Philippine Daily Inquirer

High-flying, adored

- NESTOR U. TORRE

Some scintillat­ing stars are flying extra-high this season, adored by their fans and kissed by the show biz muse—twice for good luck and pluck!

This month, they are paced by teen fave Bailey May, who’s come back for a short break after his training stint in the States with Simon Fuller’s new “global” teen singing group, Now United.

Nobody can blame Bailey if he gushes about his new “internatio­nal” singing family, the members of which have been stringentl­y vetted from many thousands of young, starry-eyed, talented and charismati­c lookers from different countries.

As one of the group’s Asian reps, Bailey can do a lot to make global fans adjust and reconsider their image of and template for the young Asian musical artist— way beyond K-pop.

The fact that he has a fresh, winning and “internatio­nal” look could in time make Bailey one

of the group’s “signature” talents, summing up in his look and person what Now United aspires to become.

Other Pinoy talents making winning waves globally include John Lloyd Cruz, who was recently nominated by the Internatio­nal Cinephile Society as best supporting actor of 2017, for his cross-gender portrayal in “Ang Babaeng Humayo.”

John Lloyd was stunned by the unexpected nomination, the winners of which awards were announced last Feb. 4. Even if he didn’t win, the fact that Cruz was singled out and cited in the high-octane company of admired thespians like Armie Hammer, Willem Dafoe and Armand Valois was sweet victory and affirmatio­n enough. (Michael Stuhlbarg, Armie’s “Call Me by Your Name” costar, won in the category.)

The recognitio­n comes at a most welcome time for John Lloyd, because he’s recently been dissed and bashed for peremptori­ly departing from his TV sitcom, “Home Sweetie Home,” as he attends to matters of the heart and hearth, leaving his coworkers high, frazzled

 ??  ?? Bailey May
Bailey May
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