Shockingly short ‘shelf life’ for local stars

After many years of seeing show biz stars come and go on local screens and stages, we’ve come to the downbeat but realistic conclusion that most so-called entertainment luminaries don’t shine stellarly for long.

In fact, many ostensible talents have played lead roles do so only once or twice in their abruptly abridged “careers,” before “dimming down” so drastically in terms of popularity and appeal that they are summarily relegated to the growing ranks of “has-been” ex-stars.

In the light of this shockingly short “shelf life” for local stars, we’ve come to a heightened appreciation of the few stars who do last and endure beyond a decade of sustained popularity, which is why we extol and “defend” them so much in this space.”

In addition, we’ve also been nagging and continually reminding younger stars that their hard-won popularity could self-destruct tomorrow—so, they should never ever take it for granted!

Many new stars tend to relax and savor their fame and adulation after clinching their first starring role. They feel like they’re on top of the world and nothing can go wrong—not realizing that what could go wrong could happen as early as their second starrer—if it comes at all!

That’s why we urge new stellar faves to enjoy the thrill and rush of fame and fortune—but to also plot their follow-up moves for the next couple of years now.

JOLINA Magdangal

We’re happy to note that more frequent stellar moves are being made this season, so perhaps the nagging and reminding is having some effect, especially among stars’ handlers and managers.

After all, they’re paid a lot to keep a star shining stellarly, and they know the show biz game better than the stellar newbies they’re handling—so, they should work harder to earn their keep.

As for the few stars who have remained popular for over a decade, we hope that younger stars will admire, value and learn from what they’ve accomplished because it  is all too rare and exceptional.

Take Jolina Magdangal’s successful comeback bid: She’s been in the biz for over two decades, took some time off, but has effectively bounced back as a singer, actress and TV host.

Being a humble person who doesn’t like tooting her own horn, she has unfortunately been taken for granted by some show biz people—so, we’ve been doing the reminding and tooting for her whenever we feel that she’s been underappreciated.

One instance was on “Your Face Sounds Familiar,” where she was the biggest star-contestant, but was treated just like everybody else.

That was patently unfair and ignorant of her status, so we “wrote up” accordingly. Happily, some other people seconded our motion and belatedly singled her out for praise.

More recently, on her daily talk-magazine show, “Magandang Buhay,” she’s similarly being given “equal treatment,” so we’ve once again spoken up and asked for her to be given her own, separate portion on the program, in cognizance of her greater popularity, experience and stellar “K.”

Will that special underscoring and highlighting come to pass? Perhaps, her fans should second the motion.