StarStruck (season 5)

The fifth season of StarStruck (also known as StarStruck V: The Worldwide Invasion) premiered on November 15, 2009. The show is hosted by Raymond Gutierrez, Carla Abellana and Dennis Trillo.^[1] Abellana replaced Jolina Magdangal for this season, while Trillo replaced Dingdong Dantes, as the latter replaced Richard Gomez, who will run as representative of the 4th district of the Province of Leyte as host of the game show Family Feud.

Lolit Solis, Iza Calzado and Floy Quintos act as the members of the StarStruck council. Sunshine Dizon was first reported to be part of the StarStruck council in the place of Iza Calzado but had to turn down the offer due to health problems.

Major changes happened on the show. The regular daily show became a daily update show that focused on the lives of the contestants and their activities and tests on the show. It was hosted by the show's Graduates, Mark Herras (StarStruck: Season 1 The First ever Ultimate Male Survivor), LJ Reyes (StarStruck: Season 2 First Princess), Arci Muñoz (StarStruck: Season 3 Avenger) and Paulo Avelino (StarStruck: Season 4 Avenger). They serve as StarStruck Shoutout who is tasked to join the hopefuls as they go through every phase of the competition.

The Five Mentors are from (Acting mentor) Gina Alajar, (Dance mentor) Douglas Nierras, (Singing mentor) Jai Sabas-Aracama, (Grooming and Make-up mentor) Barbi Chan and (Image mentor) Abbygale Arrenas de Leon. Also featured many fives: The Factor 5, The 5 Mentors, The 5 hosts (in the Final Judgment), The Final V, and a 5 million dollars’ worth of prizes for the Ultimate Survivors.

Overview

The fifth season of StarStruck after one year, GMA Network formally announced the return of their reality-based talent show. Auditions for the new season started on the day it was launched on August 30, 2009. GMA Network's variety program, SOP, where the hosts invited teenagers from 16 to 22 years old to audition for the new upcoming StarStruck season. Much of the auditions were held at the GMA Network's headquarters and at SM Supermalls throughout the Philippines.

The pilot episode was aired on November 15, 2009. The new improve edition of the popular show. From seasons 3 and season 4, StarStruck is shown only weekdays having Mondays to Thursdays will be tests. The performance night and elimination night both happened during the Sundays. This season there was a Saturday’s edition and it is the performance night hosted by Raymond Gutierrez. The Sunday edition is the Elimination Night hosted by Carla Abellana and Dennis Trillo. The show held its Final Judgment on February 21, 2010 at the Araneta Coliseum.

In the 5th year of the reality-talent search, Out of millions who auditioned, only TOP 100 was chosen for the first cut. From TOP 100, it was trimmed down to TOP 60, then from TOP 60 to TOP 30, and from TOP 30 to the Final 14 finalists. The Final Fourteen Survivors underwent various workshops and trainings in order to develop their personalities, talents, and charisma. But, the twist is that every week, two of the Final 14 may have to say goodbye until only four remain. Those who were eliminated were dubbed as StarStruck Avengers.

The Final Five Survivors will vie for the coveted "Ultimate Male Survivor" and "Ultimate Female Survivor" titles, each of them has received (P 1,500,000) pesos and an exclusive contracts from GMA Network with a minimum guarantee of (P 3,500,000)pesos, summing up to a total prize of at least (P 5,000,000) pesos. This time the "First Prince", "First Princess" and "Second Prince" title, each of them has received (P 200,000) pesos each. The StarStruck Avengers (the losing contestants) also received an exclusive contracts from the network.

It also featured a new Runner-up title, in StarStruck history, a Second Prince in the Final Judgment Night.

The Final 14 Survivors

When the Final 14 was chosen, they are assigned to different challenges every week that will hone their acting, singing, and dancing abilities. Every Sunday, one is meant to leave the competition until there were just 6 others who are left. From Final 6, there will be one of them who will be eliminated and after the elimination the one; the Final 5 will be revealed. The Final 5 will be battling with each other on the Final Judgment. People will choose who they want to win the competition by text voting. 50% of the result will come from the text votes and the remaining 50% is from the StarStruck council.

The Final 14 Profiles

• Steven Silva was born in Oceanside, California. He auditioned in Davao City and is the oldest male contestant.^[2]
• Sarah Lahbati is the youngest contestant in this year's competition, Who is 16, who hails from Switzerland, who has left everything behind to try her luck in StarStruck.^[3]
• Enzo Pineda auditioned in Makati City.^[4] His father is Manny Pacquiao's agent.
• Rocco Nacino is Baguio-born as Enrico Raphael Nacino, but considers himself a Laguna-native who wants to fulfill his dreams of becoming an actor.^[5]
• Diva Montelaba was born as Hyacienth Diva Montelaba. She can sing and dance at the same time. The total performer of this season.^[6] Most notable fans of Diva call themselves Divaholics
• Nina Kodaka is dubbed as the crowd favourite. She is the contender from Japan who has always known that she wanted to be an actress.^[7]
• Ian Batherson is a German-born finalist who auditioned in the Philippines.^[8]
• Rox Montealegre is taking a break in her final year in Ateneo de Manila. She excels in acting based on the record by the mentors.^[9]
• Piero Vergara is, at 16 during the show, the youngest male contestant in the competition this year. He labels himself as a "happy-go-lucky guy".^[10]
• Princess Snell was born as Princess Tinkerbell Cristina Marjorie Pedere Snell, whose showbiz-oriented dreams are rooted in the desire to give her family a good future^[11] She recently posed for the FHM Website in 2008, as the Ran Girl of May for the Maxim Philippines' 2009 calendar and was a member of ABS-CBN's Star Magic talent management agency.
• Sef Cadayona was born as John Paul Joseph Cadayona. He considers dancing his primary talent.^[12]
• Zeryl Lim is the eldest female contestant in this year's competition. She auditioned in Bahrain as part of StarStruck V's Worldwide auditions.^[13]
• Rye Burgos is one of StarStruck V’s Worldwide auditions finalist. His biggest strength, according to him, is his acting skills. “I try my best to give my natural feelings, rather than copy them from someone else.”^[14]
• Fianca Cruz says dancing is her passion, and it’s where she is able to show who she really is.^[15]

The Weekly Artista Tests

Every week, the survivors undergo several artista tests, handled by the 5 mentors.

• Weeks 1-3 featured the top 100 up to the top 28. The Final 14 started on week 4.
• Week 4 - First acting test. The girls did a scene from Paano Ba Ang Mangarap? with its lead star and ShoutOut host Mark Herras whereas the boys did a scene from Magdusa Ka with its lead actress Katrina Halili. Later that week, they underwent a total makeover session with Barbi Chan with the help of stylists from Essensuals Toni and Guy 6750 Salon. They ended the week with their first two mall show at SM City Marikina and SM City Taytay respectively.
• Week 5 - The lucky 13 had voice test with music mentor Jai Sabas-Aracama. It was later followed by the shoot of their first music video under music video directors Treb Monteras II (Rocco Nacino, Nina Kodaka, Piero Vergara, Sef Cadayona and Princess Snell), J. Pacena II (Steven Silva, Sarah Lahbati, Rox Montealegre and Rye Burgos) and Genghis Jimenez (Ian Batherson, Zeryl Lim, Diva Montelaba and Enzo Pineda). They had another mall show, this time in two Cavite malls, SM City Dasmariñas and SM City Rosario. Rocco Nacino and Sarah Lahbati got the best music video award for this artista test.
• Week 6 - The top twelve faced another mentor, this time with the dance expert Douglas Nierras. He chose 2 pairs that would have the spotlight for the Sunday Live Episode. Meanwhile, Sarah Lahbati and Zeryl Lim were not able to complete the dance workshop due to health problems thus giving them demerits. Princess Snell also received demerits for missing a dance rehearsal. Rocco Nacino and Diva Montelaba were announced as the Best Male and Female Performers of the Week and were automatically saved from elimination. Meanwhile, Nina Kodaka received a reward for winning the Facebook challenge.
• Week 7 - The remaining survivors, led by Nina, held a Christmas Party for some children of a chosen charity. They shopped for food, gifts and other things at SM City North EDSA. The survivors also had their first kiss flick (first introduced in The Next Level). Steven was paired with Nina Kodaka, Rocco Nacinowith Princess, Sef Cadayona with Rox Montealegre, Piero Vergara with Diva Montelaba, while Sarah Lahbati, after being chosen by Gina Alajar as the best actress in their first acting test, was paired with both Ian Batherson and Enzo Pineda. Gina chose the pairs of Rocco Nacino & Princess Snell and Piero Vergara & Diva Montelaba as the best two pairs. The two boys will have a scene with Kris Bernal while the two girls with Aljur Abrenica. In the results night, the pairing of Rocco Nacino and Princess Snell won the popularity vote of the studio audience for "Best Kiss", while Rocco Nacino and Diva Montelaba, again, and won Best Male and Female Performers respectively, thus, saving them again from elimination.
• Week 8 - The remaining survivors had a photo shoot test under guest mentor Jun de Leon. They also had to learn the steps for the dance craze of this season, "Enjoy". The scores for this week will be carried over on Week 7 since Week 6 will use "Factor 3".
• Week 9 - The survivor 10 had surprise artista tests this week. First was an acting test with Glaiza de Castro, directed by the 2009 Cannes Film Festival Best Director Brilliante Mendoza. For their singing test, they had a duet with Kyla. They also had a hosting test, with Lucy Torres-Gomez and Wilma Doesnt as their guests. The week ended with a live telecast of their first mall show for 2010 at SM City North EDSA.
• Week 10 - In preparation for a bigger acting test, the remaining survivors had an acting workshop with acting mentor Gina Alajar. For the first time, the eight remaining survivors would act altogether in one scene (entitled "Monsters") with Eula Valdez. It was directed by Maryo J. Delos Reyes and the script was written by council member Floy Quintos. Also, they had another interrogation test with the Starstruck Council. They ended the week with a mall show at SM Supercenter Valenzuela
• Week 11 - For the first time, the survivors did a music flick entitled "Team Song". In preparation for this, they had voice lessons with singing mentor ai Sabas-Aracama. They also recorded the songs they used for the musical; wherein they were joined by season one's first princess Yasmien Kurdi and season four avenger and Shoutout host Paulo Avelino. They ended the week with a mall show at SM City Fairview.
• Week 12 - The remaining survivors began to live under one roof starting this week, on a place called StarStruck 1110. Each week, one Survivor would act as the "House Master", this week being Steven Silva. For their acting test, they performed their "dream roles", in a test called the Dream Flicks, directed by Soxie Topacio, the director of Philippines' Oscar Entry for 2010, Ded na si Lolo. In addition to this, the Survivors acted with TV personalities who have celebrity/famous relatives. They ended the week with a mall show at SM City Manila.
• Week 13 - The survivors did a fashion show for Guess at Trinoma. Also, the remaining survivors did cameo appearances at GMA shows including The Last Prince (Steven Silva and Rocco Nacino), Ina, Kasusuklaman Ba Kita? (Nina Kodaka and Diva Montelaba) and Gumapang Ka Sa Lusak (Sarah Lahbati and Enzo Pineda). They also did a hosting stint for Startalk, joining the segments Da Who, Chika Picka and Up Next. They also faced their mentors and ended the week with a mall show at SM City San Lazaro.
• Week 14 - The remaining six survivors did a photoshoot for Mega Publishing Corporation's magazine, S Magazine. The pictorial appeared on the March 2010 issue of the magazine. They also faced the avenger on a special Valentine's Day date that turned out to be "Vengeance Day". Each avenger gave a black rose to a survivor they think does not deserve to earn a spot in the final five. They ended the week with a mall show at SM City Bicutan.
• Week 15 - The Final V had a chance to go back to their hometown to thank their supporters. They also guested in select GMA and QTV shows to promote the upcoming Final Judgment, such as in Unang Hirit and in Tweetbiz (for their miting de avance). They also had a motorcade at the Araneta Center and had a mini mall show at the new Ali Mall wherein they handed down some tickets to their fans for the final judgment.

The Final Judgment

The Final Judgment for the fifth season was held on February 21, 2010 at the Araneta Coliseum which was hosted by current hosts Raymond Gutierrez, Carla Abellana and Dennis Trillo with guest co-hosts from the first season, Dingdong Dantes and Nancy Castiglione. The council members were also present in the Final Judgment.

The opening number was attended by numerous StarStruck Alumni, both winners and avengers. They were joined by this season's Final V.

The Avengers' performance came in next, in a song and dance medley detailing the journey of the Survivors from the audition process, until the introduction of the Top 20, the eight International contenders and the elimination of the nine avengers. Joining them in their song and dance medley are their mentors. Marian Rivera then joined the Avengers for a dance number.

The Final Five then performed their own numbers. Enzo Pineda came in first with his sing and dance performance to the medly of Jay Sean's Down and Do You Remember. Diva Montelaba performed to Lady Gaga's Bad Romance and Alexandra Burke's Bad Boys. Steven Silva came in next with another sing and dance medley to Iyaz's Replay and David Guetta's Sexy Chick. Sarah Lahbati is the only one who sang live to Jordin Sparks' This Is My Now and Miley Cyrus' The Climb. The last performer Rocco Nacino also did a sing and dance medley to Kris Allen's Live Like We're Dying and Adam Lambert's For Your Entertainment.

After the performance of the Final V, they were joined onstage by StarStruck's previous winners Mark Herras and Jennylyn Mercado of Batch 1, Mike Tan and Ryza Cenon of Batch 2, Aljur Abrenica, Jewel Mische, Mart Escudero and Kris Bernal of Batch 4. Only Jackie Rice of Batch 3 was not able to attend, while the season's ultimate sole survivor Marky Cielo already died.

The Avengers once again took the stage, performing to a medley of the previous elimination night songs. Each also received a special award: Still Standing Strong Award for Nina Kodaka, Breakthrough Dance Award for Rox Montealegre, Fighting Spirit Award for Rye Burgos, Reyna ng Runway Award for Fianca Cruz, Vavavoom Award for Zeryl Lim, May Ibubuga Pa Award for Sef Cadayona, Warrior Princess Award for Princess Snell, Staying Alive Award for Ian Batherson, and Future Hitmaker Award for Piero Vergara. The "StarStruck Avengers" also received an exclusive contracts from the network.

Right before the announcement of winners, the Final Five were shown with a taped message to their fans while R&B singers Kyla and Jay-R sang a duet of the song "Breakaway".

Come announcement time, Sarah Lahbati of Switzerland and who represented Cavite is the "Ultimate Female Survivor" with a score of 94.6% and Steven Silva of Davao is the "Ultimate Male Survivor" with a score of 93.5% were proclaimed the "Ultimate Survivors" received (P 1,500,000) pesos and an exclusive GMA contract with a minimum guarantee of (P 3,500,000)pesos, summing up to a total prize of at least (P 5,000,000) pesos. While Diva Montelaba of Cebu is the "First Princess" with a score of 91.5%, Rocco Nacino of Pasig is being declared as the first-ever the "Second Prince" with a score of 88.3% and Enzo Pineda of Quezon City is the "First Prince" with a score of 90.2% were proclaimed the "Runner-up" each of them received (P 200,000) pesos, both were also received an exclusive contract from the network.

Signature Dances

There are signature dances and songs made in each batch. With this batch, their signature dances and songs are:

• StarStruck (StarStruck V Grand Opening)
• Sabay-Sabay Tayo (Marian Rivera and the StarStruck Avengers for a dance number at The Final Judgment Night)

Elimination Chart

Notes