No Guarantees of Fame in Local Showbusiness

People used to say before na merong favoritism daw sa Talent Center.  Kesyo daw si Mr. M likes this boy or girl more kaya they're given more breaks.  My take naman is that what the studio does is just gamble on some of these young, place them in a show and just wait for the public to choose who they really want!  During my time, they were VERY strict with their talents and their attendance sa training and workshops.  Kahit si Claudine (who was really hot around this time) had to attend if she wanted to get projects.

Frankly, I wouldn't have thought Angel Locsin would become the most famous member of her batch!!  She just looked pretty plain then but she has really turned out to be a really pretty lady who can also act!

My Students at that time: The Beautiful Vanessa del Bianco

The ABS-CBN Talent Center would sometimes assign me one-on-one students - those that really needed help pronto!  One of them was Vanessa del Bianco, one of John Estrada's many ex-gfs.  She was in their noontime show and she was becoming very popular but her Tagalog really needed help.  She was very masipag, very bubbly and perpetually smiling! I liked her as a student!

Funny anecdote is, during one of our lessons, I told her something like, avoid going out with married men!  And since I was rarely privy to showbiz chismis then, I believed it when she said that she never went out with married men.  Years later, I found out ex pala siya ni John, who was well, married to Janice de Belen, but I'm not sure kung sila pa ni Janice at that time...

Beautiful Memories When I Was Teaching Budding Celebrities!

I used to teach English and Tagalog at the ABS Talent Center (now known as Star Magic) way back in the day! Imagine, a Bisaya guy like me teaching Tagalog! Anyway, this was like my third batch na which included Raffy Rosell, Heart Evangelista and is that girl Angel Locsin? I don't remember her use that name e, she was like Princess something.

Funny thing is I don't quite remember her but she became the most famous alumni of her batch!! Remember the days when they had Batch 1 etc etc. There were like 40 of these kids and only 2-3 become really famous! Wala pang PBB nito ha or any of those reality shows which is now being used by young kids to enter showbiz.