Maja Salvador, one of ABS-CBN’s new teleserye princesses, celebrated her birthday on “ASAP ’09” last Sunday. After delighting her fans to her sexy dance number, she was surprised by her leading men in their new teleserye “Nagsimula Sa Puso,” (airing this October) Jason Abalos and Coco Martin.

When asked of their messages to Maja, Coco said, “Sana makapili ka na sa madami mong manliligaw,” to which “ASAP” host Nikki Gil reacted, “Bakit isa ka ba sa mga manliligaw niya [Maja]?”

Coco just smiled and kept silent, to which Maja said, “Bakit hindi ba?” but still Coco remained smiling and didn’t utter any word. To what most people know, silence means yes.

Kapuso stars in glamorous magazine spreads

GMA-7 artists are featured in very glamorous pictorials for an entertainment magazine. Those who have seen the issue said it offers the Kapuso stars in never-before seen concept photography.

S Magazine has just released a Special Edition featuring over 100 talents of the GMA Artist Center (GMAAC) – a bevy of both popular names and promising personalities whose combined skills and drive assure good prospects for Philippine entertainment.

The Special Edition, a joint project with the GMAAC, showcases the lifestyles of the many versatile artists of GMA-7’s talent management and development arm. The magazine offers not just the glamorous aspect of the stars’ lives, but also gives a peek at what it’s like when they’re off camera but still working and while they’re on their leisure time.

“We also want to be at the crest of the wave of the future, betting on these potential superstars who shall hopefully enliven and add new sizzle to local show business,” says editor-in-chief Wilson Lee Flores.

The Special Edition features Rhian Ramos on the cover and in glamorous shoots inside. Iza Calzado and Isabel Oli are showcased in fashion spreads of their own. Mark Herras and Aljur Abrenica sizzle in their pictorials. Marvin Agustin bares a different side as he engages in his favorite sport, archery. Yasmien Kurdi and Nadine Samonte go glam in an awards-night scenario. Iwa Moto and Jackie Rice are the bathing beauties in their respective photographs. GMAAC’s hunks Victor Aliwalas, Paolo Paraiso, Mike Tan and Felix Roco are sure to catch your interest in their sauna spread. Dancing diva Regine Tolentino is captured in a mid-air split. All these and more are presented in the edition’s full-color, glossy pages.

Launched only five years ago, the GMAAC has rapidly grown to become the largest of its kind in the Philippines. More than just an ordinary talent management agency, it envisions itself to be a wholistic organization which can discover and nurture talents in terms of their acting or singing, hosting or modeling, in their financial affairs, and even in their character development and moral values.

Acting on a specific mandate from GMA Network, Inc. Chief Executive Officer Atty. Felipe Gozon, the GMAAC has been on a roll via a series of activities through the years aimed at benefiting not only its artists, but the general public as a whole.

Jed Madela picks up the pieces

Singer Jed Madela was among those whose home was affected by typhoon Ondoy.

However, the singer told Pep.ph that he has learned to take the good from the bad saying, “Sobra akong saya kasi ang daming concerned na nag-text sa akin, mga friends ko from the business. Alam nilang taga-Cainta ako. Nandiyan sila Iya [Villania], sila Sarah [Geronimo], Sam [Milby], Yeng [Constantino], Rachelle [Ann Go], and others. They were asking kung kumusta na ako. People have been offering help and until now. Nag-o-offer sila ng tulong to clean the house, nagbibigay ng kailangan ko. It’s overwhelming, sobra akong thankful. Dito ko nakita yung mga totoo kong mga kaibigan. Sila yung mga through thick and thin, nandiyan para sa akin.”

He added, “It’s a lesson for everybody, a wake-up call that anything can happen. Just be prepared and siguro, yun din ang nakatulong sa akin na I’m not too much attached with material things. They’re there to help us in our lives, make our lives easier, but not for it to control us na hindi na tayo nakakapag-function pag wala na ang mga yun. Now, okay na ako. But you know, there are times na sumasama ang loob mo na parang nakaka-depress na nakikita mo yung nasira, hindi lang bahay mo kundi bahay ng neighbors ko. But unti-unti, naghi-heal naman.”

He recalled of the experience, “Nasa Eat Bulaga! ako nun, that was last week. Buti na lang kinol- time ako nang sobrang maaga. Umalis ako ng bahay, medyo may tubig na. Pero ang inisip ko na lang, baka bahang-tubig lang ito. Nagreklamo pa ako sa handler ko kung bakit ang aga ng call time ko. May nagtanong na taga-Eat Bulaga! sa akin, bakit daw ang aga ng call time ko. Ang sabi ko, yun ang kinol-time sa akin. There was reason pala for everything. After a few hours, tumawag ang katulong ko sa bahay, ‘Manong, yung tubig nasa garahe na. Manong, yung tubig nasa loob na ng bahay. Hanggang tuhod na,’ hanggang hindi ko na siya ma-contact kasi wala nang kuryente. Ang pinaka-ultimate, hanggang dibdib sa loob ng bahay ko. That night, nag-crash ako sa bahay ng kaibigan ko, dun ako natulog. Then the next day, tumuloy ako sa tita ko sa Las Piñas.”