by Bayani S. San Diego Jr., The Manila Times, January 24, 1999

It was akin to a religious experience.

Think El Shaddai crossed with La Aunor: Beyond time.

A movie reporter, in the peanut gallery, gushed that it was like the Superstar show all over again. Make that Superstar and The Sharon Cuneta Show. The taping, after all, was held on a Sunday night - in the same time slot as Superstar Nora Aunor and Megastar Sharon Cuneta's long-running musical-variety shows (on RPN 9 and ABS-CBN 2, respectively).

So for the fans in the audience, it was a night to wax nostalgic, to renew and revisit a Sunday night ritual, when Mega met Super -- when Ate Guy guested in the ABS-CBN gabfest Sharon.

Grade schoolers and elderly women flocked to the studio. Noranians, in full regalia, came in their neon green uniform and vests. Some even brandished banners and a collage of La Aunor's pictures culled from the Guy & Pip scrapbook of Greatest Hits. Oh, there was even a striking photo of Ate Guy, all dolled and dressed up, like a live version on Philippine history's most famous walking doll, Maria Leonora Theresa.

Again, the air was charged.

Not only with excitement and electricity (remember, the studio is owned by the bosses of Meralco), but also with an indefinable energy, a fervor, if you will, akin to a spiritual experience.

And it was because two of the country's biggest stars--one from the FQS (First Quarter Storm) generation, and the other from the Voltes V/Gen X era.

And yet somehow, by some miracle of the electronic medium, the gap between generations was bridged that night.

The Sharon show's taping was devoted entirely to Ate Guy. The Superstar was able to talk extensively about the state of Philippine cinema, her latest movie Sidhi, her art, her heart. Sharon showed the many facets, "ang makulay na daigdig ni Nora," with genuine respect and sincere affection.

The Sharon staff went all the way to Naga, to visit Ate Guy's old school, her teacher and two classmates. They really pulled out all the stops to make it a special (and dare we say, historic) night for the fans.

In her previous TV interviews, Ate Guy always came across as a Mater Dolorosa; her face had, in fact, been equated with pain and suffering. The multi-awarded actress (her latest honor being the CCP roll of 100 centennial artists) has become such an effective tragedienne that even her TV interviews assumed an earnest and gloomy mood. But Nora in person is a completely different story. As an interviewer for the print medium, I've found out that she can be serious when talk turns to film, but she also has a wacky and wicked sense of humor. And she also exudes a certain degree of willful celebrity, the indomitable spirit of the outsider, the rebel. These traits -- her candor, her joie de vivre, her iron will -- were seldom made apparent in previous TV interviews.

Until that night.

In the Sharon show, Nora the actress, the mother, the woman, was allowed to take center stage. As in all TV interviews, there was the obligatory crying scene (with the Superstar's son Ian de Leon). But it was handled rather well, respectfully and truthfully.

In the show's climax, Miss Nora even shared a "revelation" that left Miss Mega, the Noranians and the Sharonians in tears.

A GMA exec once quipped that when you think of musical-variety shows, only three names stand out: Nora Aunor, Vilma Santos, and Sharon Cuneta. So it was not only a show of tears and truths, but also a night of music and memories. Sharon opened the show with a loving rendition of "Ikaw ang Superstar ng Buhay Ko"/"This is My Life." The fans were soooo super-mega-hyper that Ate Guy was emboldened enough (despite initial stagefright), to join Sharon in the opening number. They also did a stirring duet of "Handog," Florante's anthem for every struggling performer which Nora had adopted as her own, as closing number. By the time the country's two biggest stars sang the last refrain of "Handog," the fans were widly clapping on their feet, cheering "Mabuhay kayong dalawa!"

It was almost like a religious experience for the fans. A scene from a Sharon/Nora musical-drama film (directed not by Joel Lamangan, or by Emmanuel H. Borlaza, but by the prodigiously talented Rowell Santiago.) Rivalry and memories of past awards nights were soon forgotten... when Mega met Super.