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| jose with cheri and heart as STARSTRUCK judges |
JOSE MANALO is one of the judges in the Starstruck Season 7 Council. How did he feel when some quarters expressed their disapproval of him and questioned his qualifications?
“Okay lang, kasi ako mismo, I never expected that they’d get me as a judge,” he says at the presscon of “Starstruck” that starts airing on GMA-7 tomorrow night. “At hindi ko naman nilalagay sa kukote ko na judge ako at hindi rin naman ako nagso-social media para di ko mabasa ang mga sinasabi nila sa’kin, kaya hindi ako nasasaktan.
"Ang dami ko na ngang problema, pati ba naman sila, poproblemahin ko pa? Pero sa ‘Eat Bulaga’, ako talaga ang may hawak ng auditions sa screening ng iba’t ibang singing and dancing portions, pati sa Mr. Pogi since the time manalo si Jericho Rosales. Production assistant pa lang ako noon at ako ang nag-demo sa kanya kung paano niya babasahin ang spiels niya.”
His co-judges, Heart Evangelista and Cherie Gil, defended him. “Jose has a natural talent for comedy and hindi mahirap maging komedyante,” says Heart. “So I think he’d be a perfect judge kasi hindi madali yung ginagawa niyang pagpapatawa sa tao.”
“And the fact that he handles all the auditions in ‘Eat Bulaga’ gives him a lot of experience to see kung sino talaga yung qualified to perform or not,” adds Cherie.
Since he personally sees co-hosts Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza in “Eat Bulaga”, are the reports that they snub each other when they’re not on cam true?
“Naku, hindi. Sa nakikita ko, nag-uusap pa rin naman sila at okay pa rin naman ang relasyon nila. Hindi totoo yung sinasabing nag-iiwasan sila. Nagkakasama sila siguro, twice a week, sa ‘Juan for All’ portion, at okay naman sila. Nagbibiruan pa nga. Naghaharutan. Ewan ko kung bakit parang gusto silang paghiwalayin ng ibang tao.”