Spicing up our encounter with the Pinoy Pop Superstar contenders

May 18 was a hectic day for members of the Cebu Entertainment Press. In the afternoon of that day we had to be at the Crown Regency Hotel in Lapu-Lapu City to personally meet Regine Velasquez and Piolo Pascual as part of their promo for the movie “Paano Kita Iibigin.”

Rare is the chance to be with the two of them at the same time—it was an opportunity to see Regine and talk to her in my three years in the entertainment circle—so we all agreed to attend the presscon. It was finished past 4pm, and we had to rush back to the newsroom to close our respective sections. So it’s safe to say we had worked under pressure as we only had two hours before another appointment, which was to meet the finalists of GMA-7’s “Pinoy Pop Superstar” at Krua Thai in SM.

The schedule left me and my editor, Nathalie, catching our breaths, so to speak. But it was okay because times like that happen once in a blue moon. At least, we worked with grace under pressure. Pak!

As we arrived at Krua Thai we spiced up the interview by coming up with this scenario: we told the finalists to imagine themselves as guests of a TV show—the Nat and Ryan Show. Of course we were joking about it while we were still in the cab going there, but it turned out to be an enjoyable and clever way of getting to know the finalists especially as, honestly, I have not watched a single episode of PPS this season.

So when they were ushered to our table we explained to them how the interview would flow: imagine you are on a show and you should act as juror. Evaluate your fellow finalist—what are his/her strengths and weaknesses that need improvement? Alas, it went very well, with a bonus: each candidate rendered an acapella version of the song of their choice.

 The first finalist we came to know was Miguel Naranjilla of Malabon—he who first admitted that it was never his plan to join the contest. He just wanted to experience how it was to be part of a singing tilt that he auditioned. In fact he has a degree in Applied Economics and was pursuing a masters degree prior to joining. John Louie Abaigar of Olongapo described Miguel as the “rebel performer” in the group who has great vocal quality. John, on the other hand, told us he joined the contest because he wanted to help his family with his prize money if he wins, because his parents, being NGO workers, have financial problems a lot of times. He sang to us his composition “To Journey To Triumph,” which he said became their graduation song in high school.

Jennie Escalada of Navotas revealed that Louie is a versatile performer and that the guy already wrote 20 compositions. “Ang dami niya pong alam,” she said. Miguel, on the other hand, described Jennie as a power belter, “Technically magaling siya,” and that she could possibly snatch the title, though things, he added, can be so unpredictable.

The second batch of  “guests” was composed of Maricris Garcia of Caloocan City, Marvin Gagarin of Nueva Ecija and Joyce Tanaña of Pampanga. Maricris is already a professional singer, who has had gigs at the Calesa Bar and InterCon Hotel before her PPS stint. I came to know later on from friends who have followed the show that she has been getting good reviews from the jurors and has been predicted as most likely to win. She started singing at the age of 15.

Initially she played “pakipot” when we asked her to render a sample of her singing but eventually gave in by singing “Nang Dahil Sayo,” which according to her was her only composition. Indeed, she got the voice to possibly make her win. She’s got the look too.

Marvin finished Education but he said singing runs in the family so he is giving it a try. Should he fail, he will pursue teaching. Joyce is a “hopeless romantic” who reads pocketbooks, the stories of which inspired her to write poems that she hopes would later be made into songs.

“ Kuya Marvin,” Joyce commented should polish his diction because like her they both need to improve on this area. Let me say that Joyce’s voice is fit for Bossa Nova type of songs—her voice comes across sexy and cool.

Final batch of our “guests” for the make-believe Nat and Ryan show were April delos Santos of Pampanga, Jae Buensuceso of San Francisco, California and Bryan Termulo of Bulacan. Jae knew she could sing when she was 12 years old and became member of the school choir wherein she was told by her teacher to take up further voice lessons. She had voice training only six months ago.

Bryan, for his part, said: “Hindi ako kumakanta. Dancer talaga ako sa school.” According to him it was his elder sister who was really into music until his mom heard him sing “Closer You and I” during a family reunion and told him that he has potential. So he took up formal training, and actually auditioned for PPS yearly since four years ago. It’s only now that he finally made the cut. April, on the other hand, has no formal training: “Kumakanta-kanta lang ako sa school.”

This last batch refused to evaluate each other, but if I were to personally evaluate them, I have sensed that Bryan and Jae are slowly playing sweet music together. To which they replied “Loveteam po kami.” But they added they are now in the getting-to-know-each-other stage, so it might not be long when the reel tandem would become for real.

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I got this text from Miss Philippines Fire Sarah Katrina Miñoza last Saturday evening that says: “My sincerest gratitude for the write ups about me prior to the Ms. Earth Philippines pageant. I’m sorry if I only took the time now to thank you coz I’ve been busy lately though I know it’s not an excuse. It meant a lot to me. All the best to you and your loved  ones. Take care always and God bless. Praying to see you soon so I can thank you personally.”

 Well said, Sarah. Honestly I had this silent dislike for Sarah that started when she won Miss Cebu 2005 because she never thanked me for writing about her. It was only her first runner-up Sarah Lei Spagnolo who went out of her way to text and thank me who ironically learned about my article about the two of them, after she was told by Sarah Katrina. Because of that, I vowed to myself never to support her should she join a national pageant. But my friend Marlon Wafer of the Wafer Models happens to be her manager, and so he asked me a favor to write about Sarah Katrina joining Miss Earth. I did because it has been my promise to help in my simple and small ways any budding talent, or promising beauty titlist and model from Cebu who wishes to make it big in the Capital. I always tell myself this: If it’s for Cebu, I’m in. So now it’s a good thing that she bothered to thank me even just through text. Whatever I felt about her in the past instantly vanished. Now I can’t wait to see her join Bb. Pilipinas 2008 so that I can pour out my simple support to her once more.

I’m so shallow and my idea of a reward as a writer is very simple: just thank me after reading what I wrote about you and I would be very fine. Sometime in May 2005, I wrote a column entitled “The Value of Thank You,” wherein I “penpointed” how important it is for us writers to receive feedback at the end of the day because such action tells us two things: that somebody out there is reading our thoughts and sentiments and second, that it would determine how the subject feels about the article. So when a subject says thank you to a writer like me who is “mababaw lang ang kaligayahan,” then that to me is more than winning the lottery. It’s precious. It’s priceless.

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