Megan Fox in my "Most Beautiful Women" list for 2008, can she still rise again? It's the half-Spanish actress Marian Rivera for the Philippines in 2008 I'm sharing my July 20, 2008 column in the Philippine Star newspaper which paid tribute to the most beautiful and attractive women of the year. Among the international celebrities then, I listed the 2007 blockbuster film Transformers actress Megan Fox as the highest in attractiveness ranking. Look at this picture and you have to just agree. Although no longer as hot in the news as during her giddy Transformers days and after, so much so that lots of Internet sites and media declared August 4, 2009 as "A Day Without Megan Fox" in order to boycott her news and images, I believe the 26-year-old brunette Megan Fox still is one of the world's most beautiful up to now. I read that Megan is also now pregnant, and she and her husband Beverly Hills, 90210 star Brian Austin Green are expecting a baby. Other stars came out of pregnancy still beautiful too, you can too Megan! The question is, can this once hottest sex symbol Megan Fox still somehow reinvent herself and rise again in the highly-competitive world of entertainment?  After Transformers, she acted in movies like Jonah Hex and Passion Play in 2009 which didn't do well in the box office. Most recently, Megan Fox acted in Sacha Baron Cohen's The Dictator comedy and she has a role in the new flick This is 40. I think she has to choose her film or TV roles, make her mark and come out in the news again. Who are the most beautiful women of 2008? By Wilson Lee Flores The Philippine Star July 20, 2008

Curve: The loveliest distance between two points. — Mae West

I have an idea that the phrase “weaker sex” was coined by some woman to disarm some man she was preparing to overwhelm.  — Ogden Nash

This writer wholeheartedly agrees with the legions of Philippine voters of Summit Media’s FHM magazine who this year voted GMA-7 Dyesebel actress Marian Rivera the sexiest woman, for she is glamorous and beautiful. "Sexy" is not enough to describe her. 

Congratulations to this once-unknown Cavite student and commercial model who took the whole Philippines by storm with her smash-hit TV soap opera Marimar and now Dyesebel. She has classic good looks, a great physique, and, most of all, she has a radiant smile.

Globally, international readers of various editions of FHM magazine this year deservedly voted Transformers actress Megan Fox the sexiest woman on earth and officially described her as the “junior Angelina Jolie.” She has come from nowhere — not on the Top 100 list last year and her fame anchored on just one movie — to rise all the way to the top.

Here’s the list of the world’s top 20 sexiest women in the world, based on Philippine readers of FHM magazine, but I would rather broaden the description to "the most beautiful":

1. Marian Rivera. Sexiest, and now the nationwide favorite, she is not only the leader in primetime TV soaps, she has been gaining numerous commercial endorsement contracts ranging from PLDT, Jag jeans to San Mig Light beer.

2. Megan Fox. Tennessee-born Transformers star.

3. Katrina Halili. Former No. 1 for two years on this list, including last year, and a TV actress in soap operas, playing mainly villainess roles quite convincingly.

4. Angel Locsin. Survivor of a controversial switch of TV stations from GMA-7 to ABS-CBN 2, the former undisputed princess of primetime TV soap is still a major actress and celebrity endorser. Although Jag jeans has replaced her as celebrity endorser with Marian Rivera, rival brand Folded & Hung immediately signed her as its celebrity endorser.

She is one of the smartest young actresses this writer has interviewed for this column. Angel needs to choose good roles for her TV and movie careers.

5. Diana Zubiri. Former bold actress of Seiko Films, she is now a regular on GMA-7 TV shows due to a slump in cheap bold flicks due to a ban on such movies by SM malls, which control the biggest cinema chain in the Philippines. Apart from her sexy physique, she has one of the prettiest faces on TV. Aubrey Zubiri — the beautiful former TV host wife of Senator Migz Zubiri who recently gave birth to their first child — said Diana is not related to the Zubiri family since she uses the surname only as her screen name.

6. Ehra Madrigal. Although not related to Senator Jamby Madrigal, who is now more well-known for trying to contest her late billionaire aunt Chito Madrigal Collantes’ will, she is part of the TV action drama Asero on GMA 7. She is also the new celebrity endorser for Tanduay Rhum.

7. Iwa Moto. One of the pretty members of the cast of TV comedy Nuts Entertainment, she is fond of wearing swimsuits due to her athletic physique.

8. Christine Reyes. Is this 19-year-old trying to follow in the footsteps of once top bold actress Ara Mina? She is now being built up by ABS-CBN 2 but remains romantically linked to GMA-7 actor Dennis Trillo, and both of them not so long ago were embroiled in a controversy because Trillo’s then former girlfriend, ex-beauty queen Carlene Aguilar, was still pregnant in the US with his child. Can she be as popular as a sexy star as her elder sister once was?

9. Anne Curtis. FHM Philippines magazine unabashedly announces that it has been waiting for this young rising ABS-CBN 2 actress to grace its cover. Her current TV soap is Dyosa. She is co-starring with Jericho Rosales in a historical romance film called Baler, which will compete in the December 2008 Metro Manila Film Festival. She just co-starred with Aga Muhlach in a well-received romance movie this year.

10. Angelica Panganiban. This important actress of ABS-CBN 2 has survived a controversy claiming that her liquor advertising calendar campaign used digital “tweaking” to make her look slimmer and sexier, and she remains a popular presence on primetime TV.

11. Alessandra De Rossi. This young actress and singer is part-Italian, but personifies morena  beauty.

12. KC Concepcion. This 25-year-old princess of Megastar Sharon Cuneta has become the surprise major new star of ABS-CBN 2, following in the footsteps on her mother in gaining numerous commercial endorsements.

13. Bianca King. Part of the hit TV soap Dyesebel, this part-Australian actress is one of the young rising stars of local showbiz with a pretty face and truly sexy physique.

14. Jennylyn Mercado. Despite her once-soaring singing and TV soap career on GMA-7 having been suspended due to an unexpected pregnancy due to young actor Patrick Garcia — who has since left her — this girl surprisingly still remains popular with her fans and still garnered many votes from FHM readers.

15. EB Babes. The 10 girls dancing and adorning the No. 1 TV lunchtime show Eat Bulaga surprisingly received a lot of votes from FHM readers, the only group ranked among the top 20 in this roster.

16. Bea Alonzo. Starring in the TV soap Betty La Fea, this teen actress could become a future star with the right roles and breaks.

17. Francine Prieto. Formerly known as Anna Marie Falcon on the defunct GMA-7 show That’s Entertainment, she is one of the original cover girls of FHM Philippines.

18. Iya Villania. This former commercial model and current TV actress is unabashedly on the wish list of FHM magazine as a future cover girl.

19. Riza Santos. A new entry to the Top 100, the new leading lady of comedian Vic Sotto for a new film, she was also a former leading lady of the “King of Comedy” Dolphy. Why are comedians so popular with sexy women?

20. Michelle Madrigal. Sister of Ehra Madrigal, she was part of Bong Revilla’s movie Resiklo and is now active on GMA-7 shows.

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Congratulations to Summit Media’s big boss Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng and husband, businessman Berck Cheng, on their baby boy.

Thanks for your messages, all will be answered. Comments or suggestions welcome at willsoonflourish@gmail.com. Please follow WilsonLeeFlores at Twitter.com and "like" the Wilson Lee Flores Facebook page.