THE STARSTRUCK SEASON 7 TOP 14 FINALISTS were presented to the press last Tuesday night. The council consisting of Cherie Gil, Heart Evangelista and Jose Manalo said it was not easy for them to select them. The female finalists are Pamela Prinster, 18 years old, from Colorado (she has an American dad); Dani Porter, 17, from Quezon City (she has an American dad and looks like a young Bela Padilla); and Angelic Guzman, 18, from Laguna (she looks like Joyce Ching and did a good version of ‘Out Here on My Own’);
Lexi Gonzales, 19, from Sampaloc, Manila (who looks like Katrina Halili and whose edge is her good singing voice); Ella Cristofani, 18, from Pateros (she has an Italian father who died when she was 14), Rere Madrid, 18, is from Marikina, (the tallest at 5’9” and has beauty queen good looks), and Shayne Sava, 17 (she lives in Binangonan and her grandma accompanies her to GMA, they’re so poor and sometimes have to borrow money for their transportation fare going to QC.)
The male finalists are are Karl Aquino, 18, from Cavite, (he’s a member of the boy group called Clique 5); Abdul Rahman, 16, from Marikina (he has an Egyptian dad and quickly gained a lot of fans in social media because of his boy next door good looks); Kim de Leon, 19, from Batangas (he has made a lot of TV commercials);
Gelo Alagban, 17, from Iloilo (also a member of Clique 5), Jeremy Sabido, 21, from Laguna (whose adoptive dad is gay and whose story as abandoned child was once featured in “Magpakailanman”); Jerick Dolormente, 20 (from Camarines Sur and an Alden Richards lookalike, moreno version), and Allen Ansay (16, also from CamSur, the tallest at 5’10” and also the shyest).
Their artista journey on who will be the Ultimate Male and Female Survivors officially starts this coming weekend.
One of the finalists, Rere, is the younger sister of Protege discovery Ruru Madrid, so it’s natural a lot of writers wanted to interview her. Ruru congratulated his sister in social media for making it as part of the Top 14. “You deserve it. Prove to the people who doubted you that they are wrong. Show everyone what you can do and who you can be. Maraming Salamat po, Ama!”
Rere says she kept it a secret to her brother that she’s joining Starstruck 7. “Gusto ko kasing malaman niya kapag nakapasok na ako sa Top 14,” she says. “I told our parents na huwag siyang sabihan na nag-audition ako sa Dagupan, which was the last leg of the auditions. Late na niya nalaman. Someone from production told him and he texted me, Hoy, pumasok ka pala sa Starstruck, kailan balak sabihin sa akin? I’m now so happy na nakapasok ako sa top 80, then top 40, then top 22, at ngayon, 14 na lang kami.”
So what advice did Ruru give to her? “He said mahalin ko ang craft ko kasi pag minahal mo ito, mamahalin ka rin at matutupad mo ang pangarap mo. Actually, hindi ko ine-expect na makapasok kasi kaming pinagtapat na talo, close friends kami and I felt lahat kami, deserving makapasok sa Final 14. I was so flattered sa comments sa’kin ni Ms. Cherie Gil, na sa lahat daw napanood niya sa videos, ako yung pinakanatural. Pati sina Ms. Heart Evangelista and Mr. Jose Manalo, puro encouraging ang comments sa akin.”
Since she’s a potential beauty queen, would she want to join a beauty pageant sometime? “Yes, but when 21 na ako. Para I’d be a bit more mature na.”
