OMG! I was at the wrong awarding event!

I have attended countless events in the past which were mostly related to my profession as a marketing consultant. I had few opportunities attending affairs that mainly cater to celebrities and which I consider purely “rest and socialization” rather than work. Since I don’t get to experience these a lot, and I rarely get to watch TV at home these days, I am not really familiar about the latest buzz on the most talked-about personalities, much more with the not-yet-known or upcoming stars.

As much as I’m compelled to write more about the main juice of the event and the showbiz crowds, which I’m sure movie and entertainment writers and bloggers would be coming out with their own versions of the same thing, I decided to feature another angle which highlighted an unforgettable funny experience.

Last week, my wife passed on to me an invite for the first  Yahoo OMG! Awards. It was said to be the first of its kind to acknowledge the most searched and the most talked about showbiz personalities in the Philippine entertainment circle. The event was held in one of the hottest social gathering hubs in the metro – Republiq Club in Resorts World, Pasay city.

It was my first time to visit the place and I found myself grasping my way to get there. As I approached the marquee entrance of Resorts World, it was hard not to notice limousine services and luxury cars piling up. One by one, famous celebs disembarked from their vehicles in their gala evening attires.

My attention was quickly captured by Ms. Sandy Andolong wearing an elegant evening gown. Beside her, of course, was Mr. Christopher De Leon in a fine black bow-tie suit. The lobby, by then, was already crowded with fans and media people trying to get snap shots and ambush interviews with some of the stars who came in early. I didn’t bother to ask for directions since I assumed most of the people were going to the same place anyway. So I just went with the flow.

As I was about to enter the venue, the atmosphere became filled with the glitters and glamour of famous showbiz personalities as they cruised on the red carpet in their evening designer collection gowns and suits. From there, I began to wonder because I never thought that the Yahoo! event would be that formal. The brief I got from my wife (who couldn’t attend because she had to cover Cirque du Soleil’s Varekai for HerWord.com) was that the event would be a cocktail party type with some casual preppy type of crowd.

As I went inside, I showed the receptionist the purple invitation from Yahoo! but she didn’t bother opening it. She just handed me an entrance ticket (which I also didn’t bother looking at) while another guide ushered me to my seat. I was already sitting comfortably when I heard the names of Boy Abunda and Aiai Delas Alas introduced as the masters of ceremonies. I was further surprised that, as they ran down the lists of sponsors, Yahoo! was never mentioned.

That was the moment I became worried and frantically texted a friend who was supposedly there already. After a few text messages and a little bit of confusion out of ignorance, I realized I was in the wrong event. For almost 20 minutes, there I was watching the PMPC Star Awards Night all along! OMG! So, I immediately stepped out of the venue went to Republiq as directed by my friend.

Finally, I got inside the right venue. My friend, Jeman, with a silly grin on his face, guided me inside making sure I won’t be lost again. Within the cordoned-off section of Republiq, I found familiar faces both in the entertainment and the media circuit having their own fun time socializing with Yahoo! OMG nominees.

Guests and celebs alike enjoyed the bottomless drinks open bar night courtesy of Absolut Vodka with cocktail food being served by roving waiters as the crowd awaited the opening of the program. I’m not the social drinking type so I tried to control my alcohol intake to the barest minimum of my capacity because I know it could be a long night.

There, I had a chance to talk to Sam Concepcion who I’m quite familiar with and who I congratulated for bagging the Most Awesome Young Actor Award that night. I also got to have my photo taken with Mr. Jim Paredes who was there as a nominee presenter. He mentioned his upcoming solo project entitled Butong Pakwan which quite intrigued me as I started to wonder how he would sound like singing solo. Let’s wait and see, I guess.

As the crowd grew thicker, I noticed the ever gorgeous Ms. Carmi Martin standing right beside me and who was chatting with Angelu De Leon who is stunningly beautiful as well. I was also introduced to a new aspiring talent named Rez Toledo of Someday Dream, a young man who has quickly captured the hearts of young audiences with his electronic music genre. He is being managed by Champ of the former alternative pop-band Hale.

The hosts, JM Rodriguez and Andi Manzano, did a pretty good job in keeping the night lively and the crowd pumped up. It was exciting meeting a lot of celebrities that seemed more than I could handle in one night. As the evening progressed and  while surrounded by old and new friends, celebs and non-celebs alike, I began to realize my glass was never left empty as if it’s being refilled by somebody. I don’t know. That’s the time I decided to go home before I cross my limits and end waking up in somebody else’s house the next morning.

In the heat of the night, I bid goodbye to those who were still enjoying themselves and took nothing but pictures (courtesy of orangemagazinetv.com) and memories. After all, events like these rarely come often in a lifetime.