Ah, politics. So full and overflowing. So... life. I was just listening again to
Susan Roces and President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's verbal tennis back in 2005 in
PCIJ's blogsite. I'd forgotten how fabulous women in Philippine politics were. I'd been moved by such an emotionally supercharged showdown filled with
lola powers, drama and
Tarayan For Dummies pointers that any fulfillment from any form of humor or endless Whitney Houston play loops could ever hope to bring pale in comparison. And I'm still in tears...
Which is why now I would like to share my... sentiments... on a very recent event that by itself could also move, shake and potentially change our lives forever:
KC Concepcion's debut on Philippine drama TV.
Yes,
Sharon Cuneta's
heir apparent to the Mega Throne (elite Transformers? phonetic corniness) finally arrives at the most vital key in owning Philippine show business and soon the country itself: TV drama. She starred in a
Maalaala Mo Kaya episode last Friday, with Ricky Davao, Agot Isidro, Malou Santos, Derek Ramsay, Yayo Aguila and a teener who's name I didn't catch but won't search online until he admits he's gay. And by "star", it means STAR: She even did the voice over where Charo Santos-Concio's I Am Full Of Sympathy sounds/tone/voice should be halfway through the show. Heck I almost expected to see "Directed, produced, co-produced written, co-writted by KC Concepcion" in the end credits. Duh--are we talking about a Cuneta or what? It was entitled "
Mansyon", and it's supposed to recount the riches-to-rags-to-married life life of a woman who lost her father, the family's sole breadwinner, when she was 19.
And yes--the episode jerked drops from my lids. Not because there were fantastic actors, but because, as
Sue Thompson defends, Sad Things make me cry. Things like selling your fave stff because your dad's biz went bankrupt, breaking up with your yummy boyfriend, smashing your new cellphone to a wall, letting go of your
yaya because you can't afford her anymore, falling in line under the sun for a clerical job even the pope would fall asleep on...
Anyway,
KC. Her acting wasn't bad, yet it wasn't that good either. As a
Mara Clara baby, I think she did well--well enough to make Marian Rivera and Angel Locsin to continue renovating their castle's defenses a little more. Yell at me right now if I'm wrong, but I see KC is happy this "tamed,
sosyal colegiala" image she's got going on. Dangerously, it fits her. Good thing she finished college reportedly with very good standing. Her performance in the said episode is a proof of her genes: She was like a female version of
Gabby Concepcion in
P.S. I Love You (1991, with Sharon, where I crowned her character, Kristin, Lynchpin Of Everything Colegiala). Looked classy, spoken smart, moved... conservatively flirty. And she has the most beautiful face to boast too. Very. Wow. Although, while we know STARS
should look ridiculously insanely perfect, it's advised that when you're portraying the life of a stressed out, penniless breadwinner teen, you ask the make-up artists to make you
look the part. What, we turn on the TV to stare at chinas?
If my hearing is still any good, I say KC's done a good job keeping her native tongue. Her Tagalog, albeit being stiff on some edges, was almost fluent.
Masa fans can easily relate with her now. No fuss with her American twang, of course. In fact her diction was so good it felt like I was listening to
Lea Salonga in a decisive Dramathon Balagtasan finals--I heard even the dots (periods) in her sentences. Let's see how KC fares in her next acting stint... in full-Tagalog.
The tears. Again, by the
Mara Clara code, she has more sad memories to bank. There are so many creatures crying on-screen today that you'd know Close-Open Tears--those stubborn tears that refuse to move unless you bat your eyelids to death--when you see them. ESPECIALLY when the actor starts to recall lines while trying to cry
and show both while taping. Worst, it tends to make the actor stiff. And you don't want a stiff girl crying on screen. Only
Jaclyn Jose has the right to that and N.O.B.O.D.Y. E.L.S.E.
Which reminds me: You know a showbiz dynasty is "progressing" in Manila when (a) a family member STARS in her own special episode, special show, special et cetera, (b) during gaps, you see her entire line of endorsements, (c) you see her on all the covers of magazines and tabloids and (d) you make the dreadful choice between the sun and her billboards in the EDSA traffic jam. Who ever invented the process of
purga must be very anti-social and rigid. But sadly, no, over-over-over exposure doesn't redeem you from ineffective acting.
What's a good insulator? The Walking Tease that's
Derek Ramsay. Those rugged looks. Those suggestive eyes. Those firm packs and lean, curvy limbs covered by thin clothes. That bald head can't resist but rub your palms on or that sexy jawline you can't wait to trace your fingers on... But no, his acting didn't help either.
---
Weydaminit. If KC's planning on a movie, I have the purrfect idea of a ultramega blockbuster: KC Concepcion and
Jewel Mische in a movie. It's about two sisters separated at birth, grew up in different cultures, say, like one in a family of economists and one in a family of
FAMAS Awardees. In a fun-ny twist of fate they'd be brought back together in their 20s--with the natural longing to be sisters again at the start but, when the eldest sib discovers baby sib has been screwing with eldest sib's boybeef long before they became an item,
ate decides to become the law in the newly established City of MOA--where BS and La Familia
FAMAS live--in her hidden quest to turn BS's life a living hell. BS fights back, crash courses in BS Politics and BS Economics and earns herself a quintuple Phd, and files for mayorship just in time. Unknown to anyone else, the boyfriend has been triple crossing them from the very start. With their estranged, biological father deported to Qatar for pedophilia. Stick it, it's my story. Title and tagline suggestions:
Kambal (Not Once, But Twice!)Kambal: Sino Ang Sinungaling, Sino Ang Magnanakaw?Magkapatid (Nga Ba?)
Hello, Ate?
I'm Sorry (Not Once, But Twice) <--- should we decide to put premium on the boyfriend's role
Derek can play the boyfriend.
Lino Cayetano can direct.
