MANILA, Philippines—Anne Curtis is said to have admitted during a product shoot that she and boyfriend Sam Milby have broke up over a new Star Magic talent, Michaela Milenia.

For a while, there seemed to be an attempt to pooh-pooh the situation by floating word that Sam and Anne really weren’t...you know. So confusing. Long live show biz!

Celebrity Bee

From her thwarted try on GMA 7’s “Celebrity Duets,” Melanie Marquez buzzes over to “The Singing Bee,” now re-airing on ABS-CBN. Tomorrow, 7 p.m., Melanie competes with Cherry Pie Picache, Manilyn Reynes, Bangs Garcia, Enchong Dee and Rafael Rosell! On Sunday, the celebrity contestants are Cogie Domingo, Jayson Gainza, DJ Durano, Kaye Abad, Giselle Sanchez, and Ina Raymundo.

‘Mother’ in Chinatown

Just opened in Chinatown, the 44th Ricky Reyes salon—and of course “Mother” was in red at the inauguration. Among the celebrity guests were singers Jan Nieto and Gian Magdangal, who very ably played Riff in Stages’ recent production of “West Side Story.”

For those who didn’t see WSS, the good news is, there’s a plan to re-stage it next year.

Stars read Pinoy

Theme of the 12th Philippine Book Development Month (November), spearheaded by the National Book Development Board, is “Read Pinoy!” Stars are heeding the call, happily. Posters and newspaper ads show Miriam Quiambao reading the travel anthology “The Manila We Knew”; Edu Manzano, the poetry collection “Latay sa Isipan”; Nikki Gil, “Happy Endings,” Luis Joaquin Katigbak’s collection of short stories; Matt Evans, the serialized comic book “Kuyug”; Romnick and Harlene Sarmenta, “One Hundred Love Poems: Philippine Love Poetry Since 1905.” Whoa!

Condolences

Esperanza Maniago Inventor, mother of singer-comedian Nanette Inventor, passed away on Sunday morning due to complications arising from a heart ailment.

Esperanza, 79, was confined at the National Kidney Institute at the time of her death. Her remains lie at the Samaritan Methodist Church in Quezon Ave., Quezon City. Interment will be held tomorrow at the Holy Cross Memorial Park in Novaliches, Quezon City.

‘Hairspray’ face-offs

Power singer Dulce marks her 30th year in the biz by taking on the role of Motor Mouth Maybelle in Atlantis Productions’ “Hairspray,” which runs Nov. 14 to Dec. 7 in Star Theater. The role was played onscreen by Queen Latifah.

Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo, who directed Stages’ WSS, returns to acting as the villainous Velma Von Tussle, played in the movie by Michelle Pfeiffer.

Nyoy Volante portrays Seaweed J. Stubbs; Leo Rialp, Wilbur Turnblad.

Doing a John Travolta and playing a woman is...Michael de Mesa! Gabe Mercado plays multiple roles as Male Authority Figure; Enchang Kaimo is his equivalent Female Authority Figure. Plus, Noel Rayos returns from Hong Kong Disney to play Corny Collins.

Bobby Garcia, fresh from “Cinderella,” directs. After WSS, seems this one is the stage production to watch.

Not a fan

Mark Wahlberg is not a fan of a “Saturday Night Live” sketch from October 4th called “Mark Wahlberg Talks To Animals.” In Sunday’s NY Post, Wahlberg has a Q&A to promote his upcoming movie “Max Payne,” and towards the end is asked what he thought. In the skit, Andy Samberg plays Wahlberg as he talks to a dog, a goat, a chicken and a donkey. It’s described on NBC’s website as “Barky Bark and the Donkey Bunch.” Sample dialogue, “Hey dog, what’s up? I like your fur ... say hey to your mother for me.”

Wahlberg said of the sketch:

“Someone showed it to me on YouTube. It wasn’t like Tina Fey doing Sarah Palin, that’s for sure. And ‘Saturday Night Live’ hasn’t been funny for a long time. They’ve asked me to do the show a ton of times. I used to watch it when Eddie Murphy was there and Joe Piscopo and Bill Murray. I don’t even know who’s on the show now.”