TV Juan Rocks AdZU High

“I felt like screaming my worries out,” says senior Leah Aying. “I felt like screaming the lyrics, and I didn’t care if they were wrong.”

And it looks like everybody else felt practically the same way after the concert at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University High School Campus last September 30.

Who’s Juan?

School’s out, but the students were in from 8:00 AM up until past 9:00 PM last Friday night. On a day called off for alternative classes, TV Juan – a college-based initiative created by Smashbox Productions – dropped by the campus in line with its Campus Caravan Mindanao Tour. Sponsored by SMART Talk & Text, TV Juan has been to 15 schools in Metro Manila, three schools in Cagayan de Oro, one school in Bukidnon, and four Robinson’s Malls. With aims to ‘produce a generation of highly skilled media practitioners’ as well as ‘inspire and develop talented individuals’, the movement hosted workshops and left contacts for aspiring actors, performers, and directors.

Among the guest speakers were Jimmy Bondoc, actor and singer of radio hit Let Me be the One, Noel Colet, veteran actor and commercial model, Director Bong Agustin, and TV Juan’s very own investment TJ Valderrama, actor and comedian.

TV Juan registration, as well as video auditions at the AVR 1, were held from 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM, with the symposium (Media Chikahan) following until past 3:00. Each of the guests gave their own pep talks and speeches, which was followed by an open forum and Q & A session. Different workshops (the tickets to which were the AdZU personalized Talk & Text SIM cards) were held until around 6:00 PM, with ‘Direk’ Bong heading Directing and Photography, Dale James Ferrer heading music, Noel Colet heading performing arts/acting, and choreographers MA Domingo and MJ Cruz heading dance.

TGIF

The mini-concert started at around 6:00, with performances from AdZU High School’s own Free Sample and students who went to the dance workshop. A couple of students from the directing workshop helped man the staff and equipment as well.

Other performances of the night included those from Anna Melissa, a singer with an upcoming solo album, Pinoy Republic, an award-winning hiphop group, and bands Twist of Eight and Pillowcase. For the climax of the concert, Jimmy Bondoc took center stage performing hits such as Maroon 5’s She Will Be Loved and Bruno Mars’ The Lazy Song, along with his original Let Me be the One, which he dedicated to birthday girl Honey Araya, high school senior.

Finally, the concert closed with the singers’ performance of Bamboo’s Pinoy Ako, with the students screaming and jumping up and down, having – as one student puts it – “the time of my life”.

September Ends

For AdZU’s angst-fueled, worn-out teenagers, it was the perfect close to September. For our guests from Manila, Direk Bong describes the AdZU High audience in one word: “Super”, while Jimmy says that the crowd was “sobrang fantastic.” Being the first high school that TV Juan has visited, TJ said in an exclusive interview with Blue Eagle that the school honestly was the best crowd that they had been to.

“Grab the opportunity,” TJ advised aspiring artists in the high school, adding –as they had put it since the start of the day – that TV Juan’s Campus Caravan is an opportunity. “You gotta do your part,” said Direk Bong in a reminder that they left their contacts and they left their tips, and it is up to all the dreamers to keep in touch and make themselves heard even long after they have returned to Manila.

“Specifically for your age group, really work hard on your craft… A lot of it,” he adds in response to ‘the secret to success,’ “is beyond our control. But what you can control, you control.”

Direk Bong’s advice, on the other hand, is to be very respectful. “Remember people’s names. And be good. Karma lang ‘yan… positive vibes attract positive vibes.”

TJ though, is more straightforward to the question. To him, the secret to success is simple: “There is no secret.”