Really tight race for ‘J’ stellar comers

OINEZA

Don’t look now, but 2016 is shaping up as a bumper year for young starlets determined to end up as certified stars. —Even more remarkably, the top seven contenders in this stellar struggle all have first names that begin with the letter J! Let’s dub them our “J” Stars of Tomorrow!

Going scrupulously in alphabetical order, Jane Oineza made her mark as a “PBB” housemate, and was promptly given an attention-calling role on a TV drama series.

Janella Salvador got her TV break earlier on the teen “Oh My G” series, which clicked with viewers, and is  costarring in another soap and movie.

Janine Gutierrez has been given her share of exposure on TV, and also as a ramp and photographic model.

Jasmine Curtis-Smith, Anne’s younger sister, has had many shows on TV5—but no major impact just yet.

Julia Barretto is also being given the build-up treatment by way of  a new TV drama series, “And I Love You So.”

Julia Montes currently plays twins on “Doble Kara”and has topbilled other series in the past. However, her bid to get acting cred and “K” has not yet been completely successful.

And Julie Anne San Jose has effectively modified her look and image to now come on strong  as a lovely singer-actress.

Who’s ahead?

Who’s ahead of the pack as show biz year 2015 comes to a close? Jasmine Curtis-Smith is lovely and bright, but the TV studio backing her, TV5, is third in the overall ratings race, so that contextually affects and limits its contract stars’ prospects.

Next to go (for now) is Jane Oineza, whose handlers haven’t yet announced a follow-up project. Even successful starlets can’t rest on their initial laurels.

Janine Gutierrez has an ongoing series and  good show biz “genes” going for her, but she should remind herself to grin less and less often, because her mouth is slightly too wide.

Less shallowly, we can add that Janine’s TV portrayals to date have been lacking in felt uniqueness, individuality and pertinence.

Julia Barretto has a new series—but, her role in it looks like it’s going be kontrabida-ish, so it could end up being counterproductive for her.

Julia Montes already has a track record as a viable TV star, but she appears to have limited versatility in performance.

More focused, dynamic image

For her part, Julie Anne San Jose used to be a rather nondescript and overweight starlet who could sing—until she worked hard and succeeded in shedding those unwanted pounds and opting for a more focused and dynamic image and screen persona last year—thus emerging as a much better stellar contender.

Finally, Janella Salvador appears to be the leading “J” comer of the moment due to her acting and singing talents, and the attention-calling TV-film roles she’s been getting—plus a new soap, “Born for You.”

To summarize: The strongest bets among the “J” comers for 2016 are Janella and Julie Anne—so, we hope that their respective handlers will boost their respective stellar prospects with even more persuasive TV-film showcases!