Star-studded audition puts aspiring performers through their paces

ICONIC audition masters with NUT (far right) include (from left) Edith del Rosario, Mikee Cojuangco, Nora Aunor, Ricky Davao, Boots Anson-Roa and Elvira Go. Photo by Mag Hatol

Three weeks ago, aspiring performers were thrown for a loop when we announced that AnakTV and Kairos Solutions were looking for a new and more responsible breed of Filipino entertainers to build up for stardom next year—and that the audition masters included icons like Nora Aunor, Ricky Davao, Mikee Cojuangco, Edith del Rosario, Mag Hatol, Elvira Go, Ricky Lee and other industry leaders who shared the same vision.

When we got to the audition venue, Mabuhay Restop at Rizal Park, an unusually large number of auditionees was already gathering, determined not to pass up the rare chance of joining the new, more enlightened endeavor—and being vetted by Nora and company!

It was the chance of a lifetime, and the auditionees were visibly thrilled and even moved to hear comments and wise words of wisdom from their admired faves.

Nora isn’t known for talking a lot, but she realized how important the occasion was for the auditionees, so she made it a point to share her own experiences as a new talent.

Mikee and the other stars similarly had very astute insights to share. For his part, Ricky Davao turned out to be the hardest worker of all, reading some of the excerpts up for interpretation, and impressing the new talents with his commitment to bringing out the very best in them.

Around 100 talents participated in the audition, so it had to be extended for hours to accommodate the overflow crowd of hopefuls.

Next, we joined Mag and his AnakTV and Kairos Solutions staffers in vetting the auditionees on an individual basis, and called back the top 30 best for an all-day introductory workshop.

At the end of the performance workshop, we were totally exhausted, but we were gratified to see that the “better” bets’ performances had markedly improved.

Now it was Kairos’ turn to tap 15 of the 30 for a follow-up and more intense workshop session at Elvira Go’s Le Mitre restaurant in Intramuros. More stringent challenges pushed them further to come up with their best work, and it was gratifying to see that the youngest bets, who were only 8 years young, were every bit as focused as the older talents.

Thanks to AnakTV and Kairos, specific productions are being lined up to showcase the new talents in different ways, and more workshops are being lined up for the top 30 bets in the coming weeks and months.

Also very encouraging is producer and host Elvira Go of Columbia International Food Products, “Tropang Potchi” and “Power to Unite with Elvira.” She was so impressed with the 15 call-back talents that she assigned us to come up with a showcase production for them. With backers like AnakTV, Kairos and Columbia, our new talents are in very good hands!