MANILA, Philippines?With the exception of Willie Nepomuceno, Tessie Tomas and a few other masters, the art of impersonation is practiced only in a rudimentary fashion in these parts.

Impersonators are quite happy to simply spoof their celebrity targets, or lip-sync and dance to their songs. There?s also a decidedly gay coloration to the local impersonation scene, with guys playing gals all over the place.

This is occasionally diverting, but it?s a facile and lazy view of what impersonation is really capable of, and should be about.

Realization

We got zapped by this realization last Sunday, Nov. 9, when we watched the semifinals of ?The Next Best Thing? on the Velvet channel. The reality tilt auditioned hundreds of professional impersonators all over the United States, and only some 25 unusually gifted performers survived the rigorous elimination process.

They then competed against each other in an even more stringent semifinal competition, and it was amazing to see the best of the best doing their darnedest to get into the finals. Only five exceptionally talented impersonators would be so lucky, so the semifinalists performed their hearts out.

They were all there??Tina Turner,? ?Lucille Ball,? ?Shania Twain,? ?Bono,? ?Madonna,? ?Simon Cowell,? ?Celine Dion,? ?George Bush,? ?Jay Leno,? ?Elvis Presley,? and then some.

And they were all good! The judges sure had their work cut out for them, chopping the talented field down to the final five.

What made the semifinalists so good? With only a few exceptions, they looked and sounded ?exactly? like the stars they?re impersonating. Even better, their acts were entertaining in their own right, not just imitation for imitation?s sake.

Celebrities

Best of all, they have studied and understand the celebrities they impersonate so well that they can even ?think? and ?feel? like them. It?s all an act, of course, but one that?s so totalized and many-layered that it?s absolutely fascinating and empathetic to watch.

After the semifinal performances on Nov. 9, the five finalists were announced: ?Tina Turner,? ?Elvis Presley,? ?Paris Hilton,? ?George Bush? and ?Lucille Ball.?

We were especially happy to see that our favorite semifinalist, ?Lucille Ball,? had made the grade?her impersonation of the well-loved, carrot-topped comedienne was absolute perfection!

We urge our homegrown impersonators and impersonation buffs to catch the tilt?s finals, which could come as early as next Sunday, Nov. 16, on Velvet. Perhaps, after watching these masters at work, they will realize that excellence in the field of impersonation is the result of a long and difficult process.

Process

Would-be impersonators do badly when they short-cut that process, and merely, lazily approximate a few details about their original stars? personas and performances.

As the gifted impersonators on ?The Next Best Thing? show, the process is much more demanding than that. We need to work much harder for the craft and art of impersonation to truly flourish in this country.

One of the key reasons why Willie Nepomuceno and Tessie Tomas are regarded as iconic impersonators in these parts is this important requirement. May more would-be impersonators follow their rigorous and disciplined example.