More than just great bodies

Once more I accepted an invitation to sit as judge in another Slimmers World Great Bodies competition – the talent portion this time – which was held last Oct. 18 at the Music Museum in Greenhills.

Since the venue was close by, I considered to just go there on foot until I looked out the window and saw how dirty the air was outside. So hop into the car I did and tried to squeeze into that Greenhills traffic, which would even worsen with the coming of the Christmas season.

When I got to the Music Museum, the event had yet to start and so I went down to one of the Jewels Apparel outlets downstairs to get clothes to wear to my regular shows Startalk and Now Na! (on QTV 11).

Upon my return, I was told that the competition was set to start in a matter of minutes and so I proceeded to my assigned seat. On my way there, I bumped into Slimmers World Vice President Helen Camacho and I said hello (I don’t know why she is looking so young these days).

Later, I found out that I was going to be seated between Rachel Lobangco and no less than Asia’s Queen of Song Pilita Corrales. Pilita Corrales in a bodybuilding competition? Well, she may have the tiniest waistline among our female celebrities (still unmatched today), but I can’t reconcile in my mind Pilita Corrales and bulging muscles. And then I realized that we were judging a talent contest and she fitted right in. Actually, she is even way overqualified. With her years (decades!) of experience, all she has to do is sniff the contestants to find out if he or she has talent. (And yes, it dawned on me later that she is the mother of one of the most popular Great Bodies winners, Jackie Lou Blanco, who must have gotten all the right genes from Pilita Corrales.)

But it was an honor to be seated right beside an icon and Ms. Corrales had always been so nice. I felt good that very moment.

To my left was Rachel Lobangco, who is as shapely as ever. In fact, she had been getting invitations to join Slimmers World Great Bodies contest, but for some reason she had always demurred. (Trouble is, if she joined, she is a sure winner and that would take away the excitement.) Right now, she seems content just choosing the winners herself in bodybuilding competitions.

Rachel and I wanted to indulge in more small talk (about physical fitness, no doubt), except that the competition started before I could even warm my seat.

After the presentation of contestants, the talent portion began right away and I realized that this must be the most exciting talent competition I’ve ever judged. In the past, we were often stuck with contestants who would perform almost perfunctorily – just so they’d be able to do something for the talent competition. But not this time. Everyone really prepared. And, most important of all, they had the talent.

One female contestant made a family act of her talent portion. She rendered a song, but brought her kids to play the instruments. As a judge, I felt like she was holding me hostage emotionally. How do you turn away a mother and her children?

Some male contestants also did song numbers. But sorry, no one among them brought a wife, a girlfriend, a kid or a mistress. Can you imagine if any of them had brought a mother or a grandmother to sing a duet with them? Fortunately for these men, the males have to compete with males and the females with females. So they need not worry about the singing mother with kids.

Actually, even the singing mom has to worry about other female competition. Former actress Maita Sanchez (now wife of Pagsanjan Mayor ER Ejercito) joined the Great Bodies contest and for her talent portion, she did a Muslim-inspired dance number with a full production that could rival any of the finales of our local awards shows.

Then there was also this other female contestant who did a striptease (still within bounds of decency – don’t worry) and she was so good at it, you’d think she does it for a living. (No, she doesn’t.)

By the end of the competition, Rachel Lobangco and I were already wracking our brains because we didn’t know which one to choose. We just put down our scores and submitted our tally sheets.

Never did I have this much difficulty judging – in all the years I’ve been sitting as judge in all sorts of contests. But never did I have this much fun because the contestants gave their best.

Too bad, I don’t know the winners yet in the talent competition because the results will be revealed only on Nov. 25 during the Great Bodies finals at the PICC. Usually, people are discovered through this competition and become commercial endorses (or some showbiz careers are revived because of this contest). I have a feeling that the pair who would be crowned Mr. and Ms. Great Bodies this year will make it big. Whoever they may be – good luck to them. But remember, I knew them when.