Why singers like Sarah Geronimo deserved showbiz break?

Sarah Geronimo was only 14-year old when she named as the grand champion of Star For a Night in 2003. Since then, the singer-actress is unstoppable doing left and right commitments, not to mention bagging numerous awards. Incidentally, she decided not to come back as a coach in the ABS-CBN’s The Voice Kids Season 3 and backed out in the big concert event MTV Music Evolution.

It was Sarah’s manager and Viva Entertainment honcho Vic del Rosario who revealed that he granted the 28-year star a two-month showbiz break. Geronimo’s fans did not deprive though, she’s still appearing in ASAP and she renewed her contract with ABS-CBN last April. Rumor has it, she will do a new show after her break. So, this is post was a recap and why popular singers like the  Popstar Princess need work hiatus often?

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To take care of their health

The three-time Guillermo-Mendoza Box Office Queen withdrew her participation in MTV Music Evolution due to unspecified illness. 

“We are disappointed that due to medical reasons, @JustSarahG can't perform at #MTVMusicEvo. We wish her a fast recovery. Health comes first!” The MTV Asia’s announcement on Twitter last May 25.

In an interview with ABS-CBN News, Sarah explained that her official vacation break starts this July to August.  She said it’s more of resting and relaxing, but may entail out of the country travels. 

 “Okay naman [ako ngayon]. Hindi naman po siya malalang sakit. Hindi na lang po ako magbibigay ng details pero inaayos naman po,” Sarah said in her interview with Kapamilya News. “Kailangan lang i-improve yung health. Kailangan lang bigyan ng atensyon kung bakit nahihirapan sa ganito, or sa ganyan.”

Whatever illness the singer-actress had, performers like her really need to be very health conscious.  Doing concerts and regular gigs are not jokes, artists have erratic schedules, sleeping deprivations, and extreme physical exhaustion just to deliver high-energy performances.  In 2008, Pupil frontman Ely Buendia collapsed at the back stage of Eraserheads’ reunion concert at the Fort Bonifacio Open Field in Taguig City, apparently due to his heart disease, stress, and fatigue.  

Singers are also prone to lose their golden voices as what happened to Julie Andrews. The award-winning singer of The Sound of Music fame never regain her singing voice after an operation that removed her non-cancerous throat nodules. Reportedly, DivineDiva Zsa Zsa Padilla also experienced nodules in her vocal chords, but luckily recuperated. 

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 To avoid burn out and Grow [More] as an Artist  

Bagging accolades here and abroad, it’s safe to say that Sarah has nothing to prove anymore. However improving her artistry is also something she’s looking forward to do always. By the way, she won in 10th International Singing Contest: The Global Sound for her song “Kilometro” last year.

"Sasabihin ko lang na gusto ko lang pong bumalik sa ASAP, talagang 'yung mag-concentrate naman sa growth ko bilang artist. Kasi I feel na bilang coach, parang lagi ko nga pong sinasabi na role-playing talaga 'yung pagiging coach,” Sarah’s reasoning why she decided to pass her seat in The Voice Kids in her interview with ABS-CBN News. "Yung para bang alam ko lahat, kapag nagbibigay ako ng opinion, para bang ang galing-galing ko. Medyo naghe-hesitate pa rin po ako doon."

Complacency, slow, and stagnancy are also career-killers for artists. These days success in music scene is not only about how to breakthrough, but how to keep your star power through innovations or reinventions. If you fail, either you push aside due to stiff competitions and slowly fading without you knowing. Remember the singer behind Saranggola ni Pepe and Mamang Sorbetero? That’s Celeste Legaspi, who was still at the peak of her career when she decided to go work hiatus from the music scene because of lack of challenge.

“I quit simply because I was no longer challenged by what I was doing. Everything was starting to be routine,” the 66-year old OPM icon said in an interview with Philippine Daily Inquirer. Meantime, weakening creativity process was also the reason why the prolific solid group APO Hiking Society decided to disband in 2010.

Arguably, among her contemporaries Sarah is one of the very few performers who can perform gracefully ala- Gary Valenciano.  In fact, her latest album, launched December 2015, The Great Unknown showcases her versatile singing prowess. Sarah is so young to retire soon!  By the way, Sarah also one of the very few stars who can admit this…

“Alam naman po ng lahat 'yon, na nalilinya tayo sa isang genre ng pelikula, ang rom-com. Dumating yung point na iniisip ko na... pinag-iisipan ko pong maging aktres,” the movie and TV celebrity, who paired with Piolo Pascual in The Breakup Playlist, shared.

PR Photo: Won't Last a Day Without You

Work-Life Balance 

Artists  have lives outside their careers including Sarah who is usually described by her co-stars as bubbly, and sweet. She’s also well-known for being responsible and loving daughter.  Going back to her humble beginnings, Sarah admitted that almost all her life she’s into music to support her family. She said once that her motivation to join contests before was because they were financially broke to the point that couldn’t even no money to buy food.  As the breadwinner, Sarah provides comfortable life for her family in her more than 14 years showbiz.

Good thing, she’s also blooming and happy with her relationship with her beau Matteo Guidecilli. On the other hand, she’s also revealed before that she wanted to study again. She took Associate in Arts degree at UP Open University, but need to stop due to her busy schedules.

Maybe two months is long break for most celebrities, but for genuine showbiz gem like Sarah it’s a must and much deserved.     

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5 Reasons of Kim Chiu’s staying power

A lot of young stars come and go before and after Kim Chiu emerged as the first winner of Pinoy Big Brother Teen Edition. Yes, in beauty and talent she’s comparable to other actresses. But why she manages to stay in the business for more than a decade already? Here are the five possible reasons why Chinita Princess has bright staying power.

1.       Meaty projects that mostly hit and successful - In showbiz there are different measures to gauge an artist’s star factor.  It could be about number of awards, legion of fans, top rating shows, and hit movies. (So please don’t understatement actors in flop, but internationally-acclaimed independent movies). Judging from her Instagram posts alone, Kim gets awards every now and then from various award-giving bodies. Maybe she still not recognized by reputable institutions such as Urian, Luna Awards, and others. But for me, receiving awards from GMMSF (Guillermo Mendoza Memorial Scholarship Foundation Box-Office Entertainment Awards) several times is something.  

Besides the figures,  I personally believe she’s a lucky girl to do meaty projects such as Sana Maulit Muli (out-of-the-box storyline),  My Binondo Girl (dramedy), Ina Kapatd Anak, Ikaw Lamang (with Coco Martin), and Story of Us. Of all, Ikaw Lamang was the only one I finished to watch.  In movies, I was able to saw her Bakit Hindi Ka Crush ng Crush Mo, Bride for Rent, Etiquette for the Mistresses, and All You Need is Pag-ibig. The latter was less successful, but  has meaningful story and featured KimXi’s versatility.  For now, it’s my wish that Dir. Paul Soriano produces an indie film starring Kim Chiu like what he did with Enrique Gil (Dukot), Maja Salvador (Thelma), and Buboy Villar (Kid Kulafu).

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2.       Good Working Attitude – They say there’s no such thing as bad publicity.  I disagree.  Bad publicity crashes positive appeals of numerous TV and Movie personalities. However, there are solutions for that: one is "massive damage control" of the talent manager and secondly, defenses of co-workers. In fact, many great actors are gone now in the limelight because of the negative attitudes that eventually kill their careers.  Based on what I read about Kim, her co-actors praise her professionalism and thirst for learning. She’s humble and yet, willing to take risks and adapt to different stuff. If you ask me good working attitude is one of the great ingredients of career longevity, not the superb talent alone.

3.       Social media presence - Kim is one of the local celebrities who’s active on social media.  Though this can break or hurt, but being reachable online also boost her exposure.  Fans don’t have to wait for the next news (negative or positive) just to know her latest gigs.  In a seminar about digital marketing, I found out that advertisers also rate their endorsers according to numbers and kinds of posts of their endorsers. Of course followers and number of shares also count in the metrics.

Kimerald  (PR photo for Shake Rattle and Roll 10) 

   

4.       A Barbie doll - The young actress from Cebu was named Chinese Cutie in PBB and in 2010, Yes Magazine recognized her as the number one among 100 Most Beautiful Stars.  Besides her physical features (if I am correct only her and Heart Evangelista who are known Chinita beauties), Kim is also popular for her fashion sense.   She’s always someone to watch for in Star Magic Ball, Bench Fashion Show, and other similar events. Besides these, I learned in an episode of Kris TV before that she’s co-owner of a fashion boutique with designers – businessmen such as Pepsi Herrera.

    

5.       Room for improvement –   To date, Kim is into acting, dancing, singing, and hosting. Despite of those variety and awards, some people still  commenting on her talents. I agree.  Actually it’s not something negative, but like a “click button” that you want to see her more to see what more she can offer.  She’s easy to deal with, doable, and relatable knowing she’s a work in progress.  It’s unlike with a totally talented artist who’s because already known for his or her talent,  nawawala ang X factor.   Parang if he or she wins, okay and if not, sige maiba naman. On the other hand, there are stars who are counting years na in showbiz but still no improvement.   So I guess,  being underdog and underrated have charms also. 

Note:  I am aware of the other issues about Kim and I am not saying she's very good or perfect. I am just sharing my sentiment about her staying power :)