LAST DEC. 26, ?STARSTRUCK? came up with an acting challenge for its remaining finalists that was, to say the least, attention-calling. Perhaps ?startling? would be a better word?

In any case, the feature made viewers sit up and pay attention, because it cast all of the finalists in short dramatic or comedic scenes that required them to kiss their respective screen partners. On the lips. ?Not just a ?peck,? but real, pretty extended kissing.

So, what?s surprising about that? People kiss all the time, so what?s the big deal? Well, local show biz tradition for the past 100 years has had it that a starlet?s first show biz kiss is so all-important that it should be mined for all of the ?kilig value? it has to offer. Therefore, it should happen incrementally, as the starlet?s career heats up, to give the starlet?s fans something new and ?more exciting? to look forward to.

Lip service

Meaning? ?Meaning, no starlet of the non-sexy or kontrabida sort should do a kissing scene on his or her first screen outing. The starlet should start off with a ?pretend? or faked kiss?then, move up to a beso-beso buss on the cheek, then that regulation playful ?peck,? before finally paying real ?lip service? on the screen.

To this day, some young-adult stars still haven?t done real lips-to-lips kissing scenes on the big and small screens. Perfect example: Sarah Geronimo has been very popular for years, with a number of hits to her name, but she still hasn?t engaged in real kissing on the silver screen. What?s holding her back? Well, she reportedly hasn?t had a boyfriend in real life, so she could lack, uh, practice.

Kidding aside, Sarah has led a very sheltered life, despite her recent career moves to ?heat up? her image. So, her fans can be expected to place great importance on her first real kissing scene, if and when it finally happens. Can that much-anticipated osculation scene result in a major blockbuster? It?s happened before with other ?sweet? stars, so the ploy could work again.

Advantage

But, for the ?StarStruck? finalists, no way can it happen anymore? because last Dec. 26?s show required them to osculate, right off the bat, so they gave up their advantage, free of charge. It?s not such a big deal, but it?s still a deal . . .

So, how did the finalists do as onscreen kissers? Nobody?s braces got locked together, so they did, uh, OK. In addition, some of them were paired with ?name? stars, Aljur Abrenica and Kris Bernal, who complimented them for being ?good? kissers. ?Well, hooray for that.

Parenthetically, Aljur passed muster in his scenes, but Kris came off as rather wan and lackluster, and some of the ?StarStruck? finalists looked and acted better than she did.

For a ?star? like Kris, that definitely isn?t good news, so she needs to really shine up her stellar appeal and do her best never be upstaged by starlets ever again!