MANILA, Philippines?This is going to be a crucial week for the young singers competing in GMA-7?s ?Next Big Star? tilt: The current batch of 20 boys and girls will be drastically cut down to a much smaller Circle of 16.

We don?t know who?s going to ?survive? the rigorous elimination process, but last week?s focus on the tilt?s female bets gave us some clues.

As we?ve already pointed out, the tilt?s female bets have a clear edge over the guys. But, they?re also vulnerable, because the winnowing-down process is so inexorable. Even if you?re good, the time will soon come when you, too, will be edged out by the even better bets, all the way up to the tilt?s ?first-finals.? So, ambitious and determined survivors, listen and learn:

Most vulnerable

As we see it, the most vulnerable female bets are also the tilt?s youngest. Last week, quite a number of the 16- and 17-year-old semi-finalists got low scores from the jurors. Some of them were talented, but they were simply too young, raw and unformed to compete against the tilt?s older and more experienced bets.

To make things worse, some of the youngest bets went the birit route, turning off both jurors and viewers alike. Young singers should realize that, in a legit singing tilt, birit is often counter-productive, because it focuses on sheer lung power, not musicality.

We daresay that most of the female bets who make it to the Circle of 16 will be more sophisticated than their younger rivals.

By our reckoning, they could include the outstanding likes of Francheska, Alexa, Patricia, Cyrene, Christine and Monique. What do they have in common? They look good and sound great?it?s as simple and winning as that.

All this time, the people behind the talent search have been saying that they?re looking for nothing less than tomorrow?s singing stars?and it looks like they mean business. All of the lovely ladies we?ve cited have talent and star quality. Now, if they can build on that good first impression and convince the jurors that they?re ready to go the distance, they?ll be all set.

Good impression

Of course, only a few of them will really make it big, but we must say that they?ve generally made a good impression. In fact, the ladies on ?The Next Big Star? are some of the best young talents we?ve seen and heard in years. They look and sound better than the winners of some past TV singing tilts, in fact.

But, what?s good news for the girls is bad news for the guys in the tilt, some of whom have been roundly upstaged by their female counterparts. Their problem is their general lack of originality.

We trust that the guys will finally get their act together tonight, while there?s still time for them to convince viewers and jurors that they too have what it takes to become local show biz?s Next Big Stars.