RIVERA. Needs to go on a thespic sabbatical.
As we watch TV shows across the board, we get the strong and troubling impression that a number of stars and starlets are, either knowingly or cluelessly, missing out on some key opportunities to do well—or better. Would they welcome or at least tolerate little reminders intended for them to get their acts together, before more harm is done to their careers and reputations? We certainly hope so.
Take Marian Rivera. She’s a big TV star now, but she still hasn’t learned how to do a believably touching dramatic scene. Instead of really understanding and feeling what her character is going through, she tries to get by with standard “sad” and “sobbing” shticks, with obviously insufficient or overacting results.
We believe that, with really intense and insightful lessons, Marian can “deliver” as an actress, so she should take a leave from her shows to focus on this important and essential thespic sabbatical. Otherwise, all of the recent efforts to make her “level up” with the biggest and best leading ladies on the local TV-film scene just won’t cut it.
Long talk
Sharon Cuneta is another star who needs to have a good, long talk with herself. The particular opportunity she’s missed involves her new TV show, “The Biggest Loser—Pinoy Edition.”
When the news first broke out that Sharon was hosting the local weight-reduction challenge, we celebrated it as a brilliant idea, because it was a “perfect fit” for her—a star with her own weight problem working hard to lose all those extra pounds along with the reality challenge’s contestants. —Great concept, right?
But, what’s been happening since then? Instead of being a really visible and “participating” host, Sharon has to this date generally been content with only occasional extended appearances on the show.
More to the point, while the contestants have been losing scores of pounds, Sharon hasn’t been participating in their sessions as much as she should, and has thus lost much less.
Expectedly, the Megastar is sensitive about being criticized and pressured in this regard, but less than happy viewers can’t be blamed for feeling disappointed—and shortchanged. It was presumed that Sharon’s own weight loss was key to the program, and would be the empathetic factor that would persuade many viewers to also turn their health and lives around by similarly losing a lot of weight.
Issues
So, while there’s still time, Sharon should focus on all the good and great things that her show—with her fuller participation—can do for all of those viewers—and, not all that incidentally, for herself and her own health issues.
We have faith in her self-discipline and good judgment, so we are optimistic that she can still turn this, from an opportunity missed, into an Opportunity Seized—and triumphantly achieved.
Time to take stock
Finally, we must note that some veteran stars have been so busy doing one show after the other after another that they’ve been coming up with less-than-inspired performances this season. “They” include Iza Calzado, Gina Alajar, Gina Pareño and Eula Valdez.
Ladies, it’s time to slow down, take stock and recharge—because your hard-earned thespic reputations are at stake!