People to watch out for in 2012

In January 2009, we named Kim Chiu, Rhian Ramos, Charice, Jayson Abalos, JC de Vera and Cristine Reyes as the people to watch out for in that year. Fast-forward to 2012, Kim and Cristine are two of the most sought-after leading ladies in ABS-CBN, Rhian is [was] one of the busiest talents of GMA-7 (until the Mo Twister video scandal became viral on YouTube), Charice is already an international pop star, Jayson is still there, and JC, after making waves in GMA-7 in 2010, is now the ace man of TV5.

In 2011, we saw a new breed of stars that are set for stardom in their respected field and by the looks of it, their luck will continue in 2012. And like we always said, everybody has their chance but in the mean time here are the names that are most likely to make it big or even bigger in the world of entertainment:

Angeline Quinto

She is the most promising singing star in the local music business today as no recent music artist has been discovered and was given the same support by his or mother network. Angeline, after winning the Sharon Cuneta-hosted talent search Star Power, instantly became a household name. But her ticket to fame was a long winding road. She had joined numerous singing competitions and lost, Sarah Geronimo and Mark Bautista are her contemporaries in the defunct singing show Star For A Night, she even competed against Jonalyn Viray in a adifferent search a few years back. With proper built up, which ABS-CBN is doing to her career right now, she’s indeed on her way to become the next singing superstar.

Alden Richards

He auditioned in GMA-7’s reality search StarStruck V and ABS-CBN’s reality program Pinoy Big Brother Teen Clash of 2010. Although he made it to the shortlist of both programs, he failed to enter the final cut. But failure didn’t stop this fine-looking lad, Alden is now tipped by his home studio to be its next big star following in the footsteps of Aljur Abrenica, Dennis Trillo and Dingdong Dantes. In the first quarter of 2011, Alden signed a five-year contract with GMA-7 and since then he has never shown any sign of slowing down. After his outstanding performance in The Road, Alden is now attracting more followers for being one of the cast members of Panday 2. And this is just the beginning.

Barbie Forteza

This 14-year-old Kapuso star is someone you can hardly ignore. Born Barbara Ambas Forteza, Barbie became popular when she starred in Nita Negrita while also appearing in top-rating teen oriented program, Tween Hearts. Her acting skills, which most people thought just is limited to sobbing and throwing some tweetums smiles, has improved a lot in her current show Ikaw Lang ang Mamahalin. Additionally, she is one of the biggest revelations in the thriller The Road when it comes to acting department. Though the movie didn’t earn much to qualify as a box office hit, young stars like Barbie gave people the idea GMA-7 is able to hone and train quality actors.

Daniel Padilla

His being a showbiz scion gave him an instant ticket to showbiz but his good looks and mass appeal gave his career its needed boost. Daniel was also in the right place and at the right time because when Albie Casiño was losing projects intended for him, he was there and earned the nods of the network’s big bosses. The adage “one’s loss is another’s gain” holds true to what is happening to Rommel Padilla’s son. Daniel, like his onscreen partner Kathryn Bernardo, is fast becoming one of the most in demand teen stars today.

Edgar Allan Guzman

Every actor’s dream is, of course, to make it big in showbiz. That’s why it’s not surprising when Edgar appealed to major stations to give him a big break during his acceptance speech for the best actor recognition in the Cinemalaya Indie Film Festival in July. It appears that his plea didn’t fall on deaf ears as Regal Films has decided to distribute his indie movie Ligo na U Lapit na Me nationwide. That’s not all, Regal matriarch Mother Lily Monteverde was so impressed with Edgar’s performance in the said indie film that she signed the young actor to an exclusive multi-picture deal. Patience is really virtue.

Julia Montes

This 16 year-old teen star is the most-searched celebrity online according to Google.ph thanks to her growing fan base and to her string of TV programs and commercials. In January, Julia will be part of an ensemble cast that headlines Walang Hanggan, a series is loosely based on the 1991 Richard Gomez- Dawn Zulueta film Hihintayin Kita Sa Langit. In the program, Julia is paired with one of busiest leading men in ABS-CBN, Coco Martin. The program is an obvious sign that the teenstar is being groomed to be a dramatic actress. We have seen her on Mara Clara and we know for sure, her acting skills are far better than other actors her age.

Julie Anne San Jose

She is probably one of the multi-talented young celebrities today and if there’s one singer in GMA Network that shows a lot of potential to make it big or even have a longer career in the business, we can’t think of any other name. Even the Awit Awards agrees as the award giving body recently named her as Best Teen Female Performer. Julie Anne, apart from the fact that she can sing and act, can also play the drums, piano, guitar, flute, lyre, keyboard and xylophone. As a regular of a Sunday musical variety show, the young singer has recorded numerous theme songs for Kapuso shows.

Kathryn Bernardo

The remake of the classic series Mara Clara became an easy goldmine for ABS-CBN finding two most promising talents on TV today. Like her co-star, Kathryn is making big waves on the local showbiz scene. While Julia is being groomed as a dramatic actress, Kathryn on the other hand is being given an assignment which is more appropriate for her age. She is set to star in primetime series entitled You’re Always in My Heart as an Asian princess. She started as a child star eight years ago, now at 15, Kathryn is set to be the most important teen star of her generation.

Somedaydream

You have read it right, this is a name of a music artist. Rez Toledo in real life, he gained popularity in just a short period of time after he won the VJ music hunt of MYX music channel. But his being a video jockey is just the springboard of his whole performing career. To give you a better idea, this 21-year-old musician is the person behind the hit song and LSS inducing “Hey Daydreamer,” which a popular ice cream brand used in its TV commercial. His repertoire is more on synthpop or popularly known as techno pop. Seems Eminem is all wrong when he said no one listens to techno.

Jamich

Is the portmanteau of Jamvhille and [Paolinne] Michelle, the names of real-life teenage couple that is making waves on Youtube. In seven months time, their channel JamichTV has become the 8th most subscribed Philippine-based channel on the popular video sharing. Their videos have also amassed more than 13 million hits to date. With YouTube being one of the most visited sites in the world and being second biggest search engine, this newfound fame of reality talent search rejects means lots if not better opportunities. Many personalities have taken advantage of their popularity on YouTube to earn money. JamichTV is now a Youtube partner in the Philippines, meaning it earns more or less P100 for every thousand views. Although this does not sound much but if the videos get hundreds of thousands or even millions of views then this money will be a lot more. Who needs television exposure now just to be rich and famous?