What it takes to be a Closeup model

Maybe it’s that set of pearly white teeth. Or those well-shaped lips. But the first thing you notice about Closeup Final 6 member Jon Jayson Sy is his smile. It’s something else. It can light up an entire room on a dreary September day.

It also gives him a boyish charm that grows on you when he opens his mouth to speak. Turns out the 20-year-old Jayson is not just killer smile and good looks. He’s got something between his ears.

When he went on a whim with friends to ABS-CBN as one of the last who auditioned for Closeup to Fame Search for the Next CloseUP Couple, Jayson was the last to know what to expect. But when panelists asked him how he could explain the importance of toothbrushing to others, Jayson had a ready answer. Drawing on his background as a Philippine Science High School graduate (he is a senior Biology student at UP Diliman), Jayson answered, "You should brush your teeth and keep them clean because if you don’t, the microbes will create cavities."

The reply was unique, sensible and straightforward. Jayson was in.

Now, he looks at his tapings for the Closeup search (finals will be aired on ABS-CBN tomorrow) as a welcome diversion from his studies. Jayson has taken it upon himself to be the official photographer of his group of six finalists wherever they go.

So hooked on photography is this young man from Gensan, he dreams of buying a digital camera if he wins the P500,000 (the winning couple splits the P1-M grand prize between them) in the finals tomorrow.

And if he wins, Jayson has promised his parents back home in Davao their youngest son will continue his studies.

"I really love studying, especially science," Jayson flashes that smile. He might even pursue medicine, he adds. That, of course, depends on whether his showbiz schedule will allow it in the first place.

Such devotion to his studies, it turns out, is not just lip service. Val Gracia, with whom Jayson is being paired in the search says her fellow Davaoeño brings his books to the set and studies during breaks.

Luck is on his side. Jayson says tapings happen on weekends and even coincide with holidays (especially those President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declares as part of her holiday economics policy every now and then).

His teachers also support Jayson’s dreams. Typical UP professors, they allow Jayson to keep a flexible class schedule as long as he fulfills subject requirements. No wonder he still has to look harassed and stressed out from all that juggling between work and school.

So far, Jayson has yet to fail his parents and professors. Hopefully, he will do the same thing when his turn to shine at the grand finals night finally comes.