Brent Manzano
The guys have some catching up to do. Three male scholars earned the lowest marks in the singing, acting and dancing challenges on Saturday’s second weekly Live Exam show of the TV5 reality search “Artista Academy”.
On a show with the theme called Moments, TV5 Talent Center head Direk Mac Alejandre, speaking on behalf of fellow critics Gelli De Belen, Lorna Tolentino and “AA” Principal Wilma Galvante, singled out Brent Manzano, Benjo Leoncio and Chris Leonardo as the bottom three.
And while the Live Exam grades of Brent, Benjo and Chris form only a part of their total scores, these guys need to rally their supporters to vote for them via SMS to make sure they don’t get the boot on the “1st Kick Out Day” on Monday.
Brent, who wowed members of the media with his singing ability during the press presentation of the 16 scholars prior to the start of the show, was a disappointment in this department as far as the critics were concerned.
Mentored by Louie Ocampo, Brent was pitted against Malak So Shdifat, Marvelous Alejo, Jon Leonardo and Stephanie Rowe but could not seem to hit the right notes as he faltered behind the other four.
Marvelous continued his winning streak as she got the thumbs up from Direk Mac and LT. Jon, a member of the bottom three who were all saved from elimination last Monday, got high marks this time from LT and Gelli, while Malak left a good impression on Galvante.
In the acting department, the next batch of Vin Abrenica, Nicole Estrada, Alberto Bruno, Benjo Leoncio and Sophie Albert took their turns to make an impression.
Benjo Leoncio
Despite some able coaching from mentor Joel Lamangan, Benjo Leoncio’s inability to speak Tagalog well hampered his monologue, and all four critics gave him the lowest grades.
Sophie Albert proved that she’s not just another pretty face. “Being na being,” quipped a thoroughly impressed LT. Another previous bottom-three dweller, Alberto Bruno, gave a performance that was proficient enough to keep him in the hunt.
In the dancefest that followed, Chanel Morales, Mark Neumann and Akihiro Blanco proved that they can keep step with the best of them as they outshone Shaira Mae, Julia Quisumbing and Chris Leonardo, who proved to be the weakest link in the batch.
Chris Leonardo
After the break, both Galvante and Alejandre announced that, unlike last week, they will eliminate one or more scholars this coming Monday.
“Mahusay ang 16. Pero contest ito. May maki-kickout. Pag na-kickout ka, ‘di dahil wala kang galing. Meron lang mas magaling,” Direk Mac later tweeted.
As text votes form 20 percent of the scholars’ total grades, Alejandre also pointed out that fan support is very crucial to the competition.
A check with their respective Twitter accounts revealed that the girls have more followers than the guys, with Chris and Alberto having the lowest number among the guys at only 400 plus each.
Among the girls, almost everyone has already reached more than 1,000 followers with only Malak and critics’ darling Chanel bringing up the rear with 800 plus each.
So will school remain in session for another week or will class be finally dismissed for the students with the lowest grades? Find out Monday as “Artista Academy” returns for another lesson.
To text for you favorite “Artista Academy” students and save them from elimination, text AA space (name of student) and send to 5656. Voting ends at 8PM on Sunday.
Hosted by Cesar Montano and Marvin Agustin, “Artista Academy” airs on TV5 every Monday to Friday at 11:45AM and 9PM and every Saturdays at 9:30PM.
