A fruitful year for Stages talents

MANILA, Philippines - Stages Talent Management Group was formed when it took on the career of the then promising crooner Christian Bautista in 2003. Stages’ seven years in the business of talent management has established Christian as the country’s hottest male singer and a strong force in the music industry in the Asian region. It also showed how the group has grown into being one of the most promising talent agencies in the entertainment industry.

This year, Stages turned over a new leaf when Carlo Orosa was named its newest head. More importantly, 2010 served as a definitive year for almost all Stages talents.

From just being a balladeer with numerous hits, Christian has evolved into being the sexiest crooner of his generation. He, with his to-die-for body, graced the pages of numerous magazines and billboards, and was even named one of this year’s Cosmo Centerfolds.

Cementing his stature as an Asian icon, Christian has just finished shooting for the international movie Jayden’s Choir, set for local release next year.

Christian also returned to TV acting this year with the drama series Beautiful Girl with Carmen Soo. Currently, aside from his regular stint in A.S.A.P. XV, he is also a co-host in Sharon Cuneta’s Star Power.

In the recording scene, he remains to be on top of his game with the highly-successful releases of his albums Romance Revisited, awarded triple platinum in the country and double platinum in Indonesia, and A Wonderful Christmas. Both albums are released by Universal Records.

Many new doors also opened for Stages’ prime female star Karylle. The singer-actress landed a crucial role in the filmfest entry Dalaw with Kris Aquino, where she is receiving good reviews. The movie is her first for Star Cinema. She also was part of the series Magkano Ang Iyong Dangal.

She maintains her own blog, published in a very popular search engine, and continues to be one of the most famous celebrity runners in the country.

Karylle’s A Time For Letting Go album was awarded platinum. She is working on a new one, set for release next year by PolyEast. She is also set to make her stage comeback via the musical Light in the Piazza.

On the small screen, Karylle is still a hurado in Showtime and one of the mainstays of A.S.A.P. XV.

Sam Concepcion, on the other hand, may well be one of the hottest TV personalities juggling work for A.S.A.P. XV, Shoutout and the upcoming dance series Good Vibes.

Sam also headlined one of the five episodes in the Star Cinema horror flick Cinco. He also did an advocacy movie titled Pinoy Scouts for the Boy Scouts of the Philippines.

He is also working on a new album under Universal Records.

Gigger Boy Enrique Gil tries his hosting skills via Shoutout. He is also in the cast of Good Vibes and A.S.A.P. XV. He was also in the Kim Chiu-Gerald Anderson movie Till My Heartaches End.

Tippy Dos Santos and Aria Clemente also had a groundbreaking year. Tippy played sister to Sam Milby’s character in musical series Idol. Aria, meanwhile, is bestfriend to Kathryn Bernardo in Mara Clara. Both performers are in Shoutout.

Marco Mañalac, a former Nickelodeon host, made a marked comeback this year when he essayed the controversial role of Alan Strang in Equus, the same one played by Daniel Radcliffe on Broadway. He earned raving reviews for his portrayal as a disturbed young man.

While doing Equus, he made it to the 2010 MYX VJ Search.

He then was named one of the 10 Cosmo Centerfolds for this year, alongside Christian and fellow Stages talent Bryann Foronda, one of the hottest models in the country.

Marco also appeared in an episode in Cinco and supported Sam in the movie Pinoy Scouts.

Currently, he is taping for Imortal. He is also set to start shooting for the upcoming Maja Salvador-Matteo Guidicelli movie Basted under Star Cinema.

Indie Actor Chase Vega made an impressive stint in CinemaOne entry Dagim.

 “Seven years into the business and we are busy as ever with some of the most promising talents in the country. We are so blessed,” says Carlo Orosa. “We are very thankful that 2010 has been a very good year for all of us. We hope and pray that 2011 will be an even better year.”