There are a variety of ways that a person can make it to show business. There are some who are fortunate to have family members, relatives, or connections that paved the way for them, or to be discovered by talent scouts in totally unexpected circumstances or via social media.
On the other hand, there are others who had to go through the longer and more challenging route of auditions, which they did with sheer eagerness, after being challenged by their friends, or while accompanying a loved one.
Take, for example, the stars listed in this feature who, at some point in their lives, tried their luck in auditions before becoming famous. And they enthusiastically reminisced about those unforgettable moments during their appearances in “Magandang Buhay” through the years.
Ivana Alawi
Before becoming one of the most famous content creators and actresses in the country, Ivana revealed to the momshie-hosts that she actually had to overcome a lot of rejections prior to getting to where she is at present.
It has been her dream to become an artista, so her very supportive mom pushed and accompanied her in a number of auditions, including one of the editions of “Pinoy Big Brother.” She recalled being around 10,000th in the queue and getting shortlisted afterwards, yet she wasn’t able to receive a call back. Even though that was the case, Ivana still considered herself successful for being at least considered and just opted to move forward.
Joshua Garcia
He may have fallen short in his bid to become part of the Big 4 during his “PBB 737” stint, yet we can all agree that Joshua is among its most remarkable alumni. But just like other ordinary aspirants, he also had to conquer a lot of challenges during the audition process before making it to the actual competition. Fortunately, he was then accompanied by his supportive dad all throughout when he auditioned in Marikina City, and his fellow auditionees were so nice to him, at the same time, as they saved his spot on the queue as he took a nap due to lack of sleep and rest.
He made it up the last portions of the auditions, until there were only 10 of them remaining. Clueless on what they could do to showcase their talents, Joshua suggested to his fellow aspirants that they do their own take of the classic “It’s Showtime” segment, “Cine Mo ‘To,” which seemingly failed to amuse the talent scouts at that time. However, just when their group was about to leave the tent, Director Laurenti Dyogi stopped him and told him to stay upon seeing him with a guitar.
Joshua heeded his request to play the instrument, as well as to exhibit his unique chops in dancing maglalatik and traditional Igorot dance since he’s a cultural dancer. He also fondly recounted how deep and poetic his Tagalog was since he was born and raised in Batangas. A firm believer that he only got one shot that time, he made sure to do his best, which eventually paid off.
“Personally, nagpapasalamat ako kay Direk Lauren, kasi kung wala siya sa audition na ‘yon, wala ako ngayon dito. Siya ‘yong nakakita sa akin eh, siya ‘yong naka-discover, siya ‘yong pumigil sa’kin no’ng palabas na ako ng tent at pinabalik ako,” the Kapamilya actor conveyed.
Charlie Dizon
Before becoming one of the most acclaimed young actresses of her generation, not a lot of people probably knew that Charlie actually used to dream of becoming a Korean idol. It all started when she got engrossed with the Hallyu wave as influenced by a friend of hers while taking up a bachelor’s degree in Nursing at the University of Sto. Tomas (UST), then went on to join K-pop-themed dance contests in malls.
Upon learning that there was a Korean entertainment company that would hold auditions here in the Philippines, she asked for God’s blessing by praying for it for nine days. Equipped with talent, determination, and confidence, her petition was heard, as she was the only one chosen out of 1,000 hopefuls to train in South Korea along with other trainees.
Only her sisters knew about it, as Charlie kept the entire process a secret from her parents since she knew that they didn’t want her to enter showbiz until it was time for her to start training. Instead of getting upset, they even accompanied her to South Korea to make sure that she would be alright.
Sadly, Charlie’s dream of becoming a K-pop idol and the first from the Philippines got derailed as her management encountered a problem regarding her documents, and she was sent home. However, what happened seemed to be a redirection, for she’s now one of the finest actresses of her generation.
Melai Cantiveros
One of the most successful alumni that PBB has ever produced, “Magandang Buhay”’s very own momshie-host Melai actually had a hilarious and memorable experience during her auditions. She opened up about this after being prodded by her fellow alumni Maris Racal and Yves Flores.
According to her, she and her fellow auditionees then were asked what type of business they’d be inclined to have if given the chance. While almost everyone responded “sari-sari store” and other kinds of stores, she came up with the idea of switching her response to “vulcanizing shop,” which amused the scouts.
The “Inday Kengkay ng GenSan” made them laugh further when she pretended to have read a book by Dan Brown after being quizzed about what her favorite literary piece was. Sensing that they would interrogate her more, she just changed her answer to “Cinderella,” which got everyone entertained.
Janine Berdin
She rose to stardom after her triumphant stint in “Tawag ng Tanghalan Season 2,” in which she emerged as its grand champion. However, did you know that it wasn’t the first reality TV show that Janine competed in?
In her “Magandang Buhay” interview in 2018, the proud Cebuana songstress divulged that she actually joined “Star Circle Quest: Search for the Next Kiddie Superstars” in 2010, in which she finished as the 4th female semi-finalist.
But instead of singing, which she’s been known for, she showcased her acting chops by recreating one of the scenes of the titular characters in the classic teleserye “Mara Clara” all by herself via a “doble kara” act. It was her supportive Mama who served as her acting coach then, who kept on pushing her to practice until she got the proper execution of scenes and delivery of lines since she wasn’t eloquent in Tagalog yet at the time.
Klarisse de Guzman
We may all know her as a talented singer, but not a lot of people probably know the struggles that Klarisse and her family had to go through when she was still auditioning for “The Voice Philippines Season 1,” in which she emerged as the 1st runner-up.
She wasn’t able to hold her emotions as she recounted to the momshie-hosts the sacrifices that her family, especially her mom, had to do just to support her in her dream of making it into the industry. Aside from simply accompanying her, it was also her mom who would fall in line for her, as she let Klarisse stay at a nearby fast-food chain and would only call her to go back once it was almost her turn to perform.
At present, the ASAP Natin ‘To singer divulged that her mom could no longer join her that much in her gigs since she has been sickly over the past years.
Ria Atayde
This may come as a surprise to everyone since we all know that she’s the daughter of esteemed veteran actress Sylvia Sanchez and the younger sister of premier actor Arjo Atayde. But Ria confessed during her “Magandang Buhay” guesting in 2019 that she actually tried to audition for PBB.
It was never her dream nor part of her plans to join showbiz, but since she had not yet figured out what she wanted to do in life after graduating from college, she tried auditioning for a couple of Kapamilya shows, including PBB. However, she decided to withdraw from the final interview to give way to another aspirant, whom she thought had deeper and more significant motivation for joining the competition.
Ria recalled that her mom was initially upset by what she did but eventually got touched when she argued that she wouldn’t want to be a hindrance to someone’s dream of alleviating the situation of his/her family.
Regardless of their reasons for getting themselves into the grueling process of auditions, as well as the outcomes of their initial attempts, these stars have already proven then that they deserve the stardom they’re relishing now because of the grit they exhibited in order to be where they are at present.