Mango Square has decided to make its presence felt even more by coming up with weekly entertainment activities starting this month. Topping the list of events is the search for “Mr. & Ms. Campus Model 2010,” an inter-school fashion-pageant competition meant not only to showcase the beauty and talents of Cebuano youth, but also to discover future big names in the modeling and pageant arenas.
Organizers of the activity namely, PREIMAX Global Solutions, Traffic Convenient Store, Cala Espresso, and Mango Square, also hope to dispel recent rumors insinuating that the square is no longer safe and secure area for its clientele, which is primarily made up of young people.
In a press conference last Monday at the Sports Exchange Bar & Grill located at the third level of Mango Square, Kaye Luym, the mall’s managing director, reiterated that the establishment has remained secure, so parents have nothing to worry about their kids hanging out in the area. She mentioned of “roving guards not wearing uniforms, bomb-sniffing dogs,” among the “tested and proven” security measures they have implemented.
Dr. Jay Jabonero, PhD., of PREIMAX, meanwhile revealed that as early as last week, various schools have already called up his office to inquire about the modeling search. These include St. Paul College Foundation, University of Cebu, University of the Visayas, and University of San Jose Recoletos. Jabonero said the candidates must possess “beauty, talent, and attitude.”
Luym was more specific, saying that winners must be able to “talk to people, go around and be able to reach out even to the masses and should have the right attitude. Some are just pretty faces but they can’t speak well. They have to have flexibility.”
The good thing about this competition is that each school can send as many representatives as possible, “as long as they get endorsement from the school,” according to Luym.
Aside from the Q&A, candidates will also compete for the best in uniform and sportswear awards, with the latter replacing the swimsuit portion. “It’s not the season for swimwear,” Luym explained.
Winners will receive cash prizes and gift certificates from sponsors, will be featured in the company’s promotional calendar, and will eventually become endorsers or spokespersons. The FREEMAN Newspaper, being a co-presenter, will also pick two winners for the “Reader’s Choice” award.
Height requirement is 5’5” for girls and 5’8” for boys. Candidates must be 17 to 21 years old. If you think you are qualified, secure your school’s endorsement and join the final screening on Sept. 18, at Mango Square. Call Dr. Jay Jabonero @ 09334756698 or 268-9377, for more details.
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Speaking of campus, I was excited to learn that another University of San Jose-Recoletos product is set to gain national fame through Megastar Sharon Cuneta’s upcoming reality show “Star Power” that will have its pilot episode next month. Cuneta will be joined by “Star in a Million” products Erik Santos and Christian Bautista as co-hosts. There were reportedly seven hopefuls who passed the regional auditions held in Cebu two weeks ago. They were flown to Manila early this week for the next level of auditions. As of Wednesday, only two of those seven hopefuls will be moving to the next round—one is the Josenian and the other is a girl from Ormoc City, said to be a product of then “Little Big Star Cebu” which was hosted by Sheryn Regis.
Should this Josenian fare well, she will be joining the roster of Josenians who have made a name for themselves in the entertainment capital. There’s Anna Fegi, Jimmy Marquez, Isabel Oli, Luke Mijares, and Diva Montelaba, to name some of them. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this mass communication student will be the latest addition to the growing list.
I’ve already seen her perform during the annual USJR Words and Music last July, when I was invited to be one of the judges along with “Kapamilya Mas Winner Ka” host Roy Empleo and Knapsack Dancers Cinbeth Orellano. My reaction then was, oh my, this petite and charming girl can really sing! That’s why I was no longer surprised when my good friend Niza Marinas of Cebu Daily News told me that this Josenian talent was well applauded by Star Power’s set of distinguished judges after she performed Alicia Keys “If I Ain’t Got You.” I am so excited for her and I can’t wait for “Star Power” to start. Of course, I will also be supporting the other aspirant who made it to the next round, being a fellow Bisdak. Besides, Ormoc is a neighboring island, which is only 45 minutes by pumpboat from my beloved hometown in Pilar, Camotes.
Speaking of USJR, I was amazed at its very hi-tech masscom studio, complete with new equipment for students to use and learn from. Gosh, it was never like that during my time 10 years ago. It now has a dark room, editing room, newsroom, plus lights and cameras. It’s very spacious as well. And the equipment of dyAR—the campus radio wherein I used to be a newscaster for a semester—has improved a lot. In fact, College of Arts & Sciences dean Dr. Teoddie Dumam-ag, who was my Journalism instructor, told me that there is a proposal for dyAR to go mainstream, but he resisted it because it would require an outsourcing of talents so as to maintain it fulltime. This arrangement might jeopardize the hands-on training of the masscom students in the process. But it appears that the student station is doing very well since it has regular sponsors and advertisers already.
Ms. Margie Visitacion, who handles communication subjects at the university and who also appears on TV every now and then as local product endorser and ABS-CBN talent, also showed me the adjacent fully-improved speech laboratories. They have huge TV screens so that students don’t only get to hear their audio, but will also be able to see how they are doing as far as gestures are concerned. Wow, the Masscom Coordinates (student org) are very lucky now to enjoy good facilities that complement the strong teaching force. Can I take up masscom again so I can enjoy the improvements? Just kidding!
By the way, Visitacion mentioned to me last Thursday that the Josenian contender in “Star Power” was also her student at her Communication Arts Learning Center, which is why, she is as excited as me. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s also keeping her fingers crossed and praying to the Señor Sto. Niño for her student to succeed.
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