Questionable verdict weighs down impersonation tilt
EVEN BEFORE the “Your Face Sounds Familiar” jurors came up with their controversial “Final Four” decision last Sunday, we could “sense” their questionable verdict coming.
After Melai Cantiveros’ inept approximation of Grace Jones transpired, the judges came up with a flurry of praises that had viewers wondering if they were watching the same show.
Even when the jurors admitted that Melai’s take on Grace was (way) “off,” they gushed that it was OK, because she was “always entertaining”—and wasn’t that the most important factor of all? —Well, uh,
no?
So, that early, we sensed that the “always entertaining” Melai would end up as one of the Final Four that night—along with Jay-R, Nyoy Volante and Edgar Allan Guzman.
The two deserving finalists who were left out in the cold were Jolina Magdangal and Karla Estrada. Nyoy and Jay-R were legitimate shoo-ins—so, after Melai was included, it was only Guzman’s slot that was open to discussion.
A case can be built up to boost his cause, so we aren’t as strong in our espousal of Jolina or Karla’s deserving to survive, as in Melai’s clearly out-classed instance.
But, after careful analysis, we’ve concluded that, promising and versatile though Guzman may be, Jolina should have edged him out—by a whisker.
Gifted and versatile
Why so? Because Jolina is, aside from being gifted and versatile in her own right, a star— and stars should be treated better in competitions than she was on “Sounds Familiar.”
What do we mean? Isn’t her star status irrelevant in this competitive instance? We believe not. Let’s face it, of all of the tilt’s eight “celebrity” impersonators, only Jolina has ever made it to certifiable major and con
sistent star status. Yes, some of the others are popular and well-known, but major stars they aren’t—yet.
In striking contrast, Jolina has “carried” many a TV and film production, so she has the stellar “K” and “cred” they have yet to attain.
In fact, in our view, Jolina humbled herself when she agreed to compete on equal terms in the impersonation tilt. It was a truly admirable decision on her part—but, our point is that the production should have taken better care of her, in cognizance of her certified star status.
Some of the impersonation assignments she was given were frankly too inherently weak to give her enough room to strut her stellar stuff, so she did poorly despite her proven talent and versatility.
We know that many may disagree with us, but we’ve thrown our opinion in there for further, hopefully “clarifying” (nonhater) discussion.
As for Karla Estrada, we also believe in her “K” and “cred,” but we will let the sleeping dog of that “discussable” decision lie, for now. —One controversy at a time, right?