It has become apparent that Luis Alandy’s move to abandon his bid to become a leading man in favor of being a character actor has paid off. Although at the onset his decision has led him to the bold route, he has since regained his place as a wholesome actor.

Also, his return to his discoverer-network GMA7 was a welcome career move. From the time of his return and until now, the Kapuso network has consistently been taking care of him as a talent. He has been given notable roles in two of the network’s more popular primetime offerings of recent past, “Mars Ravelo’s Dyesebel” and “Luna Mystica”. Now, he is part of the network’s newest afternoon soap opera, the JC de Vera-Heart Evangelista-led soap “Ngayong at Kailanman”. Luis has definitely been doing all the right moves careerwise. “Ngayong at Kailanman” premieres this afternoon on GMA7’s Dramarama sa Hapon block.

It seems that luck has run out again on Starstruck Batch 1 alumnus Dion Ignacio. A few months back, he was given his biggest career break to date – being cast as the male lead in the GMA7 afternoon soap opera “Saan Darating Ang Umaga?”. In the said soap, his character was the love interest of the female lead (played by Yasmien Kurdi). Following the natural progression of careers, he should be given another lead character role, right? GMA7 management thinks otherwise.

For his next project, “Ngayon at Kailanman”, Dion will be placed back to supporting status as the more senior, more popular and more favored stars take on the lead roles. JC de Vera and Heart Evangelista will play the main characters in the said soap and Dion has to settle for the role which entails a close to a minimal exposure. In “Ngayon at Kailanman”, Dion will reprise the role of Dags de Leon, the role immortalized by Rustom Padilla (now Bebe Gandanghari) in the movie version of the soap.

In an interview, Dion said that he does not mind the career demotion as long as his home studio gives him work. Well, it’s back to waiting in the wings for the 23-year old actor. “Ngayon at Kailanman” premieres tomorrow, June 8, 2009 in GMA’s Dramarama sa Hapon.

I apologize for not having posted this sooner. I have been really busy these past two weeks and I wasn’t even able to attend the Mossimo Bikini Summit ‘09 Finals Night. Good thing, my friend Gharyjohn of OPMB sent in these pics for the avid fans of UPH. Actually, I have had these pics in my inbox two days after the finals night, but several things have been keeping me from posting them in the site. So, without further ado, here are the pics of the winners and the Top 6 male contestants of the Mossimo Bikini Summit 2009.

Note: According to reports, there has been an error in the tabulation of scores during the finals night; and apparently, Geronimo Lontoc Jr. should have been in the Top 3. Probably, that’s the reason why he was included in the promotional pic for the Mossimo Bikini Summit 2009 Special. I wonder who among Jiro Shirakawa (Grand Winner), Angelo Cacciatore (First Runner Up) and Mark Manicad (Second Runner Up) should relinquish his post. For those who missed the show, like me, you may catch the Mossimo Bikini Summit 2009 finals night over at ETC on June 14, 2009.

Special thanks to Gharyjohn of OPMB for pics in this post.

The winners

(L-R): Angelo Cacciatore, Rachel Anne Bustamante, Jiro Shirakawa, Vanessa Dime, Sharla O’ Hara and Mark Manicad

(L-R): Geronimo Lontoc, Jr., Rachel Anne Bustamante, Angelo Cacciatore, Vanessa Dime, Jiro Shirakawa, Sharla O’ Hara and Mark Manicad

Filipino-Japanese youngster Jiro Shirakawa wins top male division honors at the recently concluded Mossimo Bikini Summit 2009 which was held at the Skydome, SM North EDSA last night. Although not an early favorite, he bested nine other equally promising male hopefuls for the much-coveted title. This is the first major modeling competition won by the  5′11″-tall Philippine School of Business Administration (PSBA) student-turned model who has become one of the favorite male mannequins of many a fashion designer today. Angelo Cacciatore took home the first runner up prize. Pics from the competition to follow very soon.

Photo credits: Folded and Hung and Ian Ong