What now, ‘tweening’ stars?

Jillian Ward, then and now

Child actors are particularly, giddily doted on by local viewers, whose addled adulation enables them to earn millions that liberate their families and clans from the shackles of poverty.

But, what happens when Nature inexorably takes its course and the fave “breadwinner” kids undergo hormonal changes that make them grow body hair, go all curvy and busty, and experience a drastic drop in vocal pitch?

It’s time to face up to the tweening times, kiss goodbye to profitable kiddie cuteness, and figure out how to keep earning as performers, this time as former child stars.

In the past, this awkward period in a young talent’s transitioning life was addressed by simply making the tween talent take a long vacation out of camera range.

His adult relatives, whom he has “subsidized” for so many years, would go back to work, while the young star got over his “growing pains” in private.

Zaijian Jaranilla

Two or three years later, the now-teen actor would try to make a comeback in show biz, hoping against hope that his fans would welcome him back with open arms.

Even better, teen viewers would find him “crushable” enough in his new and updated apparition to “fall in love” with, thereby assuring many more years of profitable popularity, all the way to his senior years.

So, it’s the transition from kid to tween star that’s the most “dangerous” part of a talent’s key transformation.

Ryzza Mae Dizon

Sad to say, not many are able to survive the process with their stellar career still on stellar high—so, it requires the greatest effort not just by the talent, but by all of his mentors and handlers to successfully pull it off.

The crisis is compounded when the talent is also a singer because the human voice is
notoriously unreliable and changeable after age 12.

The previously amazing child singer with the clear and lovely boy-soprano voice suddenly cracks and croaks, sounding more like a frog than a prince.

Some young talents work their way around this by radically adjusting their vocal pitch and changing their repertoire
—but, the career-curtailing toll is still high.

These days, the situation has been further complicated by the fact that many young talents don’t “disappear” for a couple of years, but try to continue making (more limited) hay by staying on-cam, grappling with their growing pains and problems in full view of the public.

The current prime example of this is Ryzza Mae Dizon, who has grown up in front of viewers’ eyes.
When she was cute and cuddly, she even had her own daily talk-variety show on GMA 7, aside from a TV series or three. But now that she’s older, she’s cut her TV exposure back to the basics, as an “Eat Bulaga” cohost.

Xyriel Manabat

What else could be in store for her and her continually evolving career, when she attains full teen status? It depends on how she looks after the “teen-evolution” process is completed.

If she turns out to be pretty, she could star in teen dramas. If the outcome in terms of pulchritude is “not so much,” she could still have a good career in more comedic vehicles.

Other young luminaries this season include Xyriel Manabat, Jillian Ward, Zaijian Jaranilla and Yogo Singh. How will they adjust, survive and flourish as tweening stars?