CEBU, Philippines — Talented Cebuanos are called to action as Cebu Talent Network (CTN) looks for homegrown superstars, young and old. Whether it be in singing, dancing, acting, or straight up putting on a show, CTN wants you.
With the tagline “Bisaya na pud, Bisaya na g’yud!” all talented Cebuanos are called to come forward and take their rightful place in the spotlight.
The brainchild of MuStar Dream Productions, CTN is currently Cebu’s only reality talent search. Capping off its first season of auditions held at Parkmall in February, 15 out of 30 auditionees prevailed in the leg’s semifinals last March. The second leg of auditions began yesterday at Robinson’s Galleria with a press conference preceding the event.
“We aim to empower Cebuano talents. With our tagline, we know that there is a lot of talent here in Cebu. We want to create a venue for them to showcase their talents,” Audition Master Marlon Hofer says of the competition’s purpose.
More auditions in the following weeks are set to take place at Robinson’s Galleria. The third season of auditions will be at SM City Cebu, where auditionees will also compete for 15 slots, leading up to the finals on June 22 at Ayala Center Cebu.
Contestants are judged in equal parts: 50 percent judges’ votes, and 50 percent votes from the public. Videos of the official contestants will be available on the CTN official Facebook handle where netizens can like, react, view, and share a contestant’s content with a corresponsing point system.
Since its first leg of auditions, the top five standouts have been various singing and dancing acts, including pole dancers and magicians.
Bisaya talents from remote areas can spare themselves from the hassle of coming all the way from afar, since the competition’s Facebook handle also accepts video entries for pre-screening, and whosoever makes the cut will be granted slots for the on-stage auditions at malls IN Cebu.
In CTN, anything goes. MuStar Dream Productions CEO and CTN executive producer Ren Ranche says that it is about time that Cebuanos shine, in all parts of the talent spectrum.
“We see a lot of potential here in our city. It so happens that auditions are mostly in Manila, and the talent of our locals here aren’t exposed. I know for a fact that Cebuanos are very talented people. I think it’s our time to shine. That’s why we’re doing this,” Ranche explains why they haven’t limited the kind of talent that they want to see.
A film contract with Cebuano film advocacy movers “Cine Gugma” and a recording deal with “Manganta Ta Bai” is at stake for the CTN hopefuls.
They will do films with Cebuano filmmakers and will perform music made by Cebuano songwriters. Should mainstream producers want to take the winners as artists, CTN will gladly see how it works out.
While other prizes are yet to be announced, career exposure is definitely in the horizon, with CTN airing the competition over at CCTN Channel 47 and Sky Cable Channel 36. The premiere telecast will be on Sunday, May 13, with more following as the competition progresses.
Hofer and Ranche are among the regular judges for the auditions, alongside TV commercial model Debbie Uy, and Al Consulta Bacolod, proprietor of Audionair, CTN’s official lights and sounds system and full technical production provider.
Apart from Hofer, beauty queen and singer Duchess Uybengkee, and TV commercial model and actor Audrie Jedd Cortez will be hosting the competition.
As young and old come together to show what they’ve got, it can be difficult to judge their sundry talents which aren’t really limited to the usual sing and dance. And so, Hofer tries to define the kind of “talent” that CTN is eyeing.
“I guess most of them [contestants] are not really raw, most of them have exposures already. When they perform, we’re looking for a connection. That’s how talent is known: not just because you have a beautiful voice or you act well. We’re looking for that X-factor,” muses Hofer.
“And someone who is proud of their Cebuano heritage. It always marks down if they can become a voice for other Bisaya artists.” Photos by Joy Torrejos