by: Jessica Divina Fulgencio

Singer-actress Zsa Zsa Padilla momentarily bade goodbye to all her showbiz commitments to take a much-needed rest.

The divine diva will leave for the States and denies neither having cancer nor having to undergo surgery. She says she just needs to rest her voice. "Napapagod pa, that's my problem. Ang bilis mapagod," she explains.

Zsa Zsa reveals how she's having difficulty rendering songs one after another. In her last public performance in Martin Nievera's Crossover Live Tour last month, she's grateful that her numbers were spaced out giving her voice time to rest.

She can no longer push her voice past two songs. "That's why I can't do a concert, my voice doesn't have the stamina."

Aside from hosting and singing engagements, her soap opera is also getting her stressed out. She had to do three crying scenes per episode and every time she cried she would lose her voice.

"Even if you're just acting, your mind knows but your body doesn't. Your body still reacts to the stress you're undergoing."

Zsa Zsa would not be seen in her Sunday noontime variety show "ASAP," and in a month from now in her soap opera "Sa Puso Ko'y Iingatan Ka."

But while Zsa Zsa is away, her daughter Karylle will continue to do shows in the other channel.

Zsa Zsa has been vocal of how proud she is of her daughter and doesn't mind being called "Karylle's mom" in the future.

But for now, her light is only fading temporarily. The divine diva promised to come back and claim her shining star for a while more.

With reports from Edmund L. Sicam, Inquirer News service