SelvaRey’s Bruno Mars rum makes its debut in the isles

Rum’s the word for Bruno Mars, who recently won an MTV Video Music Award for his “Uptown Funk” romp with Mark Ronson. The Hawaii-born star — partnering with SelvaRey Rum — is a co-owner and co-founder of the emerging award-winning Panamanian rum, and has made the product available on Hawaii shelves for the first time, joining such markets as New York, New Jersey, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and the District of Columbia. SelvaRey’s distillery is in the jungles of Panama. …

Rerun might be the word, too, for Mars — he’s on the A-list to headline the Super Bowl’s 50th-anniversary halftime show Feb. 7 in Santa Clara, Calif. …

KUDOS: Marcus Mariota certainly was perfection as he made Hawaii proud in his NFL debut last week. The QB of the Tennessee Titans and last season’s No. 2 draft choice humiliated the rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers and its No. 1 draft pick, QB Jameis Winston, in a memorable 42-14 battle of Heisman winners. With Mariota’s usual humility, he credited his teammates for the decisive victory. The sweet reward just might be Mariota’s current Sports Illustrated cover — his career’s sixth. …

Mariota is the stuff of legends, so rightfully, entertainer Frank De Lima put a Portuguese comedy spin on the hometown hero, singing about the ex-Crusader and ex-Duck to the tune of “The Legend of Davy Crockett” that’s been making the rounds on local radio. It’s evolved as a timely and suitable anthem for the star-on-the-rise. Sample verse: “Grew up tall as a coconut tree, strong as shark and quick as a bee; once threw a pineapple across the sea, hit a feral chicken on Molokai. Marcus Mariota, he’s gotta be Portuguese.” You can hear the entire ditty at www.frankdelima.com, and make a donation to the comedian’s educational tour fund, too. …

While she didn’t win this year’s Miss America crown last week in Atlantic City, our Miss Hawaii Jeanne Kapela did what many isle contenders have done in the past: She was voted Miss Congeniality by her peers, earning an extra $2,000 scholarship while wearing the aloha spirit banner proudly. Alas, the honor did not receive on-air time. …

THE LOCAL ANGLE: Are singers Nicole Scherzinger and Ed Sheeran an item? The Hawaii celeb from the Pussycat Dolls group and the carrot-topped Brit from “The ‘A’ Team” and “Thinking Out Loud” fame apparently have been dating, and he’s written lyrics for her and she’s dedicating songs to him. Hmmm. …

Former Hawaii resident Michael Medeiros will have a secondary role as Uncle Billy in a musical adaptation of the holiday classic “A Wonderful Life,” now previewing en route to an Oct. 14-to-Nov. 29 run at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Conn. …

Congrats to Scott Kawasaki, new sales and marketing director at the Royal Hawaiian hotel. He vacated his public relations complex director post with Starwood to join general manager Cheryl Williams’ team at the Pink Palace, which is part of Starwood’s Luxury Collection brand. …

BACK IN THE DAY: Bob Hamilton, former proprietor of Territorial Tavern, was one of many who emailed or posted reactions on Facebook about Leesa Clark Stone’s planned book on her late husband, Rap Reiplinger, mentioned here earlier. Hamilton had suggested a six-man act and named it Kanaka Komedy, but a name-the-group contest, along with a reduction to three members, resulted in Booga Booga, Reiplinger’s ensemble with evolving co-stars Ed Kaahea (who was a bartender at TT) and James Grant Benton. …

AND THAT’S “Show Biz.” …

Wayne Harada is a veteran entertainment columnist; reach him at 266-0926 or wayneharada@gmail.com; read his “Show and Tell Hawaii” blog at www.staradvertiser.com.