Jane de Leon, ABS-CBN’s new Darna, recently released her own version of the iconic choreography of K-pop hit “How You Like That” by South Korean girl group BlackPink.
The Kapamilya artist explained in an Instagram post prior to her video’s release that this was not for the contest that the group ran for fans a week ago.
“Just my own version not for the contest,” she wrote.
BlackPink members Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa recently announced on their social media pages the winners of the “How You Like That” dance cover contest wherein AC Bonifacio was hailed as the second placer.
The contest, held from July 6 to 20, drew about 2,200 teams from more than 100 countries with the Philippines having the biggest number of participating teams with 270, according to YG Entertainment. It said the number of related content uploaded on YouTube reached about 97,000.
“It is the biggest number of participants among all dance cover contests held by artists of our agency. Most participants wore hanbok to add more meaning and the number of participants from the US increased significantly,” the agency said, according to the YG blog.
BlackPink earned five Guinness World Records with the music video for “How You Like That,” including being the most viewed video, music video, and K-pop video on YouTube in 24 hours.
Although De Leon’s dance cover came a little late, she clarified that it is not an entry for the recently concluded dance cover contest for the K-pop group.
De Leon premiered her video on her YouTube channel on Friday, July 31 saying that “This is my own version of “HYLT.” Our concept was to approach this project not only as a dance cover but more so as a music video.”
“Thank you to the awesome team who made this vision possible!!!” she added.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4PzyV_MBYk
The video showed her changing into various fierce and stunning outfits as she sang along to the song and displayed her dance skills. Her fans were amazed by the wonderful effects and with the video being aesthetically pleasing, it has gained around 100,000 views so far.
But many people have also been saying that de Leon’s dance cover purely relied on the skills of the editors. They said that her dance skills were not that impressive and that she’s too stiff with her movements. The netizens applauded the visuals of the video but criticized the artist’s dance skills saying that her pretty face saved the video from being a flop.
https://twitter.com/maxiiieee/status/1289401362434764801
https://twitter.com/snwqueen/status/1289526357018308608
https://twitter.com/akolang2oh/status/1289719660636598272?fbclid=IwAR3JTkzSKSA_V2Cq7dZv2kcdlSdvqdPlavILygn7BTgpSh2CxlBeeWA_LcM
Jane De Leon's How you like that video………………. last na yan ha
— naur (@summerbeams) July 31, 2020
https://twitter.com/ThisIsMeMarge/status/1289615646435577857
Ang ganda ng set at editing. Period.https://t.co/8nImgf8YAj
— Yeka To-ong (@yekatoong) August 2, 2020
People have been saying that the dance itself was covered with the props and they did not see much of de Leon’s dancing. The many wonderful effects of the video overpowered the artist’s performance.
They said that the editors just focused on giving only a few full-body shots to hide the fact that the Kapamilya actress is not so talented with dancing.
The young star has also been criticized with regard to her comment on Kapamilya employees who were protesting for the sake of the ABS-CBN franchise.
The people claimed that de Leon was invalidating the concerns of ABS-CBN supporters with the statement that she released on her Instagram.
Jane said that with the many problems globally and locally “each of us has a different approach on how to resolve and overcome these challenges.”
She explained that supporting the network does not require the artists to go out in the streets to rally. Instead of rallying, she would rather stay in her house where she will be safe from the virus. She noted the hard work of health workers fighting against COVID-19 in the country and added that people should avoid the increase of COVID-19 cases.
“My support to the current crisis that the network is facing right now is not just measured by going out in the streets in this time of [the] pandemic.”
“Let’s not forget that our Frontliners continue to face life and death situations as they are being challenged in saving more lives… Dadagdag pa ba tayo sa lumolobong bilang at patuloy na pagtaas ng COVID cases sa ating Bansa?”
“Masama pa bang maging positibo lang sa ating pananaw sa kabila ng kahirapan at paghihinagpis?” she said.
“We can show our support in many ways. Let us not be judgmental and imposing on what others should do according to personal standards and beliefs. Tuloy po ang buhay at tuloy din po ang suporta natin sa pinagdadaanan ng ating network at mga kapwa natin Kapamilya.”
“Prayers are always the strongest and most powerful weapon in this time of crisis,” said de Leon.
Her statement comes after people have been questioning her silence on the issue and when actress Angel Locsin called out her fellow Kapamilya artists who remain silent with the network’s shutdown.
“Sa lahat ng artistang hindi nagsasalita, ano? May career pa ba kayo? Wala na, wala na kayong network… Kahit magpa-cute kayo diyan sa Instagram,” Angel said.
After releasing her statement, Jane received heavy criticisms from netizens who compared her to Angel. Many said Jane doesn’t deserve to be the new Darna because she didn’t stand for ABS-CBN who built her career.
People said that she was just making excuses and that she’s ungrateful to her home network that’s why her show ‘Darna’ remains unreleased.
Jane de Leon was announced as the new actress who will star in the upcoming superhero film Darna. Before de León, both Angel Locsin and Liza Soberano were respectively cast for the title role but had to leave due to injuries they had acquired.
She paid tribute to some of the past generation actresses who played the iconic role of the local comic book heroine “Darna” through her Instagram.
She posted photos of nine actresses who played the role of Darna in the silver screen and television series.
“I respect and salute all these women (and to all the Darnas before them) who became a symbol of a strong and independent Filipina,” the Kapamilya actress said.
“The voice of their generation who have been continuously doing their part as superheroes behind the costume through their individual achievements, efforts, and advocacies to help humanity and nature in general. You are all and will always be an inspiration today and onwards,” she added.
De Leon was one of the members of Girltrends, a female dance group of ABS-CBN’s noontime variety show It’s Showtime. She was signed by Star Magic in 2015 and has performed as an actress, dancer, model, and singer.
She has appeared on may famous magazines such as Brand Magazine, MOSSIMO Philippines Lookbook, and Philippine Fashion Racks Top Teen Model. Due to her decision to keep her personal life away from the attention and limelight, Jane has not unveiled her love partner or relationship status at the moment.
