Diva Montelaba

All posts tagged Diva Montelaba

Sunday Specials: Is there a Diva joining Miss World Philippines 2014?

Posted by Norman on August 31, 2014
Posted in: 1 Pageant Pages, 2 Shout-out-Looks. Tagged: , , , , , , .

Diva Montelaba: Will the GMA-7 TV actress bite the pageant bug for 2014?

Diva Montelaba: Will the GMA-7 TV actress bite the pageant bug for 2014?


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The whispers are no longer hushed. The buzz is getting louder by the day. Rumor has it that GMA-7 actress Diva Montelaba is possibly considering taking a new route different from her showbiz career – she is currently in the cast of the top-rating teleserye “Ang Dalawang Mrs. Real” (The Two Mrs. Reals) – and that is to join the beeline for Miss World Philippines 2014.

There are also floating talks that Ms. Cory Quirino could be shying away from mestizas and mixed-race Filipinas for this year and is leaning towards a very Pinay-looking candidate for Miss World 2014. And this kind of chika tends to augur well for dear Diva. I’ve witnessed the blossoming of her career – from being a Starstruck runner-up all the way to becoming an excellent jazz/hip-hop dancer (who also sings on the side) and a competent dramatic performer. And if schedules won’t be a problem with her taping commitments, there is a good chance we might see her jumping to a new direction now instead of 2015.

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Photo credit: James L. Go

Is KF (possibly in coordination with GMA Artist Center) ready to field this 5’8″-ish stunner? Or is there another beauty from the network (watch out for my blog on that tomorrow) being eyed to take part instead? šŸ˜‰

Party Pilipinas debuts on GMA-7!

Posted by Norman on March 28, 2010
Posted in: 5 TV Tales. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Today, at exactly 11:45AM, GMA-7’s new Sunday musical-variety show makes its premiere. Party Pilipinas, which replaces the long-running SOP, has been heavily anticipated for the past few weeks now. Aside from having all the network’s top and upcoming stars hosting and/or appearing in the show, many other artists and performers have been signed up to spice things up.

Here is the OST of Party Pilipinas’ dance theme:


video/audio courtesy of YouTube/djtwoTV

SOP’s original quartet of hosts – Ogie Alcasid, Regine Velasquez, Jaya and Janno Gibbs – will continue to anchor the show. They will be joined by Richard Gutierrez, Dingdong Dantes, Marian Rivera, Heart Evangelista, Carla Abellana, Jay-R, Kyla, Carla Abellana, Raymond Gutierrez, new kapuso talent Mark Bautista, Marvin Agustin, Iza Calzado, Rhian Ramos, Aljur Abrenica, Kris Bernal, Mark Herras, Kris Lawrence, Ynna Assistio, La Diva, Joshua Dionisio, Barbie Forteza, Jhake Vargas, Steven Silva, Sarah Lahbati, Diva Montelaba, Enzo Pineda, Rocco Nacino, the Starsruck V Avengers, Miguel Escueta, POP Girls, the newly-formed Party Pilipinas Dance Crew, new Pinoy boyband XLR8 and a lot more. The network even hired internationally-renowned dance choreographer Ruben Monet to handle all the dancers’ moves in the same. Meanwhile, popular Korean boy band U-Kiss will make their first appearance on Philippine TV via Party Pilipinas.

Steven & Sarah win Starstruck V!

Posted by Norman on February 24, 2010
Posted in: 5 TV Tales. Tagged: , , , , , , .

And then there were two. Two winners, that is. The text votes and the Starstruck council members have spoken. During the Final Judgment at the Araneta Coliseum last Sunday night, Steven Silva – a Filipino/Chinese/Portuguese dude who resides in Oceanside, California but representing Davao – and Sarah Lahbati – a Filipino/Moroccan teener who used to live in Geneva, Switzerland and is now based in Cavite – were declared Ultimate Male Survivor and Ultimate Female Survivor, respectively. Although Sarah’s win was almost assured going into the finals, Steven’s was a bit of a surprise since his two competitors – Enzo Pineda and Rocco Nacino – were given the edge to come out victorious.

Steven Silva - Ultimate Male Survivor

Sarah Lahbati - Ultimate Female Survivor

After all scores from the council members and percentages of the text votes were tallied, these two came out on top. Steven got 93.5 total, while Sarah notched 94.6 which gave them relatively comfortable leads over their closest pursuers. Enzo Pineda of QC was named First Prince, while First Princess was Cebuana Diva Montelaba.

Steven and Sarah both win P1.5 million in cash and an exclusive contract with GMA-7 worth a minimum guarantee amount of P3.5 million. The remaining contenders in the Top 5 each received P200,000 in cash plus exclusive GMA-7 contracts. A bit of good news that night was the announcement that the 9 avengers (losers in the Final 14) will also be signed by the network to exclusive contracts, thereby keeping rival stations from pirating the new talents they have painstakingly built in the last four months that the show was on air.

Below is the video higlighting the announcement of winners of Starstruck V last February 21.


video courtesy of YouTube/tirso3rd

This is where the real test begins for the winners and the losers. Let’s see who among them will become big stars in a year or two.

Congratulations to Steven and Sarah! šŸ˜‰

Starstruck V : The Final 5 for Judgment Night

Posted by Norman on February 17, 2010
Posted in: 5 TV Tales. Tagged: , , , , , , .

From the initial cast of 7 boys and 7 girls, the Final 5 Survivors for GMA-7’s long-running reality artista search Starstruck V have been revealed and these young showbiz wannabes will try to outshine one another come Final Judgment Night on February 21 at Araneta Coliseum. They are: Rocco Nacino, Enzo Pineda, Steven Silva, Sarah Lahbati and Diva Montelaba.

The Starstruck V Final 5 : (top L-R) Rocco Nacino, Enzo Pineda, Steven SIlva; (bottom L-R) Diva Montelaba, Sarah Lahbati

It did surprise me a bit that the shy and oft-pensive Steven Silva went into the Top 5 with the highest number of text votes (more than half a mil). He must really have a strong base of supporters who continuously back him up week after week. I would be happy seeing either Enzo or Rocco take it all in the male category. But if Steven pulls the rug from under his competitors, I wouldn’t be shocked.

As for the two ladies, the competition is probably best decided with a toss coin since their text votes and council scores are too close to call an outright winner. If you ask me, my bet would be Sarah Lahbati but gut-feel tells me that the Cebuanos will pour their all-out support to Diva this week going into the final night come Sunday.

For all their fans and supporters, you can still text your votes up until midnight of Saturday, February 20.

ENZO-SARAH for the win!

For now, I’m for an ENZO-SARAH win… šŸ˜‰

Here are video clips of portions of last Sunday night’s final elimination night going into the Top 5:

Focus on Enzo Pineda

video courtesy of YouTube/frencheskafarrever

Focus on Sarah Lahbati

video courtesy of YouTube/frencheskafarrever

Starstruck V Final 8: The (Sexy/Shirtless) Solo Shots

Posted by Norman on January 21, 2010
Posted in: 5 TV Tales. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , .

I just thought of extending a bit my blog yesterday about the Starstruck V Final 8 so I can share their individual shots taken by ace photographer Jun de Leon for the billboard pictorial.

ROCCO NACINO

IAN BATHERSON

ENZO PINEDA

STEVEN SILVA

ROX MONTEALEGRE

SARAH LAHBATI

NINA KODAKA

DIVA MONTELABA

Their looks have really evolved – in a positive way – from the time the show started. I wonder who will eventually be the Top Male and Top Female winners from this point on. Just the same, I’m still placing my bets on Rocco Nacino and Sarah Lahbati. Final judgment night will be on the 3rd week of February.

Starstruck V – And then there were 8…

Posted by Norman on January 20, 2010
Posted in: 5 TV Tales. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Starstruck V – GMA-7’s reality based artista search – is more than halfway through by now with only 8 of the Final 14 left to slug it out for the Top 2 spots. Actually, they should have already been reduced to 7 last Sunday night, but the Starstruck council used their one-time power to stop the elimination after realizing that the bottom two in terms of scores and vote support – Rocco Nacino and Sarah Lahbati – are actually their personal front-runners. Thus, there is a good chance that there will be another double elimination on the evening of January 24. It might even be a triple if Ian Batherson enters the bottom three for the 3rd time and gets automatically removed from the competition.

Anyways, here are the remaining Starstruck V showbiz wannabes:

Rocco Nacino

Nina Kodaka

Ian Batherson

Sarah Lahbati

Enzo Pineda

Rox Montealegre

Steven Silva

Diva Montelaba

If you have been following the show, you will know what I mean when I point out that each of the remaining 8 have gone through roller-coaster performances, week in and week out. True, the top gunners are Rocco Nacino and Sarah Lahbati, but they have reached a plateau the past two weeks and proof of that is their entry to the bottom 2 last week. I hope they sustain their drive to win, or else, Enzo Pineda and Rox Montealegre might just nose them out when the going gets tough. Or even the surprisingly strong Steven Silva (he has never been in the bottom 3 from the start) and charming Nina Kodaka (who, depsite her oft languid stance, keeps up with the competition.)

On a personal note, I got disappointed when Piero Vergara was eliminated two sundays ago. Along with Rocco Nacino, they are the two guys I expected to fight it out for the top male spot. But as luck would have it, Piero scored high on the “out” votes of the show’s fans and supporters.

Below are the two video clips of “Monsters” – the ensemble acting challenge of the Starstruck contenders together with actress Eula Valdez, directed by Maryo J. Delos Reyes and written by (playwright and Starstruck council member) Floy Quintos:

Part 1 of 2

Part 2 of 2

videos courtesy of YouTube/tirso3rd

Starstruck V airs every Saturday (right after Pinoy Records) and Sunday (right after Kap’s Amazing Stories) nights on GMA-7. The 5- minute Starstruck Shout-Out Dailies continue twice everyday (one in the mid-afternoon during the Daytime Soaps and a second one in the evening in the middle of the Primetime Soaps.)

Starstruck V: a promising batch of 14 showbiz hopefuls

Posted by Norman on December 2, 2009
Posted in: 5 TV Tales. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .


Starstruck V is GMA-7’s successful reality artista search which has already produced a good number of showbiz personalities who continue to shine in the industry up to now. Names like Mark Herras, Jennylyn Mercado, Yasmien Kurdi, Rainier Castillo, Aljur Abrenica, Kris Bernal, LJ Reyes, Katrina Halili, Mike Tan, Ryza Cenon, Paulo Avelino, the late Marky Cielo, Megan Young and Cristine Reyes are products of the same. Now on its 5th season, it promises to be the biggest and the toughest with the Final 14 contenders already announced last Sunday. Out of this number, two winners will be proclaimed – one male and one female – as Ultimate Survivors.

From top: Rox Montealegre, Princess Snell, Fianca Cruz, Sarah Lahbati, Diva Montelaba, Ian Batherson, Sef Cadayona, Rocco Nacino, Rye Burgos, Nina Kodaka, Zyrel Lim, Enzo Pineda, Steven Silva and Piero Vergara.

This early, I am posting my Top picks or favorites to win the competition:

Ian Batherson, 20

Piero Vergara, 16

Sef Cadayona, 20

Nina Kodaka, 20

Princess Snell, 17

Sarah Lahbati, 18

The other wannabes in the final 14 are Enzo Pineda, Diva Montelaba, Fianca Cruz, Rocco Nacino, Steven Silva, Rox Montealegre, Zyril Lim and Rye Burgos.

But just the same, the show gives a high premium to text-voting so you can never really tell what the results will show despite having a council of judges and mentors who score the finalists in every task.

I would be happy seeing both Ian Batherson and Nina Kodaka finishing on top because these two have the unmistakable star factor written all over their faces. Besides, both of them have good potentials in acting, dancing and singing.

If you’re a fan or supporter of any of the Final 14, you can text STARSTRUCK (space) (name of contender) and send to 367 for Smart and Talk & Text or 2344 for Globe, TM and Sun.

For example: STARSTRUCK IAN
or
STARSTRUCK NINA