US talk show legend Regis Philbin dead at 88

WASHINGTON - Regis Philbin, an award-winning fixture of American talk show culture, has died at the age of 88, media reports said Saturday.

Philbin, a playful and self-deprecating New Yorker with a thick Bronx accent, died Friday of natural causes, People magazine reported, quoting a statement from the family.

Philbin was best known to many Americans as co-host of a daytime talk show that began in 1988 called "Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee."

Working with Kathie Lee Gifford and later with another co-host, Philbin appeared on the show for 23 years.

Part of his popular shtick was to spend a few minutes at the beginning of each show talking about banalities like where he had dinner the night before. 

Philbin also hosted the wildly popular "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" game show, which ran from 1999 to 2002.

He won Emmys as a talk show and game show host.

And he held the Guinness record for number of hours spent on television in America -- about 17,000, according to The New York Times.

In 2011, as Philbin was preparing to leave his talk show, the Times paid tribute to him as someone who stood out on TV.

"In a daytime landscape filled with bland, polished hosts and smarmy good cheer, Mr Philbin was crumpled, nasal and histrionic. He was a snaggletooth amid cosmetic dentistry and porcelain veneers," the paper said.

Among those remembering Philbin on Saturday was a fellow New Yorker, Donald Trump.

"He was a fantastic person, and my friend. He kept telling me to run for President," the US president tweeted. "Holds the record for 'most live television,' and he did it well. Regis, we love you."

Agence France-Presse

Oprah still supportive of Charice

MANILA, Philippines -- Singer Charice thanked popular television host Oprah Winfrey for continuing to support her career.

"Until now, she's still there to support me. So I just want to thank her for everything," she said in her guesting on the US talk show "The Couch" on Wednesday (US time).

"I mean I can say that she's one of the people that I really owe. She gave me the career that I'd been wanting and everything," Charice said

Charice's international career took off after she appeared on "The Ellen de Generes Show"and "Oprah."

Winfrey even dubbed her at the time as "the most talented girl in the world."

Since then, Charice has released a couple of albums and also appeared on the popular TV show "Glee."

New Hollywood film

Charice is now promoting her second Hollywood film "Here Comes The Boom," which stars Salma Hayek and Kevin James.

The comedy movie about a high school teacher (James) who takes up mixed martial arts to raise funds to help the school opens in US theaters on Friday, October 12.

Charice said she auditioned for the role of James' student in the movie.

She recalled being really nervous when she found out that that she was going to sing Neil Diamond's "Holly Holy" -- which she was unfamiliar with.

"I didn't know the song 'Holly Holy.' I didn't even know that I was gonna do the song. I thought I will just gonna act and everything. So I was ready, reading the script and all of the sudden they gave me the lyrics of the song 'Holly Holy' and I was like 'what's this song' so I download the song on ITunes and I was listening to it and I was like 'oh my God this is the end of me, this is the end of me I don't know the song,'" she narrated.

"So I went inside the conference room and Frank (Coraci), was there -- the director -- everybody was there and I was shaking and I was like 'why am I shaking? This is my job. I sing.' Thank God that I actually did it and I made them kinda teary-eyed," she said.

"The X Factor Philippines" judge said she's just happy to be part of the film and to be given a chance to meet James and Hayek.

"I love all of them. I'm just very blessed because I didn't expect that they would be that nice and sweet and everything. So being with them on the set, I kept on telling them that if you guys gonna make another movie, please, please pick me, pick me," she said.

source: abs-cbnnews.com