie Perez says shooting a steamy sex scene with John Leguizamo for their new movie, "The Take," was "very awkward."
"This is not my first time working with John. We are friends, and between each other there is no ego, no competition," the 43-year-old actress told The Associated Press in a recent interview.
"It was in the sex scene between husband and wife that things started to go bad," she said. "It was very awkward. Like brother and sister having to do a sex scene." AP
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Top of the Talk Shows
For those who missed last weekend's gabfests on TV. (And why we are moved, if we are moved.)
Gabby Concepcion's message to Sharon Cuneta:
"I'm really very sorry for what I've done to you, to the family and anybody that I hurt along the way. From the bottom of my heart, I'm really, really regretful."
Sharon on Gabby's return:
"There is a shortage of good actors and leading men in the industry. He's one of the best. And my daughter [KC] is happy that her papa's here. That's all that matters to me."
Lolit on Sen. Bong Revilla's shock upon learning 18-year-old daughter Inah decided to marry her boyfriend:
"Mas natanggap pa ni Lani dahil siguro na-feel ni Lani na talagang in love na in love si Inah sa boyfriend niya. Si Bong talaga na-shock kaya siya ang iyak nang iyak."
Ruffa Gutierrez, on published photos of ex-husband Yilmaz Bektas with former Ms Universe Zulayka Rivera Mendoza:
"Hindi ako nakaramdam ng selos or sakit man lang because I was already expecting that." (A few minutes later, her mom Annabelle told it like it was: "Tinawagan ako ni Ruffa, umiiyak. Sabi ko, si Yilmaz na naman.")
(Startalk and The Buzz)
E-mail us: rushes@inquirer.com.ph
