Clint Holton P. Potestas

HIS dream arrived after six hours of waiting in a line of hopefuls with thoughts of myriad possibilities. Although curiosity led him, he still trusted his gut instinct: Good things come to those who wait.

When Robert Marion “Robi” Domingo arrived for the Pinoy Big Brother (PBB) Teen Edition Plus season three Cebu auditions, a familiar sight welcomed him: a long stretch of teenagers, withstanding hunger and heat of the sun at the parking lot of Parkmall.

“Seeing them lining up reminds me of my own auditions about a year ago. I think I waited for six hours, fell in line under the sun – talaga’ng mahirap (it was really difficult),” recalls the 19-year-old PBB first runner-up. “I am amazed by how they want to become housemates.”

“I joined out of curiosity. Everybody was interested to get inside Kuya’s (Big Brother) house. But yes, even when I was a kid, I dreamt of becoming the next Tom Cruise or the next Richard Gomez,” he continues.

Apart from the weekly challenges, the 15 housemates were deprived of any form of communication linking them to the “outside world.” However, Robi’s books came in handy to break his boredom.

“There’s a big question mark in selecting the housemates because they (the producers) are looking for the x-factor that really defines the whole concept. Be who you are; don’t be pretentious.” he shares.

After PBB, opportunities arrived. He appeared in several afternoon teen flicks right before accepting a regular video jockey stint in Myx, ABS-CBN’s music channel.

And when the spotlights are down, he attends a freshman pre-medicine course, Health Sciences at the Ateneo de Manila University. “There was one particular time when I dedicated 80 percent of my time to show business. Now, I am concentrating on my studies. Education is very important,” he says.

Not a nod of confirmation came from Robi when asked about the twists in the show, but his desire is to be one of the hosts.

But while nothing (movies, soap operas, and love life) is confirmed yet, Robi, still with his patience intact, is hopeful for another good thing to appear in 2009.