GMA7’s ‘STARSTRUCK THE NEXT LEVEL’S’ TOP 20

"StarStruck The Next Level" attracted almost 10,000 young star dreamers but only 100 were asked for a callback. Of this number, only 80 were chosen. Last Sunday, only half of them remained -20 girls and 20 boys—who are now closer in their quest to become the top 20 survivors in the fourth season of the original reality-based artista search in the country. Making it to the Top 20 list are Ava Jugueta, 17, from Quezon Province; Amira Bartell, 18, Sorsogon; Rox Beldua, 19, Davao; Renee Lascuña, 17, Davao; Lyka Ayuste, 16, Davao; Hazel Uy, 19, Cebu; Rich Asuncion, 17, Bohol; Stef Prescott, 16, La Union; Ayin Solomon, 20, Nueva Ecija; Lizzy Pecson, 19, Pampanga. Also making the grade are Ann Tan, 17, Laguna; Rica Pijuan, 19, Las Piñas; Jewel Mische, 16, Bulacan; Jean de Castro, 17, Mandaluyong; Nica Escandor, 16, Muntinlupa; Chariz Solomon, 17, Pasay; Farina Runkle, 17, Pasay; Jesi Corcuera, 16, Pasay; Kris Bernal, 17, Quezon City; and Jem Estrada, 21, Marikina. Breaching the Top 20 mark are Kiko Junio, 16, Pampanga; Aljun Abrenica, 16, Pampanga; Kasper Esguerra, 19, Pampanga; Dex Quindoza, 17, Manila; Dave Valentino, 20, Manila; Jan Manuel, 20, Laguna; Karl Escober, 21, Laguna; Ruji Fortuna, 20, Laguna; Mart Escudero, 16, Cavite; Aldrin Gonzales, 20, Cavite. Alos making the cut are Tycoon Carreon, 17, Iloilo; Prince Stefan, 17, Iloilo; Chad Burden, 20, Cebu; Amon Alcantara, 17, Cebu; Lui Perez, 21, South Cotabato; Drey Peñol, 17, Bulacan; Rando Stamatelaky, 21, Pampanga; Jake Baste, 19, Marikina; Don Perez, 21, Cagayan de Oro; and Paul Avelino, 18, Baguio. These 40 dreamers will undergo their first artista tests this week and 10 of them will be eliminated on December 17. Then, 10 more will be eliminated the following week until only 20 survivors—10 girls and 10 boys—are left and will move on to the next level of competitions. Four winners will be picked this year—Ultimate Sweetheart, Ultimate Hunk, and Ultimate Loveteam. Past winners of StarStruck include Mark Herras, Jennylyn Mercado, Mike Tan, Ryza Cenon, Jackie Rice, and Marky Cielo. Other successful products are Katrina Halili, Yasmien Kurdi, Rainier Castillo, Nadine Samonte, Iwa Moto, among others. This season’s StarStruck Council is composed of actress-TV host Lorna Tolentino, TV and movie director Louie Ignacio, and talent manager Douglas Quijano. Joey de Leon, who seated as part of the council the past seasons, begged off this time. StarStruck The Next Level is hosted by Jolina Magdangal, Dingdong Dantes, and Raymond Gutierrez.

Michael V nag-iisang Pinoy na nanalo sa 2006 Asian TV Awards

NASA winners’ archive na ang mga pinarangalan sa 2006 Asian TV Awards. Nag-iisang winner si Michael V sa Pilipinas. Muling nakuha ng komedyante ang karangalan bilang Best Performance by an Actor para sa Bubble Gang ng GMA Network. It was his 3rd Asian TV Awards trophy. Napanalunan na ito ni Bitoy noong 2004 at 2005. Highly commended naman si Keempee de Leon para sa Bahay Mo Ba ‘To ng GMA-7 din. Tinalo ng The Ghost Doctor Scenario Co. Ltd., Modem Nine TV -- Channel 9 ng Thailand, -- ang Bubble Gang ng GMA-7 para sa kategor-yang Best Comedy Program. Taong 2004 at 2005 nang parangalan ng Asian TV Awards ang Bubble Gang bilang Best Comedy Program. This year, runner-up na lang ito. Nag-iisang nominee si Sharon Cuneta para sa Sharon ng ABS-CBN at pinarangalan ang megastar as highly commended para sa kategoryang Best Entertainment Presenter. Bigo ang TV Patrol World na masungkit ang Best News Program. Tinalo ito ng CNN Today ng CNN International/Hong Kong at apat pang newscast sa buong Asya. Masuwerte ang ABS-CBN sa kategoryang Best Current Affairs Program dahil pina-ra-nga-lan ang programang Juvenile Injustice bilang runner-up at highly commended ang XXX nina Karen Davila, Henry Omaga-Diaz at Julius Babao. Ilang taon nang namamayagpag ang GMA-7 at ABS-CBN sa drama category ng Asian TV Awards, pero this year, tila naging mailap ang karangalan sa dalawang TV giants ng Pili-pinas. Last year, nakuha ni Nonie Buencamino ang ka-rangalan bilang Best Drama Performance by an Actor para sa Magpakai-lanman at highly commended naman si Lorna Tolentino bilang Best Drama Performance by an Actress para sa Magpaka-ilanman ni Mel Tiangco. LT lost to Eula Valdez para sa performance nito sa Ma-alaala Mo Kaya ni Charo Santos- Concio. Unlucky nga ang Kapamilya at Kapuso sa Asian TV Awards this year. Saving grace si Michael V who won three years in a row.

New Faces Who Looks Like Stars Already...

WHAT'S wrong with looking like a star? If there's Dave Valentino who is a Sam Milby look-a-like, there's also Aljur Abrenica who also looks like a young Piolo Pascual... There's also Kenneth who looks like Rainier Castillo... Some people see this as a negative thing, however, there's really nothing wrong with that especially with Dave. Look at Rhian Ramos who looks like Anne Curtis and Glaiza De Castro who looks like Angel Locsin. Now they have even more projects than ever. Glaiza is even together with her showbiz look-a-like Angel Locsin on the GMA soap Asian Treasures. Also here's a chance for everyone to see how a Kapamilya star would looked like if they were paired up with a Kapuso star... You'll never see Sam Milby with a Kapuso star on a TV show, unless it's a movie by Regal in which stars from opposite channels collide. Didn't Sam Milby admit he had a crush on Angel Locsin before... So, imagine if Dave was partnered with Angel, then we would see how Sam and Angel would looked together. Imagine how ratings would fly up?

GMA searching for own Sam?

IS it true the reason why StarStruck raised the age limit for the new Starstruck hopefuls is because GMA wants to discover their own Sam Milby? They will be looking for the possible rival of Sam in the auditions. And they reportedly have found one. The guy can sing, play the guitar and reportedly looks like Sam and Piolo Pascual combined. Some GMA people are convinced that Sam really draws the crowd in and since they don’t have someone in his league, they will be using StarStruck to find their own Sam whose career has been doing great since he got out of the PBB house. While GMA 7 is busy looking for someone to rival Sam’s popularity, they seem to have forgotten their other young talents (mostly products of StarStruck) who are jobless and just waiting in the sidelines. In the same manner, ABS-CBN is also guilty of neglecting their other talents who are also jobless, sidelined by the influx of wannabes from the PBB ranks. So we can’t blame the talents of both networks if they make the switch among the rival stations.

Dream, Believe, Survive... Starstruck: The Next Level!

Dream, Believe, Survive... Starstruck: The Next Level... A lot of great looking talents... This is going to be a great batch to watch out for... Out of the top 80... Here's our favorite:

Ultimate Sweetheart: Stef Prescott, Hana Aguiere, Lyka Ayustre, Kris Bernal, Ava Juegeta, April Parcs and Ruma Burden.
Ultimate Hunk: Prince Stefan, Aljur Abrenica, Kiko Junio, Luiji Abaigar, Dex Quindoz, Karl Escober, Matt Escuero and Chad Burden.
Ultimate Loveteam: Stef Prescott with Prince Stefan or Chad Burden... To early to tell for now.

Mark Herras at Jennylyn Mercado's New Love Teams

KAHIT magkahiwalay sa projects sa GMA-7 sina Mark Herras at Jennlyn Mercado, hindi iniisip ng young actor na buwag na ang loveteam nila.

“Kasi po siguro, gusto lang subukan ng GMA-7 na ibahin ang partners namin. Hindi naman po siguro binubuwag. Parang sina Angel (Locsin) at Richard (Gutierrez). ’Di ba, dati ang ka-loveteam ni Richard si Chynna (Ortaleza), tapos naging si Angel. Ganundin po siguro sa amin ni Jen,” paliwanag ni Mark.

Sa next project niyang Princess Charming, si Jackie Rice naman ang makakapareha niya samantalang si Jen, si Dennis Trillo pa rin ang makakasama sa Super Twins.

Kinumusta namin ang panliligaw kay Nicole Anderson at say niya, naudlot na naman. Pero hindi dahil sa may nililigawan siyang iba or nabasted siya. Personal and private raw ang dahilan, na ayaw niyang sabihin kaya naintriga kami kung ano ’yun.

Samantala, tuloy na ang dance concert ni Mark sa Zirkoh na siya mismo ang magpu-produce. May dirty dancing din, pero not with Jen, kundi baka sa EB Babes.

Ehra Madrigal, Kapuso pa rin!

Fan ng Shake, Rattle & Roll series si Ehra Madrigal kaya, happy itong mapasama sa SR&R part 8. Kasama siya sa LRT episode sa direksyon ni Mike Tuviera at sa sobrang katatakutan ng episode, wala silang ginawa kundi sumigaw. Pinili na nitong sa karosa ng Regal sumama sa December 24 parade kahit kasama rin siya sa Enteng Kabisote 3.

Sabi pala ni Ehra, Kapuso pa rin siya at nag-guest lang sila nina JC de Vera at Nicole Anderson sa ASAP. As a matter of fact, nasa cast siya ng isa sa mga bagong show ng Ch. 7 na sisimulan next year pero, bawal pang sabihin.

Ang alam din ni Ehra, boyfriend pa ng sister niyang si Michelle si Victor Neri kaya, nagulat siya na nali-link ang actor kay Sitti.

Magkasama sila ng kapatid sa kanyang unit kaya alam niya ang nangyayari rito.

They don’t let success go to their heads

STARBYTES By Butch Francisco
The Philippine Star 12/02/2006

This coming Monday is the launch of StarStruck Batch 4 and in no time at all we are going to have a new group of young stars on TV and in the movies. Wasn’t it only a couple of years ago when the likes of Mark Herras and Jennylyn Mercado were so new and naïve? Now they have become big names – and so did the other stars who came after them. But this much I can tell you. They may have attained stardom but a lot of them have remained really nice, humble and practically unaffected.

Below are the StarStruck Survivors and Avengers whose stardom didn’t go to their heads – based on my personal observation.

Mark Herras – For a kid who had a troubled home life (his biological father was put behind bars and he grew up with a foster father and all that), he didn’t really turn out bad. Although he’d go on days without sleep because of his work load, Mark would always have a nice attitude toward his co-workers – and he is always so polite! Although I don’t get to interact with him all the time, my experiences with him had always been very pleasant. He is Mr. Personality and Mr. Congeniality all rolled into one. Surely, he was raised well and was well-loved by his adoptive father, Daddy Jun, and this shows in his dealings in this business.

Mike Tan – He never fails to say thank you every time you write something nice about him. I don’t know exactly his work attitude, but as far as I am concerned, we are always okay with each other and I like his very polite ways.

Ryza Cenon – Her sweetness is not put-on. Her being nice is genuine and I will always have a soft spot in my heart for her. Recently, she joined the QTV 11 game show Now Na! and we get to work together and it’s fun being with her.

LJ Reyes – Another really nice girl. She is genuinely sweet. I don’t know if she still goes out with Alfred Vargas, but I hope they end up with each other because Alfred is one of the most decent young people (and that’s rare!) I have met in this profession.

Tyrone Perez – When he was still very new and was just a face in StarStruck, I already noticed that he was polite and well-mannered. Now that he had been launched successfully in his own film, Twilight Dancers, he has remained the same – and I hope he stays that way.

Yasmien Kurdi – I am very comfortable with her and she is the same with me. She can be in a bad mood (it happens to the best of us) and she doesn’t have to explain anything to me because she knows I will understand. I will always be protective of her, especially since she is a ward of Lolit Solis and I guess that is our "bonding."

Christian Esteban – From Day One of StarStruck, he had always had the best attitude and I’d never forget how he would always go out of his way to say hello to me (hey, I’m older and that’s how it should be). I haven’t seen Christian in a long time, but my fondness for him will always be there and I had always wished for his success in this business.

Rainier Castillo – I think I’m the one who should try to make it up to him because when he was still part of the Final 14 in the first batch of StarStruck, I was a bit hard on him when I was invited one time to grill the Survivors. I don’t think he ever resented me for that. During an exclusive interview about his father one time, he poured his heart out to me and I began to appreciate him more as a person.

Christine Reyes – She wasn’t all that sweet in the beginning, but her attitude seems to be changing for the better. Well, she has a good teacher, after all, in big sister Ara Mina, who is the epitome of sweetness – the genuine kind, that is.

Marky Cielo – Among the StarStruck Batch 3 Survivors/Avengers, he is Mr. Well-Behaved (the only one who has not given Rommel Gacho a headache). Whenever he’d be in Startalk (which is often), he just sits quietly in a corner. He is not the type who is all over you and doesn’t make an effort. But I’m still okay with that. At least he is never rude. However, for his own sake, he has to start learning about showbiz interaction from the best of them all, Mark Herras. But so far, Marky Cielo is still doing fine.

Richard Gutierrez-Angel Locsin vs Toni Gonzaga-Sam Milby

IT’S Richard Gutierrez and Angel Locsin versus Toni Gonzaga and Sam Milby sa Valentine 2007.

This year, nakadalawang pelikula ang tamba-lang Richard and Angel sa big screen at nakaisa naman sina Toni and Sam. Valentine movie ang una ni-na Richard and Angel, ang I Will Always Love You ng GMA Films. Middle of this year naman ang kina Toni and Sam, ang You’re the One from Star Cinema. Both made a killing at the box-office. Right now, kasalukuyang tinatapos pa rin nina Richard and Angel ang kanilang MMFFP 2006 entry from Regal Films na Mano Po 5: Gua Ai Di (I Love You) under Joel Lamangan.

With this movie, at ang Captain Barbell ni Richard and Asian Treasures ni Angel, pinaghahandaan na rin ng GMA Films ang Valentine movie next year na mala-Hihintayin Kita sa Langit noon nina Ri-chard Gomez and Dawn Zulueta. This is to be written by Racquel Villavicencio, ang writer din ng Hihintayin… Inaayos na rin ng Star Cinema ang kanilang Valentine movie, still untitled din na reunion movie nina Toni and Sam with Zanjoe Marudo as their triangle. Comedy romance ang sa kanila with Toni playing a policewoman. At ang pang-three way sa Valentine from Regal Films ay sina Rustom Padilla and Wendell Ramos in Happy Hearts. Masaya ito!