Last February 1, Martin Nievera mounted Martin Nievera XXV at the Araneta Coliseum, marking—you guessed it—his 25th anniversary in show business. With the Concert King turning 46 on February 5, the event also served as his birthday concert.
But, rousing as the four-hour concert was, the question that intrigued showbiz insiders was: Who was Martin's special someone at the concert?
In showbiz, it is common knowledge that whenever Martin stages a major concert, the girl he is currently fascinated with is surely going to be in the audience, enthroned in a choice seat. When he was still married to Pops Fernandez, for instance, his ladylove Katrina Ojeda would be at his concerts, sometimes seated just a row behind Pops.
In Martin's February 1 concert, therefore, everyone expected Katrina, now his live-in partner, to be there. She was, after all, the ladylove for whom he gave up Pops. He could have flown in Katrina and their son Santino (now one-year and four months) from Las Vegas, where Martin has settled.
The Big Dome engagement could not have been a small affair. There were more than 14 guests, including Regine Velasquez, Gary V., Zsa Zsa Padilla, Rachel Alejandro, Erik Santos, and Jackie Lou Blanco, according to a concert goer who lost count. Not every male singer reaches 25 years in his music career; even rarer is one who gets the chance to celebrate his 25th anniversary with a show that fans still pay to watch.
But Katrina wasn't there. Neither was Pops. It was another girl, and her name, according to the grapevine, is Angie.
A showbiz insider describes the girl as "petite, nothing extraordinary, cute lang." Another source puts her age at possibly 30 and above. According to a source who wishes to remain anonymous, the girl has two kids by a man she is presumably no longer with. She has her own house in Ayala Alabang Village, not far from the house where Martin stays, which is not far from the family home of Katrina, and, again, not far from the home Pops lives in with Robin and Ram, her kids by Martin.
DAUGHTER OF A PRINCESS. Actually, Angie is a media magnet on her own—she is considered a real-life princess. She is said to be the daughter of a Filipina who is married to Prince Jefri Bolkiah of Brunei. This makes Angie the stepdaughter of the prince.
Prince Jefri, 53, is the youngest brother of the 29th Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah. According to the Associated Press, Jefri has "four wives, 17 children and 18 adopted wards." He was also once married to Filipina Ayen Munji, who is now married to fellow singer and stage actor Franco Laurel.
Prince Jefri was the finance minister of his oil-rich country from 1986 to 1998, but came under fire from the Brunei government, which accused him of embezzling 16 billion dollars (656 billion pesos at current exchange rates).
The Associated Press of December 3, 2007, reported: "Jefri reached an out-of-court settlement with the government in 2000, agreeing to pay back Brunei's investment arm the money he allegedly used to buy hotels and other expensive assets." The prince is said to be paying back his government to this day.
Reports say Angie has been spotted with Martin on many occasions in the past weeks. The girl has been seen dining with him, driving for him, and staying close by during his tapings/rehearsals. Martin, for his part, has been seen picking up Angie's kids from school, eating with them, as well as swimming with them.
It is a picture of Martin swimming with Angie's kids that Katrina is supposed to have in her cell phone.
KATRINA KNOWS. Yes, Katrina already knows about Angie, says a source from Katrina's camp. Trusted family friends reportedly told Katrina about the girl Martin has been seeing nearly every day. Some of these friends were said to have sent Katrina first-person accounts about Martin and Angie being together.
It is not clear if Martin and Katrina have had a proper confrontation about this. What's clear is that Katrina knows and is waiting for Martin in Las Vegas with their son, who celebrated his first birthday last October 7. Las Vegas is where Katrina moved from New York, because America's "Entertainment Capital of the World" is where Martin had his career plans laid out.
In fact, Martin has finally cornered a two-month gig with the Society of Seven, an all-male band composed of Filipinos based in the U.S., which has Lani Misalucha for a regular crooner. Martin will be the special guest star when the band, with Lani, performs at Las Vegas's Flamingo Hotel on February 13.
Will he get there on time? Or will he stay here to be with the new ladylove he sees almost every day
CAREER BUMPS. This is not the first time that Martin, who has always dreamed of becoming known as a singer internationally, will do shows in Las Vegas. The country's Concert King did leave the Philippines in 2003 to try his luck on the American concert scene. Since then, according to his official website, he has performed at the Golden Nugget/Las Vegas (2004) and at the Rio Hotel and Casino (2005).
But in May of 2007, his career hit a major snafu. Martin was set to stage a big show at the Steve Wyrick Theater at the Miracle Mile mall, also in Las Vegas. It was to be produced by California-based Filipino producer Gene Gamalinda.
According to someone who knows the producer, ticket sales proved very weak, and the producer pulled out of "a losing venture." In other words, he wanted to cut his losses. But according to published reports, Martin says his producer "abandoned" him.
On May 4, 2007, a Philippine daily put outan article titled "Martin Nievera struggles in Las Vegas show." The article was sympathetic to the singer: "The singer was bold enough to take everything on his shoulders—even if it would break his back—just to pursue his dream, the source added.
"To keep things going, Martin handles other production chores, even manually carrying sets, equipment and musical instruments off the theater stage to make way for the next set of performers, the source added."
The same article mentioned that Martin and Katrina took over the production. Martin admitted that he was forced to sell his cars and his watches to be able to pay his backup band and production crew.
According to reports, Martin has yet to recover from that financial setback—and is presently down and out.
Now comes talk that Martin is hesitant about returning to Vegas, and the reason is supposed to be because he wants to spend time with his new love in Manila. Meantime, Katrina, who is known to be impatient and feisty where Pops was patient and submissive, is said to be hopping mad. She has reportedly threatened to go on television to expose Martin if he does not return to Vegas fast.