Maymay Entrata in her Breakthrough To Fame and Success

Being more than five years into show business, Maymay Entrata has already carved a space for her name and even extended into different industries which she also received success in. Ever since she got out of the famous yellow house, she has been accepting a lot of well-deserved recognition that helped her to become the woman she currently is.

Behind all the accomplishments that she had earned and is earning, however, the life that she had to live before she was given that extra push upward is really notable and is worth remembering by.

Before the Stardom

Marydale Entrata (famously known by her stage name as Maymay Entrata) is usually considered as a rags-to-riches story, especially upon the revelation of her life in a Filipino television drama anthology show broadcast Maalaala Mo Kaya (MMK). Through MMK, the Filipino masses witnessed that she had her fair share of struggles in life despite still being a considerably young lady. The audience further understood Maymay as a sibling, a granddaughter, and most especially, as a person. Other than this, the Filipino audience was able to witness Maymay shows off her budding potential in her first acting role in the same show.

Growing up in Cagayan De Oro, Philippines, the most present family members surrounding Maymay would be her brother, cousins, and grandfather who took it upon himself to raise and care for his two grandchildren. Maymay’s mother went to work and stayed in Japan in hopes of a better and more suitable life for her two children. Her father was considerably missing in her life; the man who is supposedly a paternal figure left Maymay and her brother when she was still young because of her paternal grandmother’s refusal to acknowledge them both as family.

Experiencing all of those at a young age seemed to help shape Maymay’s mindset when it comes to her priorities and ambitions. This is why when she was younger, auditioning for singing competitions and acting roles on national television became her own trial and error to become the television personality she wanted. However, the constant result of ‘errors’ and rejections almost caused her to give up. It really is a good thing that she persisted.

In 2016, Maymay Entrata auditioned for Pinoy Big Brother (PBB) Lucky Season 7 and eventually bagged that season’s first place. She became Big Winner and the title instantly granted her the opportunities she was not able to achieve before and even went beyond.

After the PBB Success

After winning the “Big Winner” title in PBB Lucky Season 7, Maymay Entrata began her acting debut in the MMK episode in March 2016. She had to reenact her own life story and bare herself vulnerable for her audiences and her growing fans club to witness. It proved to be a good decision because the Filipino people who were able to watch the episode immediately connected with the teen through the struggles she had experienced but were able to overcome and land her in the position she was in by then.

Another thing that was able to stir the audience was Maymay’s formed love team with Edward Barber inside the PBB house which continued even after the show’s season ended. MayWard— the name of the pair— was even granted the Pop Love Teens at the ASAP Pop Teen’s Choice Award. The information that the two were not just showbiz love teams and used to be a couple in both of their peaks really pulled their fans into supporting both of them and their projects together.

In April in the same year, Maymay signed a contract under Star Music which led her into venturing her once unattainable dream of being a known singer in the Philippines. She released a self-titled album which later on earned her awards and a thriving future. Her third studio album reportedly earned her a nomination from MTV Europe Music Awards for the Best Asian Act Award.

Maymay did not anticipate such an international nomination but she was highly thankful for the recognition. In an interview with The Manila Times, the young singer talked about her journey in making music and in preparation for her third album. Maymay did not shy away from bringing the struggles of finding her own voice into the discussion, mentioning her vocal coach and producer as the important people who helped her throughout the process. She was also pretty transparent about the song that she admitted to having quite the difficulty with before, which is “Kakayanin Kaya,” and shared that she exerted a lot more effort into recording “Amakabogera” when it was presented to her.

Although gradual, Maymay Entrata and her team’s hard work paid off with recognition from fans who were rather stunned by the powerful comeback of the young artist. Admittedly, there was not much attention at first, but it is only because of the fact that no one anticipated the switch-up in her sound. What used to be a very bubbly and sweet sound came back with a more intense yet riveting music that is truly a worthy component of other successful Asian groups and artists such as Niki from Indonesia, Tomorrow x Together from South Korea, Silvy from Thailand, and The Rampage from Exile Tribe from Japan. The mentioned artists are also nominated for the Best Asian Act Award alongside Maymay.

Parallel with the transition from her once charismatic and lively image to a more mature sound, Maymay also reflected this change in her personal representation as she became the first Filipino model to walk on the Arab Fashion week back in 2018. With the recognition, however, Maymay Entrata’s career in modeling did not stop there.

However, with the huge kickstart that she has worked for, she is now configuring her own direction in order to take control of her own life. Unlike when she was starting, when she had to conform to what the public was expecting from her, she is now in charge of her boundaries as a public figure and as a person.

Indeed there is nothing more rewarding than seeing all the hard work paying off and still retaining that individuality as a person.

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