There’s method to Maine’s mash-up madness

MENDOZA. Sharp comedic instinct. EBDABARKADS FACEBOOK

STARS AND their handlers take great pains to plot and graph their future movies, the better to keep stellar careers consistently on the upswing.

Once in a while, however, they have to be able to efficiently change tack and react to unexpected developments, or incipient trends that become popular more quickly than anticipated.

For instance, just a few weeks ago, “Eat Bulaga’s” “AlDub” kalyeserye clicked with the viewing public so “suddenly” that it became the long-running weekday noontime show’s top attraction.

The program’s ratings zoomed up, the new love team of Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza became the flavor of the month, so it was time for major reactions and adjustments in terms of follow-up moves.

For starters, educated guesses had to be made about how the new pair’s prospects would shape and hold up after their “EB” stint shall have been concluded.

After all, they would have to physically meet and claim their forbidden but fated love in due time—they couldn’t keep their fans on tenterhooks much longer!

So, what would viewers want to see them in next? Their own spin-off TV show? A movie? A profitable international personal appearance and performance tour for their newly minted fans abroad? What?

Don’t look now, but their first film appears to be in the works, a romantic comedy slated for the Metro Manila Film Festival, in which they could co-star with Vic Sotto and AiAi delas Alas.

Potential blockbuster

Even before that potential blockbuster gets to open at the end of the year, however, it’s expected that a new TV starrer will be launched to make “AlDub” even more popular.

How will the new love team fare after their “EB” stint? Will this quarter’s fave be next year’s stars to beat? Local show biz fans have notoriously shortsighted “ningas-cogon” proclivities, so the trick is to keep offering them something new and surprising.

In Alden’s case, that could turn out to be a tall order, because before “AlDub” caught fire, GMA had already tried hard to boost his prospects into certified stardom—but, with iffy results.

He was made to topbill a “heroic” period drama, among other initiatives, but he still didn’t make it big—until his “real” kalyeserye surprised everyone, possibly even including himself.

But, the key advantage is the fact that Maine is a really fresh new talent, a starlet made popular on YouTube by her “mash-up” musical videos, before she was officially launched on “Eat Bulaga.”

Her appearances on “EB” may be goonily cartoonish now, but she really has a pert and pretty face, her musical and other performance skills are adequate—and, most importantly, her comedic instinct has turned out to be quite sharp!

In other words, viewers haven’t been doting on her just because she’s coming across as a gaga bimbo—there’s method to her (mash-up) madness, that’s for sure. And there’s lots more about her still waiting to be discovered by the viewing public, hopefully for her and Alden’s long-term benefit!