Mark Bautista is thankful to GMA-7 for opening its doors again to him.
The singer-actor is currently part of the musical-variety series, Studio 7, as one of its regular hosts and performers.
Prior to Studio 7, Mark took a long break from doing television shows after GMA-7's Sunday All Stars went off air in 2015.
In 2016, his contract with GMA-7 expired, after 6 years.
Prior to that, Mark already started doing theater productions. He even admitted in 2014 that he had fears about his career in the Philippines while doing the West End staging of Here Lies Love in London.
In an interview with PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal) during a visit to the set of Studio 7, Mark admitted that before he became a part of the show, he was not sure if he would still have a career in television.
"Sobrang thankful ako kasi inopen ulit ng GMA ang ganitong klaseng musical show.
"And ito nga, bagong environment and nag-e-enjoy naman kami and maganda yung feedback ng mga tao.
"I’m so thankful kasi akala ko talaga, parang shocks, ano pang next na gagawin namin sa GMA or makakabalik pa ba ako sa TV or something?
"So I’m just thankful na may bago."
TELEPROMPTER TWEET
In November 2018, Mark's tweet about Studio 7 not using teleprompters became viral on social media.
He tweeted back then, "ok guys our show decided to make us work harder and completely took out teleprompters...so no teleprompters for everyone"
When PEP.ph asked him about this, he exclaimed, "Nakita niyo na ba? Walang wala kaming prompters!
"So kami nila Christian [Bautista], 'Talaga? Shocks, paano ba!
"Kasi noong last taping namin, hindi ko alam. So nagdala ako ng lyrics, wala, hindi ako nagmemorize.
"Pagdating ko sa taping, 'Ah, Mark alam mo naman, ano, nawalang teleprompter na?'
"[Tinanong ko], 'Kailan lang?' Last taping lang! So nag-cramming ako, minemorize ko lahat ng songs."
Mark believes that this is the first time that a musical-variety show didn't use telemprompters on its studio.
He continued, "So ngayon, talagang ahead of time, binibigay nila yung lyrics sa amin. Double effort talaga for us kasi hindi kami sanay, e.
"Ako, feeling ko, as far as I can remember, sa lahat ng musical show, first time 'ata na walang teleprompter [ito].
"Mahirap siya, ha, so talagang pampagising siya sa amin, hindi pwedeng re-relax relax ka sa studio, especially ngayon may rap akong gagawin so talagang ano siya, effort. But magandang training for us."
Mark disclosed that an incident triggered his tweet.
"Napa-tweet din ako kasi may lyrics ako na naiba sa pagkakanta ko, basta searching, ang nagamit ko is looking.
"Medyo close pero naiba so baka magreact yung may alam sa song dahil sikat yung song.
"So sinabi ko na, 'Guys, wala kaming prompter.'"
Mark believes that having no teleprompters will help Studio 7's artists in the long run.
"Yun naman, kung makatulong naman sa show and sa artist din, go for it."
In PEP.ph's special report "Anatomy of a Variety Show: GMA-7's Studio 7," Vice President for Business Development III Darling de Jesus-Bodegon explained why they decided to remove the teleprompters.
She said, "I make them memorize. Bata pa sila. Madali pa silang mag-memorize so better that they learn kasi they are performers, e.
"They better learn to memorize kasi pag hindi sila nag-memorize, pinakanta sila sa labas, di na sila makakanta. Maraming singers na ganun. Hindi makakanta kasi walang memorize. 'Tapos ilan lang yung memorize na kanta so paulit-ulit lang."
To get an in-depth look at Studio 7, read PEP.ph's Special Report:
ANATOMY OF A VARIETY SHOW: GMA-7's Studio 7