OctOber 13 - 27, 2006 �

Sam Milby was born Samuel Lloyd Lacia Milby on May 23, 1984 in Troy, Ohio and of a Visayan and American lineage. He was (and still is) a commercial model for Close-Up (a toothpaste brand of Unilever) and a print ad model for Maalox before he became one of the 13 housemates in ABS-CBN’s Pinoy Big Brother, Season 1.

Sam grew up with an American father and a Filipina mother who is a native of

Tago, Surigao del Sur. He became an instant celebrity and heartthrob after leaving the house

of Pinoy Big Brother. Before his eviction, Sam composed a song entitled “Magmahal Muli” (To Love Again) with fellow housemate Say doing a duet on his piece.

Intense and irresistible are the only ways to describe Piolo Pascual. Stealing thousands of women’s hearts in the Philippines, Piolo is indeed one man audiences just can’t refuse.

Piolo Pascual, who’s the embodiment of suc-cess in local show business in the Philippines today, believes that the answer is predestination.

A quick background check on his showbiz his-tory supports his position: In his early teen years,

he became a part of “That’s Entertainment” but his career failed to take off. After high school,

he joined UST’s theater group, Teatro Tomasino, and soon found himself in a

children’s show on Channel 2 in the Philippines, “Atbp.”

Then he made it to the giant network’s Star Circle, Batch 3. But before he could catch up with his more popular contemporaries, Piolo chose to live with his mom in the United States, where he did a string of odd jobs instead of pursuing a college degree. Then

Rica Peralejo’s stature in the industry has been a whirlwind of a ride that has yet to be followed. From being a child star to a mature actress, success did not come easy for Rica.

Starting out as one of the many talented kids in the teen show Ang TV, tough competition faced Rica as she went ahead with now celebrity idols Jolina Magdangal, Claudine Barretto, Angelu de Leon among others. Although all was in a friendly gesture, rising from the clutter of her contemporaries and getting recognized for her

talent and worth in this industry proved to be a challenging

task.Still Rica made

her way and got good breaks and had several TV shows and even had an album of her

he made the decision that changed his life for-ever. He went back to the Philippines and picked up from where he had left off. He finally got his break in the weekly miniseries, “Sa Sandaling Kailangan Mo Ako,” (The Moment You Need Me) and in “Lagarista.”

Piolo’s short stint in the soap “Esperanza” led to his pairing with the popular Judy Ann San-tos. A couple of hits and some strategic career-management planning later, Piolo has become a very hot young actor in the Philippines.

“We make our own destiny, but every-thing comes from God,” the actor quips. The actor-singer shares that he’s humbled by his achievements. Each time that he accomplishes something - a box office hit, top-rating TV show, concert, recording or an acting award, Piolo feels that there’s a higher being responsible for all the good things that are happening in his life. This realization has redefined his spirituality. Piolo now tries his best to faithfully attend his Church’s Sunday service, and also to read the Bible and pray more.

Piolo may be destined to be a successful young star, but he certainly

works hard for the fulfill-ment of his dream.

He is currently being seen in a Sunday musi-cal variety show ASAP Mania through his own segment dubbed as “Sam Sessions”. He also rendered his version of “Only You” to ABS-CBN’s Tagalog-dubbed Korean soap of the same title. He starred together with John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo in the movie, “Close to You”, under ABS-CBN subsidiary Star Cinema. This is Sam’s first major film debut. He is now a print ad model for Bench, a major clothing company, and product endorser for Smart 258 and Centrum.

Sam also has released a self-titled debut al-bum in early 2006. A solo version of “Magmahal Muli” is included in the album, as well as “Only You” and another song also in the Pinoy Big Brother soundtrack, “I’ve Fallen In Love”.

He is currently linked to Toni Gonzaga with whom he shares a movie entitled “You Are The One”.

own rising with her hit single, her rendition of the popular love song, “Fallin’”. But it was the big screen projects that made Rica into what she is today. By stepping out of her shell and changing her image, Rica in turn gained the popularity and success that some of her contemporaries have yet to achieve.

Now, Rica is definitely one of the hottest and versatile young celebrities there is in the business. Her star continues to shine brightly, but the journey for Rica Peralejo has yet to unfold and her way towards success is still burning into the coming days. Let’s just wait and see what surprises Rica has yet to do in this crazy world of show business.