LAST MARCH 1, Regine Velasquez?s latest teleserye, ?Diva,? started airing on GMA 7. Many new shows are premiering this season, so the start of a new series isn?t such a big deal. What makes ?Diva? stand out, however, is its innovative musical bent, as well as its ?Ugly Betty? predisposition.

That?s right, Regine?s character in her new series starts out as a really plain Jane, with a decidedly prognathous physiognomy and the most pockmarked and pimpled skin ? about as ugly as an ugly-duckling character can be.

Pity, empathy, comedy

Of course, she will turn into a svelte and lovely swan in a few more telecasts, but before she does, she?s the butt of all jokes and snide insults and diatribes, thus assuring a high level of viewer pity, empathy ? and comedy.

After viewing the series? first episode, we?re all praises for the show?s makeup and prosthetics team for so convincingly transforming Regine into such a visual disaster.

Kudos, too, to Regine herself for agreeing with such relish to be so utterly ?uglified.?

Many female (and male) stars would refuse to cooperate in the ?demeaning? process, but Regine apparently has no such qualms.

?Diva? is also noteworthy for its musical intentions. In fact, its blurbs proudly state that it?s the local TV screen?s first ?kantaserye.? That may or not be absolutely correct, but the show?s extensive musical quotient is welcome, because it adds variety to local TV series? stultifying, predictable, mega-melodramatic bent.

Back story

What about the show itself? Does it succeed as entertainment, perhaps with some emotional and thematic sense and sensibility thrown in for good measure?

The first telecast used up a lot of time setting up the series? back story, with scenes showing ?ugly? Baby Sampaguita, her parents (Gloria Diaz and Boboy Garrovillo), and the many kids and teachers who made life hell for the little girl who sang like an angel, but looked ?as ugly as mortal sin.?

That was sort of fun, but in a ?been-there, seen-that? way, so we were hugely relieved when Regine herself finally came onscreen, in her uglified form, to speed up the back storytelling.

The first telecast also introduced other continuing characters like Sampaguita?s manager (Jaya), main rival and tormentor (Glaiza de Castro), plus another kontrabida played by Rufa Mae Quinto. They upped the show?s tarayan ante, but their antics were generally exhausting rather than entertaining.

After some more scenes, too, Sampaguita?s utter ugliness got to be a distraction. It?s a good thing that, in subsequent telecasts, Regine was able to infuse her godforsaken character with a measure of vulnerability and pathetic innocence that warmed viewers? hearts.

But the series has too many less-than-felicitous elements to become the delightful viewing experience it?s striving to be. As for its vaunted musical factor, it really isn?t all that successfully pulled off, so we hope it can be more cogently and creatively realized in forthcoming episodes.

Regine Velasquez is obviously giving ?Diva? everything she?s got, but if the show?s other actors and staffers don?t do their share, even her prodigious efforts may not be enough.