Patty Laurel and Johan Ekedum

I am with Patty Laurel and Johan Ekedum, the winners of the recently concluded MTV VJ search. We are shooting the breeze just outside Glorietta and a man is trying to sell us a fake Rolex. You have to dig the irony of the situation: VJ Patty and VJ Johan (we have to call them that henceforth) are two of the sincerest persons you’ll ever get to meet. Patty is an Ateneo student slash UAAP courtside reporter; Johan is a UP student slash commercial/ramp model. Of course, we’ve always associated showbiz with fake plastic personalities and other chameleons, and these two are going to be at the center of the maelstrom of pretense, make-believe and unreality. But there’s nothing phony or contrived about VJ Patty and VJ Johan, that’s probably why they bested the other, more popular candidates of the MTV VJ Hunt 2003.

So, if you’re going to draw metaphors to describe the two, shiny counterfeit watches will never do.

VJ Patty says, "I wish I could say something exciting about my life, but really I’m more of the couch potato type. Anyway, being a VJ is not just being wacky or crazy. It’s a serious job. It’s a tough job. It’s not just glamour. I see KC and Belinda memorizing thick scripts – they’re really serious about their work."

She adds that the youth are getting smarter, and they’re becoming more critical of the things they see. "Being a VJ is knowing when to have fun and when to be responsible. MTV needs real people."

VJ Johan agrees. "And as a VJ, you could be an instrument for world peace… Teka, that sounds like a beauty pageant answer (laughs)," he cracks. "Seriously, if you’re a ‘celebrity,’ people look up to you. If you do good deeds, people will think it’s cool. And it really is."

The VJ who looks like a Lenny Kravitz doppelganger (frizzy hair, dark skin and all) wants to tell aspiring video jocks to become what they are. "Don’t ever try to change yourself," he shares. "Kasi even if you do, the real you will come out."

At first, Johan was resigned to the fact that he’d never win. "I daydream pa nga of going to Singapore or winning a Grammy, but I always tell myself, ‘Eh hindi ka nga mananalo eh!’ (laughs). In the last few days of competition, I was settling down to the reality of losing. I even planned my sked: Punta ako sa school, get my grades, tignan ko kung may bagsak ako (laughs)."

Of course, Johan won. ("I’d like to think it’s because of my bubbly personality, but nah… it’s partly because of the hair.") After that, he went to the after-show party at Mati’s, danced like a fool, and got drunk some more. Niño, one of the aspirants, started throwing food at him. "When I got to Greenbelt," says Johan, "I found out there was still chicken and mayo on my hair (laughs)."

Patty remembers going to a Chinese restaurant after the finals-night, pigging out, and going to a friend’s house for a videoke session. What did she sing? Winner Takes It All by Abba? Ako Ang Nagwagi by Dulce? "No, Locomotion by Kylie (laughs). My friends were teasing me to introduce the songs."

This pretty female VJ whom I described in a past article as "Proof enough that God or something like it exists," is wearing a black polo shirt and the shortest skirt in the world. I’m damn sure she’s an unassuming urban muse who has tortured boys by simply being. (Johan even talks about the male VJ aspirant who went absolutely bonkers over Patty. Well, can’t blame Cassanova.)

Laurel listens to introspective femmes like Alanis Morissette, Sarah McLachlan and Dolores O’Riordan of the Cranberries. She quirkily wore a magenta (not pink) tapis to the finals-night. But what will strike one most about Patty is her down-to-earth demeanor. Maybe even her distaste for the phony and assorted fakery.

"Teenagers are having an identity crisis, searching for themselves through MTV," she says. "People are yearning for shows that would mix fun and substance. We need something less superficial. I admire all the MTV shows, but I think we have to go beyond listening to music or watching celebrities. We could communicate a message out of all the fun."

True, true. You could say these VJs are such well-grounded beings – and have warped sense of humor, too. Johan says he once rode a tricycle and was creeped out by the driver, who stared at him throughout the trip. So he asked him what gives.

Johan: Manong, bakit?

Trike driver: (Seemingly mesmerized) ‘Di ba ikaw yung kasama ni Antoinette Taus na kumakanta sa TV?

Johan: (To himself) Oh sh*t famous na ‘ko. (To the driver, smugly, in a modulated voice) Opo, Manong, ako nga po ‘yon.

Trike driver: Ahh… Anong show nga ‘yon? Wish Ko Lang?

Just add the obligatory "Nyek!" in that goofy exchange. Johan told the driver, sarcastically, "Oo, Manong, matagal ko nang pinapangarap na makasama si Antoinette Taus sa TV. Eto na po ‘yung bayad."

Patty recounts that when she went to the MTV office to audition, she was intimidated by the models with aquiline noses and catwalk poses. She even texted her mother, "Mom, uwi na ako." And, yes, this sweet girl admits that she once bought an Andrew E album. ("I was in grade 3 (laughs), I didn’t know better," she says).

Johan, on the other hand, stands by the Tiffany album he so loves. "Could Have Been, All This Time and I Think We’re Alone Now are good, good songs."

Imagine, these two engaging characters thought they didn’t have an iota of a chance of becoming an MTV video jock at first. But hey, after all the sound and the fury, all that MTV hoopla, all three-months of nail-biting excitement, Patty Laurel and Johan Ekedum have finally landed their dream jobs. The dream job of minions, I should say: Everyone and his mother (including my panadero neighbors who do spiels before playing songs from Vhingo and Jimmy of the April Boys) want to be an MTV VJ. So, I guess Patty also speaks for Johan when she says, "Becoming a VJ is the greatest thing I’ve done so far."

Those who don’t agree can go sell fake plastic watches for all they care.