SHOW BIZ
Krush singer recovering from heart surgery

By Wayne Harada

HEART BEAT: Jesse Gamiao, a sales member of Roberts Hawai'i and a singer with The Krush, has been recovering from double-bypass heart surgery at The Queen's Medical Center. A little more than a week ago, he suffered a heart attack while driving but was able to make it to his doctor's office, and an ambulance was summoned to take him to Queen's. He's in good spirits and says he feels blessed "that the Lord gave me another chance." ...

SIGHT 'EMS: Heads turned when actor Sylvester Stallone and a party of 12 showed up at Aaron Placourakis' Sarento's on the Beach in Kihei, Maui, last week. The occasion was the 56th birthday party for entrepreneur Shep Gordon. Sarento's has become a celeb watcher's haven, with the likes of Clint and Dina Eastwood, Eddie Murphy with Sugar Ray Leonard (and their wives and kids), the Joe Montanas, Jason Alexander and the Samuel L. Jacksons among recent notable diners. ...

Bruce Vilanch, one of the regular "squares" on "Hollywood Squares," was holding court last week at Hoku's at the Kahala Mandarin Oriental Hawaii. He's a noted bi-coastal writer, creating gags and scripts for everything from the Academy Awards show to "Naked Boys Singing" in New York. ...

The folks at Planet Hollywood practically had to deal with war-type environs when they trekked through mud at Maunawili and red dirt at the Dole Plantation in Wahiawa to feed the cast and crew of the Bruce Willis action movie, "Tears of the Sun," which finally has finished filming. The Planet served hot dogs and burgers, plus smoothies, courtesy of Willis, who's a shareholder. Another local restaurateur, Moumen El Hajji (owner of Beau Soleil in Manoa), also catered some meals. Antoine Fuqua, director, hired El Hajji as his personal chef and driver during the four-month shoot, and yes, that was Gov. Ben Cayetano trekking to the downtown post office to thank Fuqua and producers Ian Bryce and Arnold Rifkin for bringing the project to Hawai'i. ...

Kim-E J. Balmilero has been home on vacation from her hit Broadway show, "Mamma Mia." ...

WHEE, THE PEOPLE: Hoku Ho has been singing with dad Don Ho at his Waikiki Beachcomber Hotel showroom for a week (ending tonight). Dad just did the first half of his summer 2002 Mainland tour, which started in Chicago with a private concert at a 50th birthday party for Bob Stanley, original owner of the Chicago Bears, and gigs in Torrance and Bakersfield, Calif., and Tacoma, Wash. Tomorrow, Ho journeys to Minnesota and Wisconsin but returns Sunday to resume his Waikiki shows. ...

DisGuyz now are a foursome (Jason Ulep's gone). Jason Lent, Calsen Aiwohi, Ian Ayson and Kimo Montgomery journeyed to the Big Apple, along with producer Elan Markos, to perform their "Our Nation in Song" tribute to victims of the Sept. 11 attacks, particularly for Joanne Meisenheimer's Long Island-based family (including daughters Lauren, 14, and Kaitlynn, 12), whose husband/father, a firefighter named Raymond, perished in the World Trade Center tragedy. The Meisenheimers were in Hawai'i, courtesy of the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau, when they first encountered DisGuyz's song, so it was an emotional reunion. Emme Tomimbang captured some of these moments for a 9 p.m. Aug. 22 show on KGMB. "The song came to life and now is a lot more meaningful to them," Tomimbang said. ...

And that's Show Biz ...

Wayne Harada's Show Biz is published Tuesdays and Thursdays. Reach him at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com, phone 525-8067 or fax 525-8055.