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MANILA, Philippines -- Here’s an exciting news for fans of Kenny G who are watching his May 23rd concert at the PICC: The famous musician will raffle off one of his prized saxophones during his concert. Kenny G will autograph the saxophone and will award the prize to the lucky winner himself.

Buyers of newest Kenny G CDs will be entitled to a raffle ticket aside from having Kenny G sign his autograph on the CDs.

Kenny G will autograph CDs before and after the PICC concert. Concert goers are thus advised to come to the PICC a little earlier than the 8 p.m. showtime to get to the limited number of CDs for sale.

Kenny G made it a point to do a Manila concert to renew the bond he shares with his Philippine fans, who last watched him in concert several years ago.

Tickets to the Kenny G concert are still available at Ticketworld outlets. These may also be purchased on-line by going to the Ticketworld website.

The Kenny G Concert is presented by Smart in cooperation with United Laboratories and Petron with Diamond Hotel as the Official Residence. It’s also supported by Fox International Channels and radio stations Dream FM, Crossover, RJ FM and Mellow FM. Business World and Philippine Star are the print media partners.

Venice Manuel, youngest DE delegate

At six, Venice Renee Manuel was the youngest participant/delegate to the recently concluded “Dance Excellence 2011” held at the Westin Hotel along Century Blvd. in Los Angeles, California. Venice was not in competition, but she attended all the tedious workshops conducted by the masters and top arts and dance teachers from the American entertainment industry. She also performed with the Halili-Cruz School of Ballet delegates at the Performance Workshop (opening session) with the Young Americans, and at Disneyland.

Venice was conscientious as the dancers of the Halili-Cruz School of Ballet who competed in “Dance Excellence 2011,” and she participated in all the special performances, workshops and rehearsals, never showing any fatigue or boredom even when they finished after midnight and had to wake up early again the following day. Her mom Bernadette even pleaded with her one time to take it easy and rest for a while but her pleas just fell on deaf ears. Because Venice would rather not sleep than miss any of the DE activities. We really admired the girl’s passion for dance.

Ms. Shirley Halili-Cruz, artistic director of HCSB, is herself awed by Venice’s passion. She shared that at another recent foreign competition (held in Malaysia), Venice showed professionalism and discipline far beyond her age. She found her way to the stage all by herself when she thought she was already late for her performance. Her mom was beside herself with worry when she couldn’t find her, and was only relieved but greatly surprised when she saw her daughter already in the venue, which wasn’t easy to find especially for a girl her age.

Venice, the eldest and only daughter of Vogs and Bernadette Manuel, is an incoming prep-schooler at the Immaculate Conception Academy. She has been studying ballet at HCSB for two years now.

Incidentally, “Dance Excellence 2011,” held April 17-23, also marked the 20th anniversary celebration of DE that was founded by Ms. Annie McQuitty. She said “DE has become a global event, bringing together some of the finest young dancers from around the world to exchange ideas and share their love of dance on and off the stage.”

FAMAS elects new officers, directors

A new set of officers for the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS) was elected recently. The officers were Angelo Eloy Padua, president; Alice Reyes, 1st vice president; Brian Lu, 2nd vice president; Francia Conrado, secretary; Dennis Aguilar, treasurer; Tita Arcilla, auditor; Art Tapalla and Vir Mateo, PROs and Ritchel Dorotan, marshall.

The board of directors were Elvie Gonzales, Willie Villamin, Domingo Landicho, Ariel Tabag, Angel Calso, Efren Montano, Ner Jedeliz ,Reynaldo Duque, Saturnino Sofranes, Col. Apolonio Reyes, Juan SP Hidalgo, Edgar Godin, Jose Bragado, Cles Rambaud and Dionisio Bulong.

Election results were tabulated by the Jose Y. Dadulla Jr. Accounting Agency. FAMAS, which is composed of Palanca Award winning writers and movie columnists, publicists and senior writers, is currently reviewing films for its annual “Gabi ng Parangal” slated in November.

Padua, who is the son of the late FAMAS president Arturo Padua, is presently secretary of Rotary Club of Metro Cubao (RI District 3780), Board Director of Aliw Awards Foundation and Gumil (Iluko Writers Association), Metro Manila, Commander of the Order of the Knights of Rizal (Quezon City chapter), past grand Cervus and co founder of Lex Cervus Law Fraternity (SSCR and USJR) and held positions as vice president, board director and treasurer of San Sebastian College Alumni Association, Inc. A product of Ateneo Graduate School of Business Center for Continuing Education.

Padua also served as executive assistant of the office of Vice Chairman of Dangerous Drugs Board and is also a columnist of Bannawag magazine and a correspondent of various newspapers.

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Tidbits: Happy b-day greetings today, May 19, go to fashion designer Rajo Laurel, Councilor Marjorie Barretto, Yvonne Dayrit-Romualdez, Pinky Ramos-Ochoa, Aileen del Rosario, Joseph Alonzo, Joe Astete of the Philippine Coconut Authority and MB’s Lynn Abanilla, VP-Classified Advtg. Dept… The blockbuster film “The Crazies,” based on the 1973 horror classic of the same title which has been “re-invented” by director Breck Eisner and starring Timothy Olyphant and Radha Mitchell, is now on original VCD and DVD released recently by C-Interactive Digital Entertainment. It has subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired (SDH). Described by critics as “full genuine scare,” the DVD copy of “The Craziers” includes commentaries, behind-the-scenes features,visual effects and more. It is available at Astrovision, Astroplus, Odyssey Music & Video, O Music, Video City, National Book Store, and Fully Booked…