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STARS I'VE MET
I never thought I would see the day, nor had I wanted to meet
him, but you guessed it, I met him today, and by accident too. It's the 28th of August 2002, and my dad is here on vacation
so we took him to Universal Studios... The Studio Tour's last tram departure was at 6:15pm and I was urging my family to hurry
or we'll miss it. They lag behind and we missed it by less than a minute. The operator, Danny, tells us to relax. There was
another one coming up behind it. We wait and get on that one but since I already got on that tour, I was not paying attention.
As we rounded a corner, this guy who was pretty built,
had his back turned to us as he was walking towards his car. I didn't pay attention to it, but according to Angelo, he said
it was a black RAV4. I was drawn to him for some weird reason and was staring at his back. He turns and I swear my heart stopped!
I was like... "no!!!!" I stare at him like a moron, and he sees me staring. It took me a while but then I wave like an
idiot still with the look of shock on my face. He looks at me and smiles then he smiled at my mom and everyone else in the
tram (we were in front and right by him).
I was so surprised and the guide laughed at the look on my face
and she was like, wasn't he "Jerry" something? I couldn't remember his name and it took me a while to do so. When I did, the
guide was like, "ladies and gentlemen, for those of you who didn't see, we just met Jerry O'Connell..." hehehe... I can't
believe I finally met him after all these years. I was a fan of his when I was around 13 or so, back in Abu Dhabi. It's just
amazing how you feel when you meet a person like that... it's so unreal.
My brothers, Katherine and I went to Six Flags Magic Mountain in
September of 2001 and as we were entering the Arrowhead Water Ride, I was going through the entrance through the spinning
counter. To my left, I caught a glance of someone who I thought was "Angel". I do a double take and I gasp but maintain my
calm. I beckon my bros and Katherine, but they were too excited in finding the next boat out. I sigh as they ride off and
I have no choice but to hop in. I sulk the whole ride, telling them how they made me miss meeting David! As we hop off the
ride, we all rush out and scan the crowd. Katherine goes, "Is he wearing a white shirt, jeans, a leather jacket and glasses?",
I nod, and she's like, "There he is!" He was leaning on the guardrail of a bumpercar ride accompanied by a lady with blonde
hair and a man looking slightly older than him. Next to them was a ride where three people were swung from a giant slingshot
like contraption. As one of the riders yelp, he turns to look at him and we confirm his identity. Katherine and my bros finally
get excited about it and we plan on how to approach him. I go "Angelo! You go!" :o) You know how big sisters are! hehe...
Angelo gulps as we follow him towards David. Angelo taps him. "Um, are you Angel from the WB?" He looks at us and replies
without a smile..."Yeah". Uncomfortable silence. (ARGHHH!!!!) "Can we take a picture?" I ask. He frowns and goes, "No. No
pictures." what choice did I have? I just went, "Oh. Ok." Uncomfortable silence number two. He attempts to be nicer and turns
to my brother Angelo. "So are you having fun?" Angelo nods and we just say goodbye.... Oh well!
I worked in Downtown LA, the choice of Hollywood for movie
sets (Kirsten Dunst filmed in the suite of our building management). I was on Olive St. (6th and Olive) in July of 2002 and
I was taking a break and was chatting with one of my friends who worked for FedEx. All intrigued by who was who at the shoot,
they tell me that Queen Latifah and Steve Martin were there. I notice a tall man with white hair, accompanied by another man,
crossing the street. He had a cell phone which, if I'm correct, looked like it had a TV like screen on it. (Cell phone with
TV?!?!). I was like, "Um, that Steve Martin?". Lisa goes, "No. Where?". Another friend we were talking to goes, "Yeah it is."
We stare and Lisa finally says, "Oh. Yup, That's him.". Steve casually strolls to his shooting site and we continue our conversation.
I later find out that they had been filming "Bringing Down Da House".
I worked in John Robert Powers in Beverly Hills, on Sunset Blvd in the same month and we were
having lunch outside by Trimana. I wanted to be the righteous one and thought I was already out too long so I went back in.
My co-workers were having a longer break and I guess they were ironically rewarded. The Wayans brothers were going to the
Agency (according to my co-workers) next door and before they did, both of them stopped to chat with my friends. Cissy and
Maria were about to faint because they had respective crushes on the brothers. Cissy is delirious and enters our office and
tells me to glue my eyes to the window as she wanted me (as well as her of course!) to see them as they exit the building.
We wait and nothing. I lost interest and went back to work and so did Cissy. In the middle of a phone call, she yelps. "Michelle!
There they are, Oh my God..." I look and I see the brothers exit with another guy. Cissy is in a trance and I just laugh.
Now, if that was Damon Wayans, that will be a WHOLE different story for me! hehe...
I went to a Boyzone concert in Dubai, U.A.E, again with my mom and
a friend Sheryl, I think in 1996. Sorry I can't remember the specific dates. It was crazy. At the autographs, I was stupid
enough to be in a trance as I came face to face with Shane. This girl rudely pushed in front of me as it was my
turn to meet him and he apologetically looked at me. That's how I went into a trance... his eyes were clear blue it was amazing.
I never saw such blue eyes before. I moved like a zombie across the table as each band member signed my poster and finally
snapping out of it as I passed the last one (Ronan) and took a last shot, catching Ronan and Stephen in it. I have the pictures,
but as I moved here from Abu Dhabi, I have no idea where they are. I'll put pictures up once I find them, including
one of the signed poster.
At the concert, (I know that people will never believe me, nor will
Shane remember it), but I was one of the people in front and I calmly watched them as they sang. Shane, I swear he did, looked
my way a couple of times and probably thought I was crazy coz I wasn't jumping up and down like a maniac like everyone else
around me. hehe...
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| Stephen, Keith, Ronan, Mikey & Shane |
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My good friend Andre worked with us for a couple of weeks before
concentrating on teaching. He was in the Soap "TheYoung and the Restless" for about two years and did a little movie before he came to work with
us.
My mom took me to a Menudo concert in the Philippines when I was
about 7 or 9... I remember watching Ricky Martin as he sipped a pepsi and sat at the edge of the stage. he disappeared for
a while, me having forgotten the crush I had on him as a kid. Then my Aunt Melot asks me if I had seen him lately. I
had seen the "Maria, Maria" music video, oblivious to the fact that that was him after all these years.
POPSTARS 2 AUDITION
My mother and I wanted to check the place out before we drove out
there for the audition which was due the next morning at 7am. She picked me up from work and we drove out to Beverly Hills
towards the Le Meridien Hotel. It was hard to miss because they had a long line of people camping
out on the sidewalks of the hotel. My mom decided that it wasn't the best idea to go home and pick up my things for by the
time that we returned, there would no longer be a chance for me to get in because only 200 girls and 200 guys would be able
to get in to audition. I was reluctant to agree because I was in my office suit and you can't audition for a pop group dressed
like that! I had picked out a black halter top and beige shorts and sandals but I guess I had no choice. My mom switched shirts
with me so I ended up wearing a moss coloured green shirt and my black pants... still "ech", but anyway...
Imagine staying out in the street, freezing cold, no food, no blankets.
Just the hard floor and a sore behind. hehe. Oh well, it was great anyway. We met a lot of cool people. I still remember them.
Jaime Valdez, Jr. and his dad, Ryan Hubbell (all of us told him that he looked like Jacob in O-Town), Pearl Ayon (who looked like Nicole from Eden's Crush), Jodi Villanueva and Griselda.
We spent the night, chatting, trying to get over the nervousness,
and practicing. I was still so intimidated by all the talented people out there... from dancers to singers and they all looked
great. You had the show-offs though, and we all thought they would exhaust themselves by the time the audition started. Our
friends shared their blankets with us, and Ryan helped me, Jodi and Pearl out with our confidence and performance. Jodi had
a sore throat and she really didn't think she could make it, but Ryan helped her turn it around. I spoke to her in December
and she told me she managed to get in the top 10 or 20... I don't remember which. I had auditioned with her and the judges
loved the way her voice sounded raspy. Way to go Jodi! Ryan has done really well for himself. You can visit his webiste for his band, which will hopefully be up soon.
As morning came, we were all just sitting patiently waiting and
watching in amusement. By this time, the people were lined up all the way to the other end of the street. About I'd say three
blocks or even more down each side of the hotel. The people who had sleeping bags and were on the car dealer's sidewalk across
the street had a rude awakening as the sprinklers came on at around five or six in the morning. Jaime mutters, "Good morning
everyone!"... hehe... They all jump about yelling and everyone else laughs.
As 7 o'clock quickly approaches, the staff comes along giving the
first 200 girls and guys bracelets to let them know if they can audition. My group and I luckily get one each along with
application forms. My mom plays stage mom and helps everyone with makeup and their hair, while we all try to help each other
with the applications. They take us in the rooms by groups of 20 and called us by number, having us stand on the corresponding
numbers on the floor, turn in the applications and finally gave us more instructions.
The next room we were taken to was the waiting room before the room
where they were shooting in. My mom and I sat and waited and waited and waited... and slowly dozed off.... Hey, you don't
expect us to stay up and preppy after sitting on the cold floor and all! To make things worse, someone comes in and tells
everyone that they are taking a half hour to hour break.... yeay... This time I take a look around me and see everyone doze
off, those on the floor didin't care. They slept like babies. Those on the floor, tipped over... some stayed awake... How? I
don't know... This dude kept going, ah, ah, ah, ah... in an up and down tone, bugging everyone and they kept telling him to
shut up... hehe.. and I ended up sitting next to him too at the shoot. Darn, forgot his name... Daniel, I
think? He tried to help me relax on the set by thinking of my fave color as I close my eyes, till it fades to black.
They finally call us in... Bad thing though, is that since I dozed
off, all that energy we built up with Ryan had faded away... I wasn't even intimidated anymore, even by the cameras and judges...
and they were down right mean... One of the judges stared at me though and made me feel so uncomfortable. As we were called
up, five at a time, I was number two. The guy before me was an asian guy who danced, but he didn't like to sing. He sang the
Uncle Kracker song, "Follow Me" and he was nervous. He wanted another chance to sing coz he didn't know the lyrics but they
said no. I still think that they were thinking about him when we took our turn becuase as I stepped up to say my name, they
were barely paying attention. Neither to the rest of the people auditioning. After all five sang, they gave the first guy
another chance to sing, but still didn't give anyone a callback. They told me that I didn't sing the chorus... Oh yeay...
Whatever... I didn't take it seriously, someone cried at the rejection, but I was just surprised that my friends didn't get
in. Only Jodi did. Some blonde haired, blue eyed popstar looking dude didn't get in either and he had an amazing voice...
I was like, ok, now I don't feel bad... what were they looking for? Oh well, it was overall a great experience, I learnt a
lot, made great friends and just had fun....
THE RESULTING BANDS
The first band created through the show (Making the Band) - O-TOWN
The second band created through the show (Popstars) -
EDEN'S CRUSH
The band created through this audition (Popstars
2) - SCENE 23
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