MANILA, Philippines?Just like all Michael Jackson diehards, I am counting the days till the MJ movie ?This Is It? opens on Oct 28. I will definitely watch it everyday during its limited two-week run.

I can?t help but cry each time the trailer is shown because it makes me feel MJ?s passion and determination to outdo himself in his final concert for the sake of his legions of fans. It?s so sad that fate didn?t give him a chance to take one last bow.

But come to think of it, legends like him never really say goodbye because MJ stays alive forever through his music. To paraphrase Madonna?s words in her touching tribute to MJ at the MTV Video Awards ?09: ?I know what MJ went through because I?ve walked that path before, where one negative story after another is concocted about you. You feel that your voice can no longer be heard amid the shouts persecuting you. MJ was a human being like all of us. But damn, he was and will always be a King.? Nobody could have said it any better than Madonna. It takes one icon to know another.

Did you know that Madonna and MJ were supposed to appear in the latter?s video of ?In the Closet?? Madonna wanted to dress as a man and MJ to dress as a woman. Too bad, the concept didn?t sit too well with MJ so he did the video with Naomi Campbell instead. Long live the two great ?M?s? ? Madonna and Michael.

?Dare to believe?

As a tribute to my all-time idol, let me share with you some of my fave MJ quotes:

?In a world filled with hate, we must still dare to hope. In a world filled with anger, we must still dare to comfort. In a world filled with despair, we must still dare to dream. And in a world filled with distrust, we must still dare to believe.

?I wake up from dreams and go, ?Wow, put this down on paper.? The whole thing is strange. You hear the words, everything is right there in front of your face.

?If you enter this world knowing you are loved and you leave this world knowing the same, then everything that happens in between can be dealt with.

?A veteran before a teenager?

?And my goal in life is to give to the world what I was lucky to receive: the ecstasy of divine union through my music and my dance.

?I was a veteran, before I was a teenager.

?Children show me in their playful smiles the divine in everyone. This simple goodness shines straight from their hearts and only asks to be lived.

?Who wants mortality? We all want immortality. The creator goes but the creation remains. That?s why I bind myself to my work so that it will live on.

?I wish people would look at me as a person and not just as a personality.

?When paparazzi come, I wish they would write the right stuff.?

Back-to-back series

Don?t miss the riveting last quarter salvo of GMA 7?s Sine Novela, ?Kaya Kong Abutin Ang Langit? and ?Tinik sa Dibdib? (Mondays to Fridays after ?Daisy Siete?). It features Sunshine Dizon and Iza Calzado.

The back-to back series will surely fire up your afternoons as the shows bring to light the struggle of two women to escape poverty as they search for happiness. Iza plays the role originally portrayed by Maricel Soriano in 1984, while Sunshine takes on the role played by Nora Aunor in 1985. Time for Dramarama mania!

Personal

Happy birthday to dear Yumby (D.H.). Thanks for being the sweetest part of my life. Love yah!

Thanks a mil to MTV?s assets, Georgette Tengco, Jad Deveza and cool boss Francis Lumen for the priceless MJ DVDs. It?s all my birthday wishes come true.

E-mail: wateringholeshangrila@yahoo.com