Sister’s Piggybank Launched TV Child Star’s Career
Sometime in
December 2011, after arriving home from school, ten-year old Jinkee Magan saw
on TV an advertisement that would change her life. GMA Network announced that it was going to
hold auditions for child singers who would star in a new program. The young dreamer thought that this was her
ticket to stardom. Ever since she saw
her idol Regine Velasquez perform on television, she has always wanted to be a
TV star herself. Months later, the poor child dreamer becomes a child star and
a household name: Roseanne Magan.
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| click photo for hi-res |
Born to be a star
Born Jinkee Mae
Magan on February 22, 2002, Roseanne is the sixth of seven children of factory
worker Juanito and housewife Rosemarie Magan.
Though neither parent is a professional singer – and so are her siblings
– Roseanne has showed signs of being a singing star at a very young age. At six, she was already competing in amateur
singing contests. Since then, she was
joining contests here and there -- from barangay fiestas to mall shows.
“Noong una siyang nagpakita ng interes sa
pagkanta, ang napapansin namin e paborito niya yung kanta ng Aegis (a local
band),” recalls Roseanne’s father. “Pero
ang idol niya talaga ay si Regine (Velasquez).”
The audition
Roseanne just got
home from school when she saw the advertisement announcing an audition for
young singers who will star in GMA’s upcoming show, which will later be
entitled “Biritera.”
Roseanne expressed
to her mom her interest in joining the audition and asked her to accompany
her. But Roseanne’s father was against
the idea.
“Nung sinabi sa akin na gusto niyang
mag-audition, hindi ako pumayag. Ang iniisip ko noon, siguro sa dami ng
mag-o-audition, mukhang imposible namang makuha siya,” he explains. “Hindi ko sila pinayagan. Hindi ko nga sila binigyan ng pamasahe e.”
But Roseanne saw
the audition as the opportunity she has been waiting for. She tearfully begged her mother to accompany
her despite her father’s disapproval.
“Umiiyak siya sa akin, sabi niya ‘Ma, sige na
samahan mo na ako sa audition.’ Siyempre, naawa naman ako sa anak ko kaya
pumayag ako,” recalls Roseanne’s mom. “Sabi
pa niya, maski makapasok lang po ako sa GMA, ok na po ako.”
Thanks to the “piggybank”
Roseanne finally
got the nod of her mom and she was ready with her audition pieces – but they
didn’t have enough money to pay for the fare from their home in Mandaluyong to
the GMA Network
Center in Quezon City.
“Naawa po sa akin ang ate ko kaya binuksan
niya po yung alkansiya niya at kumuha siya doon ng P100 para may pamasahe po
kami,” Roseanne pitifully recalls.
Roseanne,
accompanied by her mom and elder sister, arrived just before the audition was
wrapped up. In fact, Roseanne was the
second to the last to audition.
After belting the
Regine Velasquez OPM hit “Isang Lahi,”
she was asked to sing another hi-pitched song “Patuloy ang Pangarap.” Even
if she didn’t prepare that as an audition piece, she easily settled the piece,
which was actually quite familiar to her.
Lost hope
Three weeks had
passed since the audition but Roseanne’s mom has not yet received a call from
GMA. She has put to rest any hope of
Roseanne getting into the new show. For
the girl, life was simply back to normal – or so she thought.
“Naghahanda kami noon kasi lalaban siya sa
isang singing contest sa kapitolyo (of Mandaluyong). Isa si Roseanne sa mga napiling finalists ng
contest. Tapos biglang nag-ring yung celphone ko tapos sinabi sa akin ng
nakausap ko na bumalik daw kami sa GMA dahil isa si Roseanne sa iilan nalang na
pagpipilian,” shares Roseanne’s mom.
When Roseanne went
to GMA for the second time, she was one of only four who were short-listed for
the lead role of the new program, which she thought was just a singing contest
and not a drama series.
“Doon na talaga namin nakita kung kaano din kagaling yung ibang mga
nag-audition kasi noong una huli na kaming sumalang e so hindi na namin
nakitang mag-perform yung iba.
Magagaling din talaga sila,” recalls Roseanne’s mom.
The four
candidates were trimmed down to just two – Roseanne included – until
ultimately, Roseanne received the good news: she was chosen for the lead
role. Only then did they learn that the
upcoming program which Roseanne will star in is a primetime drama series.
Life-changing success
Asked how being an
instant TV star has changed her life thus far, Roseanne paused for a moment to
contemplate.
“Kasi nung umpisa po, inaaway-away ako kasi
mahirap kami. Tapos ‘pag pumupunta kami
sa mga kapit-bahay namin lagi kaming pinaguusapan tapos niloloko nila
kami. Parang nakakasakit po ‘yung
panloloko nila. Pero ngayon, pag
nagpupunta po ako sa kanila, binabati na po nila ako,” shares Roseanne.
Roseanne’s Prayer
Roseanne’s dream
of being a professional singer is fuelled not as much by her personal ambition
as her desire to uplift the quality of life of her family. She may be young and could only do so much,
but she is already thinking of her and her family’s future.
“Ang dinadasal ko po, sana magkaroon pa po
ako ng show at sana makita pa rin po ako sa TV para makatulong po ako sa mga
magulang ko,” Roseanne shares.
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