Playing Favorites

During my senior year in college, we had this "Who are your three favorite women?" activity for our Paulthenics class. I remember that I included my mother, Nicole Kidman and Celine Lopez as my three favorite women. At that time, I wanted to add more my list. Since the task required me to write only three, I had no choice but to follow the instruction. For now, I will be presenting to you my list of favorite women (my mom is exempted from this list for she deserves an exclusive blog entry). If you'll take a quick look at this post, you will see that all of them are celebrities, and you will wonder why the heck I didn’t include the likes of Condoleezza Rice. Well, I admire powerful women in politics. I just don't like to talk about them because they are not easy to relate with. Anyway, here are my favorite women...

J.Lo - I'm not a big fan of her marriages, her acting and most of all her big ASSests, but I must admit that I should give Mrs. Mark Anthony some credits for her businesses. Jenny from the Block knows where to invest her earnings. I mean she has a clothing line, a perfume line, a restaurant etc. With all of these business ventures, Jennifer Lopez has created her name into a brand. That's really an achievement, and it only proves that her brain is bigger than her butt.

Kate Moss - Shaunistas would say that if you want to leave a legacy in the world of fashion, set a "craze" that everyone would follow. Twiggy popularized the MOD fashion in the Swinging 60s (a.k.a. The British Invasion because of The Beatles fever), Gemma Ward became the "It" girl of today's modeling because of her babydoll/alien look, and Kate Moss set the Heroin Chic trend in the Grunge 90s. Cocaine Kate is the shortest supermodel. She only stands 5'6", but she is considered an icon of style because her look is different from the voluptuous supermodels that reigned before her era. Her waif figure, dark-circled eyes, and prominent bone structures landed her a job with the world's top fashion houses. Although she is criticized for glamorizing eating disorders and drug addiction (issues that described her look and eventually caused her temporary career downfalls), Kate Moss just posed for the cameras and walked the runways of success like a real pro. It's true that Kate Moss shouldn't be emulate because of her rock-and-roll lifestyle, but for people like Lindsay Lohan, Moss is not just a supermodel but a role model. Yes, Thin Queen is worshipped by the Teen Queen. Now you know why La Lohan is such a wild child, maybe she got that "troubled" look from her idol. Anyway setting all her bad rep aside, Kate Moss is still my favorite supermodel for she is the ultimate definition of "thin is in!". Yeah! I'm thin and I'm in!

"You can be my black Kate Moss tonight". - Stronger, Kanye West

Ellen Degeneres - She is the sexiest lesbian alive! Don't you just love her? Ellen Degeneres is the coolest gay on television. She's smart, she's funny, and she's stylish. Portia De Rossi must be one lucky girl. This People's Choice award-winning host achieved a huge following by lending her voice in Disney's Finding Nemo. I have been watching her talk show since it aired on 2nd Avenue and I must admit that my day is not complete without watching her show. The monologues, the dance, the gifts and the guests are just few of the things that I look forward to in her show. And oh, I almost forgot, I look forward to her outfits as well. I know that the clothes make the man, but Ellen is one hot woman who can pull a man's clothes off. Her androgynous sense of style is so trendy. So if ever you’ll see me wearing a preppy top with a punky necktie, that get-up is inspired by Ellen. Yeah, by Ellen. It only looks like an Avril-Lavigne-on-a-prolonged-puberty because I'm the one who's wearing it, but if a cropped-haired girl will sport that outfit, you will know that it's an Ellen original.

Bea Alonzo - This girl has been portraying mature roles since the day she turned 15. Known as John Lloyd Cruz's on-screen better half, Bea Alonzo is regarded by the local entertainment as the best actress of her generation. I'm not really a big fan of teleseryes but this girl's acting prowess blows me away. She knows how to give justice to every role that she plays. Undoubtedly, all the filmmakers that she has worked with were impressed by her performances. This 19 year old doesn't only know how to be in character, but she can also add character to clothes as well. A former image model of Karimadon, Beautiful Bea is now the new poster girl of Kashieca, replacing the gorgeous Georgina Wilson.

Celine Lopez - You will recognize her as one of Tim Yap's supporters in Celebrity Duets. This Guimaras heiress is currently the face of Plains and Prints and she has also done ad campaigns for Pepsi and Bench. Popularly known as the social butterfly of Manila's party scene, Celine Lopez also writes a popular column in The Philippine Star. I have been reading her columns since my college days in St. Paul. I remember hanging out in the library and reading the lifestyle sections of The Star so I wouldn't miss any of her write-ups (in case Pop forgot to buy TPS.) A lot of people would say that "I'm-a-writer-wannabe-who-also-wants-to-be-a-clone-of-Zafra," but actually I'm more influenced by Celine Lopez. Well, Jessica Zafra is Jessica Zafra, everybody knows that she's an institution in Philippine journalism, but I was really hooked by C.Lo's writings. Celine Lopez's delilahs and purgatories bewitched me, and for that, I revered her as my favorite writer.

Tina Fey - Behind those serious nerdy glasses is a Greek chic with a fantastic sense of humor. Tina Fey is a Saturday Night Live alumna who now stars with Alec Baldwin in the hit sitcom 30 Rock. I miss her weekend update in SNL and I know a lot of viewers will not forget the episode when she called Paris Hilton - Such Lovely Unique Talent. That stands for S.L.U.T. Anyway, she also wrote the screenplay of the dark teenage comedy Mean Girls, where she stars alongside Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams.

Elyse Sewell - She is known as the "edgy pre-med student" of the cycle one of America's Next Top Model. She's my bet in the competition, because she's intelligent and straightforward (unlike the other girls who deal with too much drama). Although she did not win the modeling contract with Revlon, Elyse Sewell became the most successful ANTM contestant. Currently a top model in Hong Kong, Elyse Sewell has also done high fashion and commercial modeling gigs in Europe. In 2006, she published her first book entitled Beauty and The Biz: The International Adventures of America's Third-to-Next Top Model based on her popular LiveJournal weblog. I've read in her blog that she recently visited our country for a quick vacation. Well, too bad for me, I wasn't able to see her. I really wish to meet her someday.

Nicole Kidman - Nobody wears couture like Nicole Kidman. This Aussie movie star is such a queen of the red carpet. Her statuesque figure and elegant sense of style made her a constant favorite in Mr. Blackwell's annual best dressed list. Aside from being perfectly wardrobed, this Hollywood screen goddess is also known as an intelligent actress. She only does artsy no-nonsense films that can showcase her excellent acting talent, and none of those dumb blonde flicks. Her break-up with the couch-jumping scientologist was painful, but she has learned to get over it and happier now with Keith Urban.

Daphne Osena-Paez - She's one of the glamour girls of local broadcasting. This classic sophisticate shared her fashion secrets in the defunct lifestyle show "F" and now hosts a women empowerment program on QTV. Everybody would agree that Daphne Osena is a good example of a stylish woman in a little black dress. Have you seen her Proudly Filipina poster lately? She looked stunning right? Anyway, I miss the fashion segments that she did on "F." I hope she would present fashion trends in her new show, just like the way she featured the pearls, the Imelda shirt and the bubble skirt episodes on "F."

Shirley Manson - She's not Gwen Stefani, she's not Nina Persson, she's not Dolores O'Riordan, and she's not Marilyn Manson's sister. She is the red-head frontwoman of the Scottish/American rock band Garbage. This rocker chic is already 41 and yet she still looks young and sexy. You should see their new video "Tell Me Where it Hurts" and you'll agree with me that this rock royalty doesn't look 41 at all. It's really amazing how rockstars decided not to look wasted these days. I mean, considering the drugs and the gigs, some really look trashy. Isn't that right Courtney Love?

Sarah Meier - This six-foot-tall mannequin was formerly known as Borgy Manotoc's ex. But what most people didn't know is that prior to Borgy and her life with MTV, Sarah Meier was already known in the industry as a supermodel. Her beautiful face has graced the covers of different magazines and her killer legs have strutted the catwalks of New York. What I like about this VJ is that she is not ashamed to admit of having bad hair days. She once said that she can endorse a lot of products, except for shampoo. Well, I also did feel bad about my hair because it's sometimes big and frizzy and very difficult to manage. But since the beautiful Sarah Meier has accepted to love her hair, I realized that I have no right to complain because everyone feels that same way.

So there they go...my favorite women. Maybe next time, I would post my list of favorite men. Well, that's all folks. I will see you next time for another crazy, nasty and bitchy blogging session. Buh-bye:)