Aminado ang StarStruck V Ultimate Male Survivor na si Steven Silva na hirap pa rin siya sa pagsasalita ng Tagalog. Pero mas maayos na raw ito ngayon kumpara noon.

"Mahirap, it's still hard. Araw-araw, I'm trying every day to parang ayusin yung Tagalog ko tapos para matanggal yung accent ko. Mahirap," sabi ni Steven sa paputul-putol pa rin niyang pananagalog.

Bumisita si Steven at ang lahat ng StarStruck V Final 14 sa Summit Media office last Friday, April 16, para sa meet-and-greet with the Summit editors, kabilang na ang PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal).

Hindi naman talaga puwedeng bigla-bigla na lang mawawala ang American accent ni Steven dahil most of his life ay sa U.S. siya  lumaki.

Sabi niya, "It's really hard kasi, I mean... Pagbata pa ako, sabi ni Mommy ko sa akin, 'You don't need to learn how to speak Tagalog kasi andito ka sa States.' So, parang, 'Why do you need to speak Tagalog?' So from there, sabi ko sa akin, 'Oh, okay. Wala na, I don't need to speak Tagalog.' So, parang I didn't really try back then. Pero alam ko talaga now I have to, you know, I will try every day to be more better in Tagalog."

After winning StarStruck V, ang bagong musical-variety show na Party Pilipinas ang regular show ni Steven sa GMA-7. Isa kaya sa dahilan kung bakit hindi pa siya nabibigyan ng ibang projects, gaya ng teleserye, ay dahil sa hirap pa rin siya sa pagsasalita ng Tagalog?

"Ay, siguro, kasi ito yung Filipino market. So dapat, you know, one of the requirements, of course, marunong mag-Tagalog. Pero para sa akin, kahit hindi marunong mag-Tagalog, I'm just happy for this opportunity. I'm gonna try kasi parang it's something na I couldn't control. God gave me this opportunity but also it's one of the...yung challenges ko that I wasn't able to speak Tagalog.

"So, kahit anong mangyari, I'm just going to keep my best with my Tagalog. Kung marunong mag-Tagalog ako, I would be better. Pero I try not to think about it kasi parang it's the way it is. So if I keep worrying about it, parang kawawa naman, I'll be so sad about it," saad ni Steven.

SHOWBIZ LIFE. Halos dalawang buwan na ang nakalilipas mula nang tanghaling Ultimate Male Survivor si Steven sa StarStruck V. In that short time, na-realize ng 23-year-old singer-actor na hindi pala ganun kadali ang buhay-showbiz.

"Showbiz, mahirap talaga, parang there's a lot of things," sabi ni Steven. "Parang araw-araw, may surprises. Kasi before, iniisip ko sa showbiz, parang it's so easy. Parang every day may taping or, you know, parang you're just there for a short time tapos mayaman ka. You have a lot of money, di ba? Parang, 'Oh, it's so easy.' There's not so much work, pero you have a lot of money.'

"Pero alam ko it's not like that," patuloy niya. "There's a lot of hard work and there's a lot of hours. Tapos mahirap talaga, there's a lot of pressure. Kasi even outside, you know, if you're artista or involved in showbiz, parang everybody's looking at you. They expect something, daming expectation sa 'yo. So before, feeling ko, 'Oh, it's so easy.' Pero ngayon, parang it's changed. I know it's not so easy.'"

How can he describe his showbiz life? How is it different when he was still in StarStruck V?

"Kasi sa StarStruck, it's a contest. Pero ngayon, it's real... real thing. Parang there's no chance for failure sometimes. Sa StarStruck, if you have a mistake, you can say to yourself, 'Oh, next week, next week I would do better.' Pero sa showbiz, it's taping, it's live, the Party Pilipinas. So if you make a mistake, everybody's watching and they're going to say, 'What happened? Anong nangyari kay Steven?' So you always have to be ready."

Is he enjoying his stay in showbiz so far?

"Yeah, I'm enjoying," mabilis niyang sagot. "Kasi dati yung buhay ko, it's so boring really, I think so. Like sometimes, I say to myself... Kasi I like cooking, you know, I was studying, parang it's the same thing every day. Cooking, cooking...it gets boring. Parang, I mean, mahirap to explain. I enjoy it, but parang, you know, it's the same, repetitions.