‘Protégé’ casts a wider net for musical talents
ABS-CBN's "Pilipinas Got Talent," "Pinoy Dream Academy," "Star Factor" and "Showtime," TV5's "Talentadong Pinoy," GMA's "Star Search"—these are past and ongoing talent search shows on local TV designed to discover the next big musical superstar.
On Sunday, September 4, GMA launched "Protégé: The Battle for the Big Break," with, in the words of its publicist, "its game-changing formula of finding the ultimate protégé from a broader search range for would-be-stars." In short, the show aims to be bigger than similar shows, past and present. The nationwide auditions were held in 10 cities and attended by 10 veteran singers who will act as mentors to the contestants. The 10 went to Dagupan (Side A's Joey Generoso); Cabanatuan (Jay R); Pampanga (Rey Valera); Batangas (Claire de la Fuente); Naga (Imelda Papin), Cebu (Rachelle Ann Go); Iloilo (Janno Gibbs); Davao (Jaya); Cagayan de Oro (Aiza Seguerra); and Metro Manila (Gloc 9). They were assisted by audition masters Arsi Baltazar and Jojie Dingcong, both knowledgeable talent managers.
Each singer will choose three that he/she will mentor for the grand competition. Thus a total of 30 contestants will vie for the top prize. Their fate will be decided by three judges—comedian Joey de Leon, TV director Bert de Leon and songwriter Louie Ocampo and the viewing public. Dingdong Dantes and Ogie Alcasid are the program hosts.
There is no age limit in the competition. "Protégé" accepted soloists as well as singing groups with a maximum five members.
I'm impressed at the scope of this talent search. While other networks schedule auditions in major cities, GMA went to 10 nationwide locations and each of the 10 mentors was present in their assigned cities.
None of the auditionees created an impression with me because I didn't listen to them long enough. Instead, the show spent more time on human interest backgrounders, mostly sob stories about the contestants. One aspirant had a kid brother who died before he tried out; another had a younger sibling who only had six months to live. A contestant wanted to join so he could send his drug user dad to rehab; a tearful competitor said he was still looking for his real father. There were no happy tales to balance these tragic stories.
Don't get me wrong. I sympathize with these people but I'm more interested in their musical ability. This is a talent show after all, not an episode of "Maalala Mo Kaya."
My next observation has to do with the 10 mentors. How many of them are really qualified to spot tomorrow's singing stars and train them for a successful career? I have no answer for that but seeing Baltazar and Dingcong backing up the mentors is an indication that the network wants professional talent managers to have a say in their choices.
Finally, if GMA wants "Protégé" to be a real talent search contest and instead of a popularity competition, viewers shouldn't have a say in the ultimate winner. Most of the votes will come from relatives and friends who can afford to invest funds in text messages. I realize, of course, that the network gets a piece of the income from the texting but that should be peanuts compared to the ad revenues. Pity the really talented singer who doesn't have a text brigade to support him/her.
Disclaimer: The views and observations of the author do not represent the position of Yahoo! Southeast Asia on the issue or topic being discussed.
