SOME 1,000 hopefuls turned up at the auditions for TV5?s new talent search program ?Star Factor? held last weekend at SM Mall of Asia?s Music Hall, jury head Audie Gemora announced on Friday.
The jury ? dubbed the Star Makers, composed of writer-director Joey Reyes, fashion photographer Raymond Isaac, music icon Ryan Cayabyab and talent manager Annabelle Rama ? is in Cebu today, Sunday, and will be in Davao on Aug. 7 for the regional auditions.
?We?re getting a really good turnout,? said TV5 Entertainment and Creative Services head Perci Intalan. ?People from all walks of life arrived at the auditions. There were some who came from various provinces in Luzon. The others came from reputable international schools here while some belong to known show biz families.?
Twenty-four contestants ? 12 males and 12 females ? will be picked to compete in the 14-week show, said Gemora, who also heads Talent 5, the network?s talent management division.
Long-term plan
The network?s long-term plan, Gemora said, would be to come up with an ?extensive training program? for its talents.
?As you can see, a lot of stars now come from reality shows. They have absolutely no experience in acting, bigla na lang silang isasalang [they would be put to the test immediately]. What the networks do is get acting coaches and then force the kids to learn acting in such a very short time,? he explained. ?I plan to come up with a long curriculum similar to what we have in school ? introduce the basics first and then move on to the next level. As one finishes these courses, mas magiging buo ang kaalaman ng bata [their knowledge would be whollistic].?
The final objective is to put up a ?showbiz school,? said Gemora. ?It will be a school that will produce new directors, writers and cameramen. It will teach acting for TV and the movies, even hosting or how to deal with the press. There are so many things we can teach these kids, who become stars overnight. They don?t know how to deal with people around them. They don?t even know how to save money. Even that can be put into the program later on. It?s a long, long way ahead but we?re very determined to go down that line.?
E-mail mcruz@inquirer.com.ph
