Beauty is only truly irresistible when it shows us something less transitory than itself; when it makes us dream of that which charms life beyond the fugitive moment which sees us. It is necessary for the soul to feel it when the senses have perceived it. The soul never wearies; the more it admires, the more it is exalted.- Baroness Barbara Juliane de Krüdener
Along Langheim Road afterward, an Art Appreciation student who was in the audience confided that the evening had made her smile, since she could still feel a bit of excitement after watching the Grand Night of the Search for the Silliman University Adventure Envoy 2008 held on May 2 at the Shaw Memorial Pool —that is, excitement from the new ideas in a summer beauty pageant. That was an echo of LINWEL’s brilliant choreography in the opening number inspired by the music of the hit production High School Musical. But ultimately a bit too colorful and too vibrant that it overshadowed the other succeeding numbers. Even the entrée of the show which had the danceable “Good Morning Baltimore” from the musical Hairspray came too slow with the high energy that was in the “We’re All In This Together” entrance of the aspiring envoys. It was the perfect salvo for a poolside event for it captured the spirit of summer. The explosive opening movements had every detail in place, with a surprise splash here and there from the varsity swimmers who made the pool dance with the music. As the candidates made their entrance, vibrant colors from light blooms were constantly on display.
The main portion of the pageant adopted the American Idol format with three judges in interaction after every talent presentation. Stage actress MARIA LUZ COLE HAVRANEK playing Paula Abdul made the expression “fabulous!” the favorite summer punchline for she was so generous in showering every contestant with “Fabulous! fabulous!.” Even the audience chorused to join her in the “fabulous” exclamation. But when it was PATRO APURA’s turn to share a sexy dance number, Maria had to add “you’re awesome! And girls, what a great body!” The audience responded with “fabulous!” Apura was awarded the best in talent. Havranek also liked RICKY DE LA CRUZ when he heartbreakingly delivered Kieth Urban’s “Tonight I Wanna Cry”, and aside from ‘fabulous,’ she pointed out Ricky’s potential in acting. But singer QUDDUS RONNIE PADILLA who was playing Simon Cowell expressed being “bored” by the performance. Quddus dared to be the evening’s most hated man when he told the popular handsome aspiring envoy MICHAEL CRISTOBAL, “Singing is not your talent.” Maria came to the rescue, told Michael that “you are a good performer. That was fabulous!” The audience had their best moment when it was GERALD HONGAYO’s turn. His moderate style of singing an OPM lovesong did not get an overall star rating from the judges but the swirling along of his intense interpretation made him a heartthrob that night. Quddus had to go with the screaming crowd after an initial critical remark, he ended his comment with “… but the audience loved it, and that’s the most important, an entertainment value….”
The judges were gentler with the lady aspiring envoys. Youth organizer and leader builder DAVE SACEDA who was the Randy Jackson of the night told JESSICA DE LOS SANTOS who gave a sing & dance number that she has grown into “a beautiful woman.” Maria stood up to lead the audience into another “fabulous’ moment making the talent portion really full of fun. As expected, Quddus gave the praises a descending scale when he told Jessica, “your dancing is just OK.” But Quddus was generous with positive lines after the elegant performance of DAISY SARIO. Dave noticed the beautiful costume in the ballroom dance of CANDICE JAYARI, Maria agreed with “fabulous” but told the young lady to work on her confidence level. LUZ CATAN’s lustrous voice came into view, with a slow-moving performance that got the nod of the two judges but to Quddus, “…you failed to capture your audience….”
There was never a dull moment from the sports to swimwear portions to the music of Moulin Rouge and Lady Marmalade. The goodlooking bets were all in shine! shine! glory. More gorgeous work in the direction as the gown portion came to the music of Enchanted. Like gems shining even with the when the audience’s attention span dwindled towards midnight, the end part was still one of the highlights of the evening.
At the finale, I realized that what was appropriately apocalyptic in this summer event was the venue-the poolside gave the night the needed glimmer with the ramp that was like floating across the blue waters - courtesy of the SU Buildings and Grounds’ creative-hardworking hands. And there were more: MATTI HESCOCK, MARK FERNANDEZ, ERI KAJIKAWA and JUN VILLAMERO - four hosts of the pageant who did so well in making sure there was adrenaline flowing in every climax, they have successfully ushered the audience to work overtime in the 3-hour run, but the lasting image was one of great refinement of a supermodel in two costume changes: Miss Hescock – simply elegant and beautiful. Jun was always effective without a little unbridled chaos in creating laughter. Nevertheless, when lovely-like-summer Eri joined animated Jun, the two sounded like the aural equivalent of two striking contrasting colors. And the discovery of the evening was Mr. Fernandez with his handsome hush to Matti’s mouthful. As hosts, they were all winners! The show was to become another CLAUDE RAMOS’ direction masterpiece: lovely textures alternating with moments of great smooth flows and the compelling use of music and dance twists from contemporary musicals. Another winner was the leadership of NADI ORILLANA in the production; under her are ranks filled with new players who can seemingly do anything. The heavenly moments could still be placed in higher quality ranges but as a new event in this university town, the Adventure Envoy search truly made history! The grand winners are: Patro as Silliman’s first Adventure Envoy and Jessica with the Miss Silliman Summer crown. And with their wins is the sense of satisfaction from the people behind and the audience that loved the show.
The Winners are:
Best in Sportswear PATROCINIO B. APURA III
Best in Swimwear JESSICA FRANCE M. DE LOS SANTOS
Cuttin' Loose Best Evening Presence RICKY LOUIE A. DE LA CRUZ
Cuttin' Loose Best Evening Elegance CANDICE CECILE ARBON JAYARI
Best Stage Performance PATROCINIO B. APURA III
Best in Talent PATROCINIO B. APURA III
Infinity Portrait’s Vibrance of Summer 2008 PATROCINIO B. APURA III
Infinity Portrait's Summer Smile 2008 JESSICA FRANCE M. DE LOS SANTOS
Infinity Portrait's Face of Summer 2008 MICHAEL ANGELO D. CRISTOBAL
@ Random Talkshow Best Male Guest MICHAEL ANGELO D. CRISTOBAL
@ Random Talkshow Best Female Guest JESSICA FRANCE M. DE LOS SANTOS
Miracle Mile's Wisdom of Summer 2008 RICKY LOUIE A. DE LA CRUZ
Aoda’s Mr. Summer Fitness 2008 GERALD A. HONGAYO
Living Café Best Fitness Advocacy 2008 DAISY JANE A. SARIO
Miracle Mile’s Wisdom of Summer 2008 RICKY LOUIE A. DE LA CRUZ
Expressions’ Summer Sweetheart 2008 CANDICE CECILE ARBON JAYARI
Pinkaholic’s Miss Portal West Fashion 2008 MARIA LUZ V. CATAN
Mister Dunut’s Pure Energy 2008 PATROCINIO B. APURA III
FilProducts' Best Speaker JESSICA FRANCE M. DE LOS SANTOS
Miss Silliman Summer 2008
JESSICA FRANCE M. DE LOS SANTOS
Silliman University Adventure Envoy 2008
PATROCINIO "Poodie" B. APURA III
