| Runtime: | 1 hour (Gala night) 15 minutes (Inside Protege) |
| Creator: | GMA Entertainment TV Group Rommel Gacho Real Florido |
| Director: | Albert Langitan (Inside Protege) Rommel C. Gacho (Protege) |
| Executive Producer: | Reylie F. Manalo (Inside Protege) Erika D.V. De Leon (Protege) |
| Starring: | Hosts: Dingdong Dantes Jennylyn Mercado Carla Abellana Maxene Magalona Judges: Bert de Leon Joey de Leon Cherie Gil Annette Gozon-Abrogar |
| Country: | Philippines |
| Network: | GMA Network |
| Num Episodes: | 77 |
Protégé: The Battle for the Big Artista Break is a 2012 reality TV series created by GMA Network. This show is the second season of Protégé where Krizza Neri won in 2011. Unlike the previous season, the age limit was set from 13 to 21 years old to find new acting talent.[1] [2] The show premiered on July 23, 2012 (Inside Protégé) and hosted by Jennylyn Mercado and under the direction of Albert Langitan, while the Protégé Gala Night premiered on August 5, 2012, and presented by Dingdong Dantes, together with Carla Abellana and Maxene Magalona. The gala nights were directed by Rommel Gacho.[3]
According to the show's fan page, there will be a "new kind of battle".[4] Rumor has it that the incoming season will feature the other talent like acting or dancing and eventually will be an artista search like StarStruck did and it turned out to be true.
The show followed the same format as the previous season, except that it was no longer a singing competition but a talent artista search. Aspirants from ages 13 to 21 were filtered until two winners emerge - one male and one female protégé. In this battle, they were looking for a total package - an artist who can sing, dance, act and possess that charismatic appeal over TV. Like the first Protégé competition, this season had judges/mentors who were responsible for training and mentoring the chosen candidates.
Twenty contestants were then selected from thousands of hopefuls. These 20 potential artists lived in the Protégé house complete with amenities including bedrooms for each contestant, a living room, dining area with a 20 seating capacity, a rehearsal area where they could practice dancing, singing and acting, and a confession room where they were asked to explain themselves in case of issues within the house or if a task was to be assigned privately. They also battled it out head to head for audience votes. The Protégé house was blessed and featured over the news of GMA Network long before the contestants resided there.
The winner received a 5-year contract with GMA Network.
There were five confirmed mentors for this season with their assigned location.[5]
Aside from their respective mentors who served as their guardian all the way through their journey, the protégés had coaches who also helped them improve their chosen craft.
Auditions took place in the following cities:
| Casting Dates | Venues | City | |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 19, 2012 | Rosales | ||
| Marikina | |||
| May 26, 2012 | Naga | ||
| Baguio | |||
| San Pablo | |||
| June 1, 2012 | Bacolod | ||
| Cagayan de Oro | |||
| June 2, 2012 | Iloilo | ||
| Davao | |||
| June 7, 2012 | Cebu | ||
| June 9, 2012 | Capitol Grounds | Laoag | |
| June 10, 2012 | Parañaque | ||
| June 14, 2012 | Batangas | ||
| June 16, 2012 | San Fernando | ||
| June 18–20, 2012 | Pasay |
After the city auditions, Protégé also gave the hopefuls an alternative way to audition via online.
After a series of auditions, a mentor chose eight hopefuls from the shortlist and those who passed from the online auditions. These eight aspiring protégés, which were composed of four boys and four girls, were called to come back for the final deliberation to determine the official four protégés. The other four protégés who were not chosen were eliminated.
The twenty semifinalists who failed to advance in the finals are as follows:
| Mentor | Location | Male protégés | Hometown | Female protégés | Hometown |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allan Arnold Palma | Ivana Jane Villanueva | ||||
| Evan James Evia | Shara Jane Chavez | ||||
| Jhaymes Clark Caracuel | Cris An Chavez | Bacolod City | |||
| Kier Stephen Durano | Kerchedel Allyssa Concepcion | Bacolod City | |||
| Archimedes Udaundo | Davao City | Pauline Go | |||
| Tomas Monteverde | Trixia Pearl Ebita | ||||
| Isaac Jacob De Leon | Dale David | ||||
| John Cristopher Danan | Kathryn David | ||||
| Jason Salvador | |||||
| Jimmy Noccon | Xzania Ketz |
Originally, there were four protégés per mentor for this season, totaling twenty protéges. However, during the first week of Top 10, each mentor chose one of his or her remaining protegés to stay under his or her guidance. The protégés who were not chosen were later picked by other mentors, making a new protégé-mentor tandem.
The twenty finalists were confirmed as follows:
Key:
- Winner
- Runner-up
| Mentor | Protégé | Age | Hometown | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gina Alajar | Mykel Ong | 20 | Batangas | |
| Thea Tolentino | 15 | Calamba | ||
| Zandra Summer | 18 | Cebu | Originally Jolina Magdangal's protégé | |
| Jolina Magdangal | ||||
| Jeric Gonzales | 19 | Calamba | Originally Gina Alajar's protégé | |
| Mikoy Morales | 18 | Roxas City | ||
| Mitch Capili | 15 | Bohol | ||
| Phillip Salvador | Apple Vega | 20 | Dipolog | |
| Arny Ross | 21 | Dasmariñas | Originally Gina Alajar's protégé | |
| David John Llanas | 19 | Cagayan de Oro | ||
| Ruru Madrid | 14 | Zamboanga | ||
| Steffi Pacheco | 16 | Davao | ||
| Ricky Davao | Bryan Benedict | 21 | Cebu | Originally Jolina Magdangal's protégé |
| Glenn Roy | 18 | Tarlac | ||
| Reese Tayag | 16 | Tarlac | ||
| Shelly Hipolito | 16 | Nueva Ecija | ||
| Roderick Paulate | Andres Vasquez | 21 | Taguig | |
| Japs De Luna | 20 | Nueva Ecija | Originally Ricky Davao's protégé | |
| Elle Ramirez | 18 | Rizal | ||
| Kelly D. | 15 | Pasig | ||
| Vien Alen King | 19 | Quezon Province |
| Episode # | Episode title | Original air date |
|---|
Color key:
Mentor Key:
| + Results per public and council votes | Date: (2012) | 8/12 | 8/19 | 8/26 | 9/2 | 9/9 | 9/16 | 9/23 | 9/30 | 10/7 | 10/14 | 10/21 | |||
| Place | Protégé | Mentor | Result | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeric Gonzales | Safe | Did not perform | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Protégé Male Battle Champ | ||||
| Thea Tolentino | Safe | Did not perform | Safe | Safe | Did not perform | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Protégé Female Battle Champ | ||||
| Ruru Madrid | Safe | Safe | Safe | Did not perform | Safe | Safe | Safe | ||||||||
| Mikoy Morales | Safe | Did not perform | Challenge Winner | Safe | Did not perform | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | |||||
| Elle Ramirez | Safe | Did not perform | Challenge Winner | Safe | Did not perform | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | |||||
| Zandra Summer | Safe | Challenge Winner | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | ||||||
| 7 | Japs De Luna | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | Finalist | |||||||||
| 8 | Bryan Benedict | Safe | Did not perform | Challenge Winner | Safe | Safe | |||||||||
| 9 | Shelly Hipolito | Safe | Did not perform | Safe | Did not perform | ||||||||||
| 10 | Arny Ross | Safe | Safe | Safe | Safe | ||||||||||
| Vien Alen King | Safe | ||||||||||||||
| David John Llanas | Safe | Did not perform | Safe | ||||||||||||
| Steffi Pacheco | Safe | Did not perform | Safe | ||||||||||||
| Andres Vasquez | Safe | Did not perform | Challenge Winner | ||||||||||||
| Reese Tayag | Safe | Did not perform | |||||||||||||
| Mitch Capili | |||||||||||||||
| Kelly D. | |||||||||||||||
| Mykel Ong | |||||||||||||||
| Glenn Roy | |||||||||||||||
| Apple Vega | |||||||||||||||
There was no elimination held but the Bottom 2 from each region were chosen.
The bottom two protégés (from each region) competed between each other to defend their slot.
The challenge winners were the protégés who received special awards and were granted an immunity from elimination for that week.
As part of the shock, the mentors had to choose a new protege from the other "mentor less proteges" who performed that night. The gala night was a non-elimination night.
That gala night was already the first part of The Final Battle.