An Open Letter to PAGE Jeans Co.

May 2, 2009

First of all, let me congratulate you for a good start in organizing the 2009 Search for the Next Page Star. I say good start because the screening process for potential candidates was organized well and I must say that the quality of candidates was generally good. However, I heard something that bothered me. I will discuss this later.

Secondly, thank you for having chosen our talent, John Leo Gorospe, as Male Star of the Night during your acquaintance party, an award that – modesty aside and as Mona herself said – John genuinely deserved.

Now let me express a few sentiments and observations regarding your search. I just hope that you take this in the spirit in which it is given and that it will serve as a lesson so that mistakes can be avoided in your future Next Page Star Search.

Zephorah Mayon is a pretty and stunning young lady. In fact, the first time I saw her walk into the room during the Mutya ng Pilipinas screening two years ago I said to myself “this girl is a winner!” She eventually won the title. However, stunning as she is, she shouldn’t have been taken in as a Page candidate. It is a well known fact that she is already a celebrity and her being so gave her unfair advantage over the others, most of whom are relatively new. I heard that she never attended the screenings and her sudden appearance during the acquaintance party raised many eyebrows. Many agents and parents questioned the wisdom of having her join. I myself wondered. An agent even intimated a suspicion, he figured that Zephorah’s manager wouldn’t enter her in the competition if he weren’t sure she’d win, for it would be a great embarrassment if she lost. So maybe, the agent said, there was already a deal between Zephorah’s manager and the Page owner. But then I gave the thought the benefit of a doubt. I thought he could be wrong. But was he?

Another questionable issue is why an agent who had talents in the competition was allowed to direct the show. Although I personally didn’t mind it that much, for the director wasn’t part of the panel of judges anyway, still his talent’s landing a semi-final slot certainly left a bad taste in the mouth of the other agents.

As to the choice of director, a competent one should have been hired instead. The Page owner who, I heard and by all indications, was generous and galante could have very well afforded a seasoned fashion director. A talent agent doesn’t necessarily make a good director and it showed during the actual show. A modeling search cum pageant cum fashion show with five segments that was to be held in the evening with only a few broken hours of rehearsals shouldn’t have consisted of many blockings. One or two blockings could have sufficed for the five segments. After all, it wasn’t the blockings that counted but the way the candidates projected on stage. This consequently led to the director berating the contestants a number of times for making mistakes. Who could blame the candidates for making mistakes in rehearsing for a very simple show with so many unnecessary blockings? Besides, in one instance, the director scolded the candidates but was put on a spot when it turned out that it was his own mistake. Next time hire a competent and professional director. So much for that.

The twenty-plus candidates were instructed to bring their own clothes expressing their personal style. Most of them went out of their way to look for the best clothes to wear. When the time for that segment (announcement of thirteen finalists) came, they weren’t even called on stage. Only the thirteen were given the chance to appear on stage in their fineries. One Page staff even told the director that perhaps they should have all the candidates called on stage but the latter said there was no need. This to me was the height of insensitivity on the part of the director who didn’t even think of the efforts that the other candidates exerted and the troubles they went through to produce their best attires. How inconsiderate!

Going to the format of the search itself, having female candidates thrice the number of males and eventually having four females and only one male as winner and runners-up is simply – I hate to use the term – dumb. There should have been an equal number of male and female candidates. Also, the decision to have only one winner – either male or female – is just as dumb. How could males and females compete equally for a single title? Perhaps it should just have been a “Miss Page” competition.

Finally, the goodwill that you generated among all the participating agents by giving them due importance was, sadly, lost in the ensuing outcome of the contest. You wasted an opportunity to build on that goodwill. Unless drastic changes are made in next year’s search, I doubt if it would get the same enthusiastic support from most other agents. I myself am reconsidering my options.

I maintain that Zephorah – pretty, elegant and deserving that she was – shouldn’t have been allowed to join, if only for the unfair advantage that her experience and celebrity status gave.

As to our talent – John Leo Gorospe – who was proclaimed Male Star of the Night during the acquaintance party but surprisingly didn’t even make it to the final 13… as his discoverer and manager, of course I believe he should have been included at least in the final 13. And I know that this is not only my opinion but many other people’s view as well. So I leave it to many of those present that night and even to many of your staff to decide if he really should have been one of the finalists. Fortunately, John – the trouper and professional that he is despite his being new in modeling (as evidenced during the acquaintance party’s talent portion when the karaoke DVD we brought didn’t work and yet he performed with gusto and sang a capella) – took his losing in stride and in very sportsmanlike manner. Of course there was a tinge of disappointment but he never showed any bitterness or resentment. That certainly made me all the more proud of our talent (I can say the same for all our other talents; we must be doing a good job instilling good values in them). I know that with John’s looks, determination, professionalism and good nature he will go places in the modeling world. Perhaps Page’s loss will be another apparel company’s gain? J (In fairness, by the way, the only male runner-up was deserving).

I can only wish Page Jeans Co. good luck in next year’s search. It is just unfortunate that a very promising model/star search such as it is started off beautifully but got tainted by unwise decisions and therefore ended up on the wrong side of the tracks, so to speak. But then again, there is always room for corrections and improvements.

On a final note, I would like to commend the Page staff for being helpful and accommodating throughout the duration of the search.

RHOEL “CHINO” R. MENDOZA
Managing Director
The Agencie Inc. Model & Talent Management