Kapamilya artists paid tribute to Star Magic’s co-founder Johnny Manahan, better known as ‘Mr. M’, the chairman emeritus of ABS-CBN’s talent center, as he celebrates his 50th year in the industry.
Mr. M is a film and television director, actor, and writer and dubbed as the father of Star Magic. He is the man behind some of ABS-CBN’s biggest celebrity names and is also the senior vice-president of the Kapamilya network.
The tribute show aired on the broadcast streaming platform KUMU on October 3 and was called ‘The Man Behind the Magic.’
Among the big celebrity names that appeared on the show were Maricel Soriano, Pops Fernandez, and Martin Nievera who congratulated Mr. M on his golden anniversary and recalled how he influenced their life as an artist.
Maricel mentioned that she is happy for Mr. M for his milestone in the showbiz industry and is hoping for another 50 years to come. She said that both Mr. M and she had gone through so much together that’s why she is proud of the director’s achievement.
“Hi Mr. M! Happy 50th birthday– uy happy 50th anniversary. Looking forward to another 50, 40, 30? No.. joking.”
“I’m very happy na naging part ako ng 50 [years] mo. I love you very much. Know that, ang tagal ng pinagsamahan natin. So very happy ako talaga. Kaya really looking forward to another 50,” she said.
Maricel added saying that, “Kaya mo ‘yan direk, ikaw pa. Ngayon pa na lagi kang nag g-gym. Hindi ba? I love you direk, happy 50th anniversary.”
Pops also congratulated Mr. M and thanked him for giving her the opportunity to work with him. She hoped that she will be able to work with the director again in his future projects.
“Happy, happy 50th anniversary to you Mr. M. Thank you so much. Thank you dahil nagkaroon ako ng chance, at sana magkaroon pa rin ako ng chance to work with you,” she said.
Pops explained that working with Mr. M is an honor and a dream for all artists as someone who holds great influence on the showbiz industry. She said that a project with Mr. M is a guaranteed exciting and great project.
“Alam niyo po ‘pag sinabi namang M. M di ba, parang napaka exciting ng project and it was a dream to actually work with you. On mga shows and concerts na dinirect mo for me Mr. M, and of course Martin and I and of course ASAP,” she said.
She added saying that, “Madami akong natutunan sayo Mr. M and sobrang thank you for that.”
Pops recalled the time how she was so nervous when she worked with the director. But she mentioned that Mr. M turned out to be someone admirable who always gives his best to all the projects that he works with.
“Nung sinabi nila na ‘you will get to work with Mr. M,’ nako ninerbyos ako, pano bang makatrabaho ang isang Mr. M. I was gladly surprised kase he is such a darling. He’s very quiet, facing one side, and just observes,” she said.
“Nevertheless, he always comes up with the best [projects] ever, and he always gives his best,” she added.
Martin recalled a fond memory with Mr. M as he shared his encounter with the director back when Martin hosted Binibining Pilipinas 2013. The singer-host explained that he was pressured by the staff of the beauty pageant who required him to act and speak in a certain way.
But Martin said that Mr. M was the one who directed him to just do whatever he wanted to do as a host in the show.
“I’ll never forget the time when I was host for Binibining Pilipinas. I’ll never forget that. John was the director of course, and I had all these people telling me what I had to do, what I need to say, how I need to say it, how I need to do it.”
“I was so pressured that when I got to Johnny, he was gonna give me his direction. He said ‘don’t listen to them’ do whatever you want,” he said.
Martin congratulated Mr. M for his 50th anniversary and thanked the director for his part in bringing the singer’s success as an artist. He said that Mr. M was the magic for the success of every project or shows that he does.
“Johnny Manahan my dear friend, happy 50 years in this business and I don’t thank you just for me but I thank you for my father, I am 2nd generation Nievera, a 2nd generation Nievera that you have directed through the years,” Martin said.
“The best years of my life, you have captured through your lens, you told me where to go even when I didn’t want to go there. All I know is the magic that we all share, that you see in every performance– whether it’s on television or in the live concert performance– you were always the magic,” he added.
Martin expressed his love for the director saying, “Johnny Manahan I love you, I miss you and I wish you well. Good luck to the next 50 years in the business. I love you, Johnny.”
The tribute show ‘The Man Behind the Magic’ came after ABS-CBN announced that Mr. M will be leaving the network and transferring to the Kapatid network.
Mr. M is set to direct a noontime variety show in TV5 under the Brightlight Productions, a company which is owned by Albee Benitez who was a former representative of Negros Oriental.
