I hate Erich Gonzales.
I hate her because she’s skinny without, I’m assuming, putting much effort into it. I hate her because she’s got a gorgeous face that just gets more beautiful by the day. I hate her for her long, luscious hair. And I hate, hate, hate her because a few minutes before the presscon of her new show La Vida Lena, my true love Mario Maurer got in touch with her.
“Nagkamustahan po kami. We’re always in touch po,” she said. Hmmph! Maybe I can take a page out of her character in La Vida Lena and seek revenge. You see, in the soap she plays Magda, a woman who takes justice into her own hands and becomes the new face of karma. Growing up, Magda had to endure bullying because of a scar that covers half her face. Despite this, she has remained kind, hardworking and incredibly sweet to her loved ones and friends.
With people like her in mind, Lena creates a soap that becomes popular for its ability to smoothen the skin. But instead of fortune, this product only brings her loss, suffering and cruelty in the hands of the Narcisos, the wealthiest family in town.
After Magda refuses to sell her soap formula to Royal Wellness, a company owned by the Narcisos, Magda puts up with a series of calamitous events—she is manipulated into falling in love, loses a loved one, and is thrown in jail.
Later on, Magda turns to plastic surgery to get a new face, then returns to her hometown with the intention of using her disarming beauty to make everyone who mistreated her and her family pay.
How far is Lena willing to go to get revenge? Who will make her merciless heart beat again—Jordan (Carlo Aquino), her childhood best friend; Adrian (JC de Vera), a Narciso who falls hard for her; or Miguel (Kit Thompson), who once tricked her into loving him? Completing the powerhouse cast of La Vida Lena are Janice de Belen, Agot Isidro, Raymond Bagatsing, Sofia Andres, Christian Vasquez, Pen Medina, Ruby Ruiz, Soliman Cruz, Malou Crisologo, Josh Ivan Morales, Hasna Cabral, Danica Ontengco and Renshi de Guzman.
La Vida Lena started airing this week on Kapamilya Channel, A2Z, TV5 and Kapamilya Online Live on ABS-CBN Entertainment’s YouTube channel and Facebook page. Its episodes are also available to viewers in and out of the Philippines on iWantTFC, while viewers outside of the Philippines can also catch the show on The Filipino Channel (TFC) on cable and IPTV.
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MORE than 40 artists took part in the much-awaited Star Magic Black Pen Event, which streamed on June 19 via Star Magic’s YouTube channel and Facebook page, as well as on other ABS-CBN platforms. The hashtag #StarMagicBlackPenEvent also figured on social networking platforms for days, as fans welcomed the new Star Magic artists who have officially inked their contracts with the talent management company.
Star Magic held a media conference to introduce its first batch of 13 budding and familiar artists: Kaila Estrada (daughter of John Estrada and Janice de Belen), Luis Vera Perez (of the revered Vera-Perez clan), Vitto Neri (son of Victor), Rans Rifol (from girl group MNL48), Vance Larena (who has already done a number of indies), Arabella Davao (daughter of Jackie Lou Blanco and Ricky Davao), Maureen Wrob (Asia’s Next Top Model winner), Mary Jay Apostol (who gave such a stellar performance in the movie Birdshot), Paolo Gumabao (son of Dennis Roldan), Migo Manikan (son of Spanky Manikan), Zabel Lamberth (a familiar face because she starred in a number of TV commercials), Sela Guia (also of MNL48) and Jake Ejercito (son of Laarni Enriquez and former president Joseph Estrada).
I will write more of the other new Star Magic artists in the succeeding weeks. In the meantime, if you missed the stream of the contract-signing, it will still be aired as a special on July 4, 9:30 pm, on A2Z and Kapamilya Channel.