Dangcalan: Enough with the madness

I AM sick and tired of the media celebrating the mediocre and applauding the terrible. So, for my big and bold statement for that I say: Sam Milby can't act, Jericho Rosales can't sing, and the Starstruck contestants can't do a thing! (sorry for the bad rhyme!).

Sam Milby can't act! If it's not yet obvious to people, I'd like to point out that it's been years since he started acting (if you can call it that), but he has yet to deliver a Filipino line well. Scratch that. He has yet to deliver a line well period! Remember this? I never (pause) said (pause) I love you! Cringe.

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He also can't sing! He just cannot hit the notes people. Half of the time you can hear him straining to hit even the simplest of melodies. His extremely limited vocal range forces him to go into a guttural warbling that's both unpleasant and unauthentic.

Jericho Rosales also can't sing. Have you heard the guy? If I'm going to be honest, I think his singing is quite atrocious (sorry, just channeled Simon Cowell)! How Gary Valenciano got behind his music career is simply baffling.

Starstruck contestants can't do a thing. Well, they can't do things well! In fact, they sing and act terribly. Calling them 'a pool of talent' is both ridiculous and unbelievable. They're more like 'a pool of wannabes drained of talent'. Hmmm! A thought just occurred. Maybe the show is appropriately called 'Starstruck' (its contestants will certainly be starstruck when they see those who are famous for brilliant acting and singing).

There's more. Melai of PBB can't crack a joke and Richard Poon can't carry a tune; not well enough to wow us anyway! Melai isn't really funny. Her facial contortions, a part of her comedic arsenal (err, the only one?), are just not entertaining, just old and corny. Her butchering of the English language is not one bit amusing either!

Richard Poon isn't really good. His singing is a pale imitation of Frank Sinatra or Michael Buble whose renditions in comparison are truly elegant and effortless. And because it lacks the depth that others' singing display, it is in one word: ordinary.

I could go on ranting about other mediocre or terrible acts that the media is celebrating. But I'll reserve that for another day. Right now, I just want to say: Enough with the madness!

I say Pilipinas really has got talent. Unfortunately, the media is not shining the light on these great acts. Instead, they are wasting the spotlight on individuals with only good looks or distinct ones, or, yes I dare say it, 'foreign blood'. Does this sound familiar?

Never mind that he can't sing or act, he's half Korean, half American, half British, half... ewan. (Cringe again). I want to point out that I have nothing against those of foreign descent but I do have something against those who insist that multiracial individuals are automatically incredibly talented or that they are so much better than Filipinos.

Hey, what's wrong with celebrating mediocrity? You ask. There's not just one. There are several. First, it's not just telling us it's okay to be just average. It's telling us it's great to be just average (you can immediately tell what's wrong with that statement -- it's the same reason that we don't take notice of things that are run of the mill).

Another is that it makes people lose their drive for excellence. The result is of course the 'puwede na' mentality. This is then reflected on the merely satisfactory and, at times, the less-than-satisfactory performance of people whether they're in school or at work. When the bar is set low, people are less driven to do well to be competitive. The overall effect is the deterioration of the society.

So while others think that celebrating mediocrity is empowering, I think it's the total opposite. Those who really have great talent and skills may be discouraged from putting into their craft time and effort to improve. After all, what’s the point of trying to be excellent if you're not going to get any acknowledgement -- or worse, if you're going to be robbed of any credit by those who don't even deserve it?

In conclusion, I hope that the media becomes more responsible because what they celebrate is what they perpetuate -- even if that's not what they intend to do. Moreover, I hope that we become more discriminating of the TV shows we watch and of the goods and services we pay for. After all, that's how we can truly take a stand against mediocrity and its evils.