Sweet eighteen

Young Star turns 18 with a prom and a new crew of talents to watch out for.

MANILA, Philippines - Born in 1996, Young Star has consistently been a hotbed of promising talents. This is the same youth section, after all, that the likes of Celine Lopez, Jessica Zafra, and Erwin Romulo once called home. The same youth section that brought us the “Sister Act and Mom Reacts” trio of Mai Mai, Mikee, and Tingting Cojuangco. And in the last few years, the same youth section that championed the talents of social media stars Your Evil Twin, National Geogaphic darling Hannah Reyes, the mainstream-to-indie transition of Jasmine Curtis-Smith, Tumblr celebrities like Rob Cham, Tokwa Penaflorida, and Soleil Ignacio, and so on and so forth.

Today, at 18 years old, we’re still big fans of youth empowerment. “Youth plus their passions minus the bull,” Young Star 2.0 founding editor Paolo Lorenzana once said. And in the same way, we’ve tried to uphold that motto, whether it’s giving valuable print (and social media) space to promising youth talents you might be overlooking, or discussing issues that might be too risqué for your average teen mag.

We kick-start our anniversary issue with our Fresh Produce list (page F-2), an annual feature on up-and-coming talents who are turning Manila into a meritocracy, gaining traction based on talent and skill set, and not on last-name buoyancy or showbiz credentials. Meanwhile, former Young Star assistant editor Ralph Mendoza, now a freelance photographer, shoots model Kelsey Merritt (also born in 1996) for our anniv cover. Kelsey talks to us about balancing a seriously glamorous job with a serious education (page G-4).

Next week, we’re celebrating our 18th with the YS Prom, collaborating with the likes of design duo Pperheads, hot art scene talents like Luis Santos and Ryan Villamael, and social media stars Fly Art Design. We catch up with Luis, Ryan, Carina Santos, and JP Cuison (page H-2) to talk about how they came up with their YS tote designs, the giveaway at the event. And we meet the folks over at Fly Art Productions (page H-2) and find out how the little Instagram account that could is branching out.

Finally, your friendly neighbourhood youth section is barely legal and ready to mingle. —Raymond Ang