go-sees for Bench’s ‘Understatements’? Here’s a brief peek...
I had never seen so many half-naked bodies parading before me at close range. Ever. Not even two years ago when I was also in the Bench head office while a go-see was taking place. This time around, the whole selection process was more structured, more formal, in the sense that it involved the consensus of fixed panelists.
All I intended to do really was just observe what an actual go-see was like and the fact that it was for an underwear show rendered it a notch above the usual. When I got there however, I found myself appointed as one of the judges. Easy task? Not really.
The first 15 minutes are admittedly the most befuddling. You become privy to an overload of all kinds of bodies – they walk, turn and twirl, showcase their front, back and side views, the women flip their hips here and there, and before you can even decide if he/she should be in or out, the next applicant struts in.
I was not quite over my amazement at their confidence and guts yet (it is far from easy being scrutinized in a state of undress by total strangers ) already I had to deal with analyzing their physique. Later on as I got the hang of it everything became more mechanical and technical, so much so that sometimes I just looked at the applicant’s face as an afterthought. Other times it is the other way around and I had to remind myself that we were primarily searching for beautiful bodies. If there was a beautiful face to match a beautiful body, then all the better. Jackpot. A TV monitor was provided so that we could all see how the models registered on screen.
In between, there were times when you begin to wonder if you missed out on anything. Especially after disapproving seven applicants in a row, you start to doubt your taste and wonder if maybe, just maybe, your yardstick is unrealistic. Depending on the batch, compromise then becomes the name of the game and where at the upstart I would be so quick to just cross the applicant’s number off my list, as time went by I learned to appreciate what Keren Pascual always verbalizes as "...not perfect, pero may dating, may potential–mag work-out lang konti."
The basic height requirement was 5’10 for males and 5’4 for females. As for who should qualify, we all essentially agreed that we were on the lookout for, well, beautiful bodies. No, make that lean beautiful bodies. As much as possible, none of the "Hey-I-lift-weights-five-hours-a-day-everyday" look. Suffice it to say that when it all boiled down to basics, who did and did not make it to the final cut largely depended not only on the personal preferences of the panelists but on the batch that the applicants fortunately – or sometimes, unfortunately – belonged to. (You will discover what I mean as you read on.)
After a total of five go-sees spread out roughly over a one-month period, it soon became apparent that ideals of beauty per se are as varied as the underwear people wear. What amused me even more was that with each go-see it became easy to identify the type of physical beauty each panelist had an inclination for. From a distance, I could also tell which ones Ben Chan would most likely choose, which ones Tito Douglas Quijano would put on his list. At a certain point, Tito Dougs and Antonio Aquitania shared a common scoresheet – Antonio would judge female applicants, Tito Dougs would focus on their male counterparts.
It’s true that each person really has a certain type – he/she may deviate from it from time to time but in the long run, it will be evident what kind of look he/she finds attractive. Robbie Tan and I practically had the same choices, except when it came to women. Tony Espejo was the only panelist I could not quite decipher, maybe because he was always very quiet.
Personally, I had an inclination to pick out the tall guys. On any given go-see, the guys who would make it under my criteria almost always happen to be basketball players. They are built lean, with strong thighs and well-defined calves. Which brings me to an amusing discovery. It was only in the past month that I realized there are still a lot of men whose idea of a beautiful body is a torso as huge as Popeye’s after he has eaten his spinach. They are so focused on being the epitome of muscleman that in the process they completely forget to develop their legs, much less their posterior. They end up having most every man’s nightmare – chicken legs. One guy, when told that he looked good enough except for his behind which needed some serious lifting, defended his body by saying, "Hindi, maluwang lang po ang brief ko."
In fairness to him, sometimes it can be just that (although that wasn’t so in his case). One male applicant, whose proportions were obviously good, somehow looked odd for some reason. We then realized that he was just wearing the wrong style of underwear – it was too high up, cutting off his torso and making his legs look short. He changed into a pair that had a lower rise and, you guessed it, he made the cut.
There were some that, although not quite fit, either already had good foundation or had the makings of one, given enough time to work out specific areas. Commonly, a lot of guys were told to lessen the bulk on the upper body and work out the lower body. As the show director Ariel Lozada quipped, "This is not a body-building contest, this is an underwear show and once you turn to walk backstage, the audience will see nothing but your behind. If you concentrate too much on bulking up your arms and shoulders you might as well strut down the stage using your arms." (Now I don’t think that is the kind of show we all want to see.) Some guys, with a sheer determination of making it, falsify their height. They say they are 5’10 even if they are obviously two to three inches short of that. It happened profusely one afternoon, enough for Ariel to remark in exasperation, "Mga sinungaling kayo, and totoo lang na sinabi ninyo ay ang mga pangalan n’yo." Everyone, including the applicants, burst out laughing. Guys who were taking a lot of supplements as evidenced by the breakout on their backs were told to go off it because as Ariel explained, "Makeup can only do so much." And especially because this was an underwear show, the condition of the skin will also count for a lot.
There were some beautifully tanned girls, their skin naturally golden and bronzed. Some though were told to go to whitening salons to lighten dark knees and elbows. Others were told to go on low-carb diets to get rid of pot bellies. All that said, however, Ben had a strong point of consideration. When it came to women’s bodies, he asked us to keep an eye out not only for perfect curves but for their more robust counterparts as well. That really holds true because if you come to think of it, thin does not necessarily mean sexy. There were some women with less than perfect bodies who made the cut because they had the confidence, the look, and more importantly, strong sex appeal. These are the type of women who don’t just walk, they charge and also bear holes through the audience’s head with the expression in their eyes and their attitude.
True enough, those told to actively improve their physique came back for the final go-see with definite improvements. Arms and shoulders were leaner, legs were more defined, and yes, dark elbows and knees comparatively whiter.
Ultimately, it was the last and final go-see that proved to be the most taxing as we had to further prune an already chosen lot. It was hard enough rounding up just one half of over 400 applicants, harder still to bring down the number some more. There were still lot of good-looking ones that, alas, we just had to let go. In the end, we settled for a total of 71 male and female models to join 31 celebrities for what is dubbed as "the show" of the year.
That afternoon of the final go-see applicants were asked to come in five at a time, walk one by one (there was music provided by Ariel, mind you, so it really simulated the real thing), and then finally walk collectively as a group. The latter was the most crucial because the one who fades into the background (and there is almost always one or two) gets crossed off the list. And that’s where luck is a factor. Sometimes a well-proportioned applicant will just not make it simply because he happened to be thrown into a batch of exceptionally good-looking ones. In the same way, an applicant that may otherwise never make it will luckily do, simply because he/she was included in a batch of exceptionally ordinary looking ones, thus making him the sole standout.
Keren, ever the funnyman, kept the ball rolling with his wisecracks. Keren and I did not always agree on our choices but he was very good at making the rest of us see the potential of an applicant that we were just too willing to cross off our list. At some point I just wanted to watch and not be part of any applicant’s fate. If I only had the power to transform their looks and approve all of them I would, knowing especially that for most of them this was not just a game. It was part of a bigger dream. Why, some even go as far as lying about their age just to get in the show! There were applicants as young as 15 who, despite their grown-up looks, management just could not be accepted simply because they were minors. A lot of girls also applied without their parents’ knowledge.
In hindsight, I would say there really are no ugly ducklings, and I mean that with all honesty. Beauty is relative, always. It is just a matter of what look is preferred here and now. Some who made it to the last Bench underwear show did not quite make it this time around. In no way does it mean they did not look good. There were just some who stood out more than they did. And that is why we were all there in the first place – to help choose models to be part of a show that would showcase the best of the best. In two or four years, another wave of heavenly bodies will brave the go-see. Some who did not make it this time might very well just breeze through the process next time. Who knows? The only thing certain is that sometimes, the cut of your underwear could make or break you.
Understatement is showing this Wednesday at the Araneta Center. As early as two months ago, tickets were already practically all gone. What is in store for all of us? I am just as clueless as you are. All I know for a fact is that with the creative think tanks behind Bench headed by Ben Chan himself, together with director Ariel Lozada and stylist Michael Salientes, we are all in for a show to remember.