Maine continues ‘journey’ with Alden

MAINE Mendoza is celebrating her 2nd anniversary in showbiz this month. It was in July of 2015 when she joined “Eat Bulaga” as Yaya Dub, from being a YouTube sensation for her dubsmash hits. Then she was paired with Alden Richards by chance, and the rest, as they say, is history. She’s now one of the biggest young stars in local showbiz.

“Sobrang bilis talaga ng lahat ng nangyari,” she says. “Up to now, I find myself asking, bakit ako? What did I do to deserve lahat ng good things na nangyari sa’kin, sa career ko? It was something I never planned, kaya hindi ko pa rin ma-gets kung ano ba meron ako para ibigay sa’kin lahat ng blessings na ito. So I just want to thank the Lord for all His graces, si Alden na kasama ko sa journey na ito, and all our supporters who watch our shows, our movies, our TV commercials at sinusuportahan talaga lahat ng products that we endorse.”

What endears her to her fans and the public even more is that she has remained humble and level- headed. As one writer says: “Never lumaki ang ulo niya. Never siyang nagkaroon ng attitude problem.”

The makers of CDO Funtastyk Young Pork Tocino acknowledge the fact that Maine helped their brand to become the top- selling and most well loved tocino in the country today. “Our sales more than doubled and tripled since she endorsed it,” they say.

“Iba rin po ‘yung feeling na nagiging part ka ng success nila ’di ba?” Maine says. “At nakakatuwa po kasi talagang ina-acknowledge nilang nakatulong ako sa CDO Funtastyk Young Pork Tocino at patuloy pa rin silang nagtitiwala sa akin. Bago pa lang ako sa showbiz, kinuha na nila ko. Isa sila sa mga unang endorsements ko and up to now, we’re still together. Talagang iba ang CDO kasi forever young, malambot and perfect ang lasa kaya in them, I have found my forever .”
    
But her feet remain firmly planted on the ground in saying she knows her popularity will not be forever. “Kasi po hindi ko naman pinangarap na mapunta sa ganitong posisyon. Kasi, akala po ng iba, madali siya, puro glitz and glamour ang nakikita nila. Parang walang paghihirap sa ganitong buhay. Pero meron din pong downside ang pagiging artista. It’s a lot of hard work. Siguro ito ‘yung isang bagay na hindi ka dapat malunod. Kasi, pana-panahon lang din naman po ‘yan. Hindi forever ang kasikatan pero habang nasa ‘yo ito, di i-enjoy mo lang. Basta when it comes to tocino, may forever talaga kasi, CDO Funtastyk Young Pork Tocino, forever nang nasa bahay namin yan. At para matuklasan pa ang sikreto ng forever young, stay updated with CDO Funtastyk Young Pork Tocino Facebook page.”
 
FROM BEAUTY QUEENS TO SINGERS

JONAS Gaffud of Aces and Queens is better known as the maker of winning beauty queens, but now, he is also into managing singers. He recently launched the digital album of a sing and rap duo, Yheen and Yuki, now available on iTunes, Spotify and Amazon. The carrier single is a tribute to beauty queens, “You’re Beautiful”, and Yheen and Yuki dedicate it to the three beauty queens whose world tour they will join: Miss World Megan Young, Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach and Miss International Kylie Verzosa.
    
Jonas says their world tour will be a combination of a glamorous fashion show and musical interludes to be staged in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East. How was Yheen and Yuri discovered?
    
“When the Miss Universe pageant was held here a few months ago, we were getting a male singer to serenade them pero nag-attitude, so nagpahanap ako kung sino ang puwede and Yuki was referred to me,” says Jonas. “I found him very good and I said humanap ng isa pang makakasama niya para we can form a duo and he referred Yheen to me. At 'yun, pinagawa na namin sila agad ng album. Ang bilis nga. The other songs in their album are 'Lucia' and the inspirational 'Laban Nang Laban'.”
    
Yheen’s full name is Brian Leonardo Valero while Yuki is Takayuki Sakamoto. Yuki’s dad is pure Japanese who abandoned him when he was still a baby. “I was born and raised in Manila and I’ve never met my father,” he says. He got his good looks more from his mestiza mom and he doesn’t look Japanese at all.
    
Both guys are very tall. Yheen is 5’11” while Yuki is 6’1”. They both come from different boy bands. Yheen is from Down to Mars, which broke up after their contract with GMA-7 ended. Yuki is from 143 which has also disbanded. Both of them are willing to go into acting, if they’d be given the opportunity to do so.  "Kumukuha na nga kami ng acting workshop kasi sabi ng manager namin, isasama kami sa movie na gagawin ni Pia with Vice Ganda," says Yuki. Well, good luck to both of you!

AKIHIRO BUSY WITH INDIE FILMS AS ACTOR AND DIRECTOR

AKIHIRO Blanco is the first runner-up to Vin Abrenica in TV5’s Artista Academy talent search. Now that TV5 is no longer active in producing local dramas, Akihiro has become a freelancer. He finished a movie with Direk Ronald Rafer, “Jose Bartolome: Guro” that will have its premiere night on July 14 at SM Megamall. He has also signed up to do movies with Regal Multi-Media and he is now in the new film project, “Ang Sikreto ng Piso”, that its makers aim to enter at the 2017 Metro Manila filmfest this coming December.
    
What can he say now that his ex-TV5 colleagues, Vin Abrenica and Ritz Azul, are now officially with ABS-CBN? “Siyempre po, happy ako para sa kanila dahil kinuha sila ng isang malaking network. Sana nga mas maging successful ang career nila roon.”
    
While he’s not busy with acting jobs, he tried being a director and he just finished directing a mini-series that will be shown online. “It’s titled ‘Warriors’ at puwede siyang mapanood sa YouTube,” he adds. “Dream ko rin kasi eventually to work behind the camera to direct and also write my own scripts.”
    
In “Sikreto ng Piso”, a comedy and satire written and directed by Perry Escano, Akihiro is happy to be acting with co-stars Alfred Vargas, Joey Marquez, Wendell Ramos, Lou Veloso, Ernie Garcia, Andoy Ranay, Paul Sy and Beverly Salviejo.