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Tuesday, September 06, 2005
And then there is Dante Luzon
By Skipojack
Skip the Beat
(Part 2)
ALMOST everybody knows him as a TV newscaster but there is still more to know about the real Dante Luzon. Pushed without any option but to hang on to the broadcast industry since he became an announcer at the age of sixteen, Dante has worked his way up to top of the industry's corporate ladder.
His hard earned success can be attributed to his God-given talent and his perseverance to achieve his goals. He started as a junior announcer 30 years ago, became a sought after disc jockey until he joined Manila Broadcasting Company in 1986 and became a Station Manager in the same year.
His long radio experience led him to manage DYAB-AM and DYLS-FM when these two ABS-CBN stations became operational in 1995 and 1996. Over and above his responsibility of running the two stations, he was still able to keep his TV anchoring chores Dante, who wrote and directed a telemagazine show "People Plus" in the 80's has been a familiar figure on local television for many years now.
Barely a month old with ABS-CBN Davao as TV news anchor, management transferred him to Cebu in 1989.
ABS-CBN made Dante an all-around guy. He was a field reporter, a variety show host and TV Patrol Cebu Anchor.
His casual, very relaxed yet authoritative style of news casting earned him a great amount of admiration and respect from his viewers. He does not read the news. He tells it directly to his viewers.
For Dante, there is a great difference between reading and telling. News must be told, not read, he always claims. As one viewer commented, "watching him delivering the news makes me feel like he is talking to me alone."
Dante is a also a natural actor. His acting experience on stage was his tool to become an effective newcaster. Camera projection came easy for him. In 1998, ABS-CBN made him a teleseries star.
He appeared in the local soaps La Roca Negra, Once There was A Love, Dilemma, and Mini nga Pagbati. He wrote and directed a TV Lenten Drama "ANG SUGO", The project was awarded with a special citation by the Cebu Archdiocesan Mass Media Award or Camma.
In 2001, he penned and directed another TV drama "Huni ug Pangandoy." It became an entry to the KBP Golden Dove Awards and won as Best TV Drama in the Provincial Category.
"I was a disc jockey for so many years and have acted on stage in my spare time. I joined a professional theater group and appeared in several light comedy plays and a few big-budgeted musicals," he said.
One of Dante's strong edge over his peers is his proficiency in Cebuano, Tagalog and the English language. This ability has caught the attention of higher management that he was courted to transfer to his mother unit and join his Manila counterparts.
Pressed by his commitment to his family, he politely declined and preferred to stay in his home base. His occasional exposures on national television however added more credibility to his clean image as a TV journalist. He was on national television when he anchored the coverage of the coup in Mactan.
He covered the Armm election in Marawi. He anchored President Arroyo's nationwide program "May Gloria ang Bukas Mo" twice. With his long broadcast experience and his mastery of Tagalog and English, interacting with Manila anchors on nationwide coverage came very easy.
Dante once managed ABS-CBN Dumaguete and anchored Dumaguete TV Patrol. Managing a small station and anchoring a news program in a laid back university town is still a challenge for a guy who has been in the broadcast industry for more than half of his life.
At the end of the day, he takes off his coat, loosens his tie, rolls up his sleeves and goes to a nearby piano bar. He stands at the microphone, singing in depth, doing his best thing sharing some poignant truths through his music. Very telling of his fondness for a quiet cozy coffee shop aside from intimate intelligent conversation and poetry. His greatest achievements? Winning the KBP Golden Dove Award as Best TV Newscaster. Ranking no 2 nationwide in the very first KBP Accreditation Exam.
The One Man Painting Exhibit in 1994. His being finalist to the 9th Cebu Pop Music Festival.
Presently, Dante is ABS-CBN Davao's Integrated News Manager. And the latest buzz? We have to find out.
Asked what would he have been if he weren't in broadcast? His confident reply: An actor, a singer or a painter maybe (freelancing on full-time basis perhaps?)
"Dante Luzon is my name and music is my game!" is Dante's favorite adlib. While he feels high singing or acting for people, he considers his family as "my most cherished possession."
e-mail me at skipo_jack@yahoo.com for your comments and suggestions or you may disturb me at 09287125618 anytime of the day except bedtime
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (September 6, 2005 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
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