The select mix of guests in the Bulgari Diva Collection last Tuesday was treated to a performance that was totally unexpected. Vernie Varga (now Oledan), the country’s top jazz artist, sang a few numbers, the first time she did in public after so many years.

 

The guests couldn’t believe what they were seeing—Varga, known as The Vamp at the peak of her career, was going down the stairway of the corridor at Shangri-La Makati, singing “The Nearness of You.” Sashaying in her serpentina, her figure as svelte as when she was a bachelorette, Varga was every inch The Vamp.

 

She’s now Mrs. Ricky Oledan, a good friend of many in the audience. She can purr, she can belt out—a spectacular voice still, especially when she did “La Vie en Rose.”

 

Bulgari launched its highly lauded Diva Collection in Manila.