They came, they saw, they conquered

It was a glittery Sunday night as new stars dazzled in the bright showbiz sky when GMA 7’s fourth edition of StarStruck The Next Level announced the ultimate winners in the nationwide grand artista search before an estimated crowd of over 15,000.

Aljur Abrenica of Pampanga, Jewel Mische of Bulacan, Mart Escudero of Cavite and Kris Bernal of Quezon City emerged victors among the six survivors who dream of becoming the next young stars.

Their 16 weeks of acting tests, personality development and harnessing of talent proved fruitful as the four won the nod of the council judges composed of direk Louie Ignacio, Lorna Tolentino, Douglas Quijano and two more jurors, VP for entertainment TV Wilma Galvante and GMA Films president Annette Gozon-Abrogar. The ultimate winners earned the most number of votes from fans and supporters for a total of 1,227, 788 text votes.

The finalists’ total votes were announced in between fabulous production numbers of the search’s past Ultimate Survivors and Avengers except for Nadine Samonte who was nowhere in sight due to a conflict in schedule.

Eye-catching batch one Avengers Katrina Halili and Cristine Reyes wowed the Marikina Sports Park crowd as they gyrated to a sexy beat while Ultimate Survivors Mark Herras, Mike Tan and Marky Cielo showed what being a bad boy in the dance floor means. Jennylyn Mercado, Ryza Cenon and Jackie Rice filled the air with their voices as they crooned a Tagalog song with survivors Aljur, Mart and Prince Stefan of Iloilo.

Today’s batch of Avengers also rendered hilarious song and dance numbers to excited fans. The tension felt by the finalists’ friends and relatives who were seated in the front row were faded away with the group’s wacky moves.

Mart’s mom Suyen sat quietly from a distance. She kept an eye on her son on stage, worried that Mart might make a wrong move the way he did before final judgment night. The 16-year-old, sophomore high school student was in hot water when he naughtily recorded in his cell phone video an act against one of the show’s production staff. This caught the attention of GMA executives and got him a demerit of percentage points in the competition.

Thank God, Mart showed the best in him when he danced to the tune of Stomp. He won praises from direk Louie who noticed Mart’s improvement week after week since Day 1 of the competition. The director even said that the young Caviteño who was once eliminated during the contest met all his (direk Louie’s) expectations.

Wilma, on the other hand, told Mart she felt he had fun doing his number, and thus gave an excellent performance.

Mart’s impressive performance earned him votes that clinched the Ultimate Loveteam title with Kris.

Nursing student Kris showed she’s not just another pretty face but the next young star to watch out for as she has improved a lot performance-wise — be it on acting, singing or dancing. Talent manager Douglas was reminded of Vilma Santos when Kris did a dance act with the Hotlegs complete with high-flying lift.

Bakekang star Sunshine Dizon wished the former Pond’s model and teen mag cover girl all the best and looks forward to working with the small but terrible Kris who was proclaimed Best Actress in an acting test with direk Laurice Guillen.

If Kris projected a character so charming, Jewel has proven she’s sweeter than Bulacan Sweets. Contrary to her pasaway image, which she had since the contest started, Jewel won the Ultimate Sweetheart title and made her over a million pesos richer.

Richard Gutierrez, in a video, advised Jewel not to allow anyone to put her down as she really worked hard to be where she is now. He is eager to work with her soon.

This sent the UP music student on Cloud Nine.

And while Jewel proved her worth as a star, Aljur never gave up when he failed to make it to the talent search’s second edition.

"I really tried hard to achieve my dream to be an actor. It’s such a nice feeling now that I’m here," he says.

That’s why the English boyband Blue’s song Best in Me fits Aljur to a T as he displayed his worth and bagged the Ultimate Hunk title.

The 17-year-old Don Bosco Academy high school student even dreams of putting up a hotel to add to the family business. His dad Alfonso manages an entertainment bar in Batangas.

While the four ultimate winners took home a lot of prizes, first princess Rich Asuncion of Bohol and first prince Prince Stefan didn’t go home empty-handed. Both received a cash prize, a Belgian Waffle franchise and an all-expense paid short course at Informatics.

The Avengers likewise received the waffle franchise business package and short computer course program from Informatics.

Special awards were also given to some of the Avengers like the Itaktak Mo award for Jesi Corcuera, Dats Entertaining award for Jan Manual while Dex Quindoza and Stef Prescott won the Best Male and Female Dramatic Exit awards respectively.