AT 34, SHARON DISCOVERS THAT LESS IS MORE
by Nestor U. Torre, Philippine Daily Inquirer, January 15, 2000
LAST Sunday, a triumphantly slim Sharon Cuneta celebrated
her 34th birthday with a musical special on her weekly
TV show on Channel 2. She not only sang but danced as well, and
though she had to catch her breath after her long opening number,
she was thrilled to be back doing what she used to do in her big
musical-variety TV show years ago. ''Ito ang na-miss ko!''
she exclaimed, her face flushed with happiness.
Some people say that Sharon has shed 50 pounds, but the megastar doesn't want to confirm that huge figure. All she knows is that the weight loss has made her feel good about herself, enabled her to wear ''sort of sexy'' clothes again, and have a musical blast on her birthday.
How did she take off all that avoirdupois? No lipo, no pills, just a slow and steady reduction of calories, plus daily exercise. Is Aiko Melendez listening?
Sharon's birthday bash also featured young male stars who extolled the megastar in song, and Sharon belted her heart out with some top ''divas''--Jaya, Zsa Zsa, Lani, Regine. This was supposed to be the special's biggest musical highlight but it wasn't such a treat because some of the divas screamed their songs instead of sang them--a chronic ''illness'' among local belters. Tone it down, ladies, please--and don't be so competitive.
Towards the end of the long number, Sharon praised her guests by describing them as the only local female singers ''na may karapatang tawaging diva.'' Fighting words!
Sometime later in the show, the remark was remembered when Ara Mina, one of the younger ''questionable divas'' on the recording scene, did her guest number. This was viewed with trepidation by viewers who remembered Ara doing not so well when she sang on a previous visit to Sharon's show.
Well, last Sunday, Ara's number also began unsteadily--and was cut short, for some reason. Was it intended to be just a teaser? If so, how come, after the commercial break, Ara didn't get to sing the full number?
Another touch-and-go moment was Robin Padilla's ''surprise'' appearance on Sharon's birthday show. Robin started off well, but faltered when he sang, forgetting some lyrics. Sharon fed them to him and he recovered, but he really could have done better. ''Surprise'' performers shouldn't surprise even themselves, don't you think?
Then came Rosanna Roces with her own singing birthday gift. She didn't do as badly as Ara and Robin, but she looked like a Kit Kat girl from the cast of ''Cabaret'' with her red hair, and her sexy gyrations and ''colorful'' vocabulary were too spicy for the early-evening show, prompting Sharon to sweetly remind her guest that this was a family show…
While some of her guests weren't musically up to snuff, Sharon was in top form. Her substantial weight loss has come right in the nick of time for her 34th birthday and the year 2000.
Her new look suggests that this will be a year of significant innovations if not major changes for the megastar.
For one thing, she's making a movie with her former boyfriend, Richard Gomez. Richard is still a hunk, so Sharon can't afford to look matronly beside him. In fact, some of their early movie's scenes have had to be re-shot because Sharon looks so much better now.
Next, just as Richard and his wife Lucy now have a baby to look forward to, many people are betting that Sharon and her husband Francis Pangilinan will also become parents this year.
Ironically, that means that Sharon's hard-fought battle with the bulge would have to give way to yet ''another'' bulge, but she would be only too happy for that to happen, as long as she can finally give her husband their long-awaited first child.
Best of all, Sharon at 34 is much more natural, relaxed, caring, spiritual and wiser than she's ever been. She's learned to cut out most of the fat in the different aspects of her life. After all of the mistakes she's made, she's finally found herself--and likes what she sees.
There's much more to do, of course. Despite Sharon's occasional protestations to the contrary, politics appear to be part of the Pangilinan couple's plans--eventually, all the way to Malacañang Palace? If so, will there come a time when the Pangilinans will have to slug it out with another Malacañang-bound couple, the Rectos (Vilma and Ralph)? Interesting prospect…
But that's years and even decades away. For the moment, though, Sharon is in a good place. At 34, she's discovered that, not just when it comes to weight, less is more.
