Guesting for the First Time on ASAP ’09

    When Rosselle Soldao (Beegee)   and Hazel Parfan, our Executive Producers of “May Bukas Pa” both texted me similar text messages, the essence of which was that  all of the 12 priests are required to appear on ASAP 09, I was so excited, rather ecstatic was the right operative word!

 

    I had my personal reasons to feel ecstatic about appearing on ASAP 09. First and foremost was the fact the it was my first time, primero, una bez to appear in a live noon time show as a guest! The scenario put me back to my younger days, as teenager who was an avid fan of local actors and actresses. The very popular Sunday noontime show then was “Germspecial” with no less than Kuya Germs or German Moreno as the host. Everytime I watched Germspecial, I could not help but dreamed that someday, I will also be one of the actors who would be guesting in a popular noontime show!

    Way back in the 1970’s and 1980’s, aside from the Sunday noontime variety shows, there were many variety and talk shows, even weekend afternoon variety shows that would have actors and actresses as guests who would be promoting their latest movie projects. It was the best form of media blitz where actors and actresses were interviewed by the hosts to expound on their latest projects. In those times, it was normal to have at least two movies that opened every Wednesday, thus guesting in the shows was a big help to ensure popular patronage of the movies. Appearing on ASAP then was a “dream come true” in my case.  

    Secondly, I was really enthusiastic to join the cast of May Bukas Pa in expressing gratitude to the viewing public for their unprecedented support for the show giving it a very high TV rating nationwide. 

    Thirdly, when May Bukas Pa premiered in February, the cast of the show guested on ASAP 09, but it was limited to the major actors and actresses and thus I was not included. Being informed therefore that I was required to appear and guest was an honor!

    For our wardrobe during the guesting, we were instructed to bring summer wear. I decided to wear a light green lacoste t-shirt with maong pants and rubber shoes. Hey, I  just realized that all of these were gifts from my eldest daughter! Thanks God for having such a thoughtful daughter!

    We were advised to be at the studio at 10:00 a.m. I texted Lito Pimentel if we could get into the studio together. Having a not so nice experience with ABS-CBN front desk guards in the past, I wanted to be sure that that time, I could get in into the ASAP 09 studio without hassle.

    Lito Pimentel and myself agreed to meet at the Starbucks. Andre Tiangco texted me and I advised him to join us at the Starbucks. We were fetched by Production Assistant Michelle Cruz who led us to dressing room number 5. A few minutes later, we were told to go to the ASAP 09 studio for rehearsal.

    The rehearsal was more of giving out the blocking for the artists, where they will walk and position themselves. But, during the actual performance, the artists were left to themselves for their group and individual performance.

    Our group went stage three times. The first time, we were part of the launching of the ABS-CBN’s summer station ID, the second time, we stand while a singer sang “May Bukas Pa” theme song, the third time was when the lead stars where interviewed. There were already scripted questions and answers for the interview portion written as an idiot board fed to the artists.

    When I reported for taping last Tuesday, I was surprised to hear our Assistant Director Carlo Artillaga kidded me that I must have befriended the cameramen of ASAP 09 because according to him, when he watched the show, the cameramen were so generous to me, giving me lots of exposure. The whole taping, I was the butt of the joke as both Direk Jerome and Direk Carlo teased me if our new actors like David Chua and Robin Villanueva had already undergone a workshop by me on how to look for the cameras!

    I still have  to review the tapes of last Sunday’s ASAP 09 episode. I am now curious if indeed  I really got such generous exposures on my first ever ASAP 09 appearance!