ATASHA Muhlach, the daughter of Aga Muhlach and Charlene Gonzales, is now officially a contract star of Viva Artists Agency. They did the contract signing Monday afternoon, then she is officially presented to the press at Viva Cafe with the entire del Rosario clan in attendance: Boss Vic, Vincent, Veronique, Valerie and Verb del Rosario welcoming her warmly as as a bonafide showbiz royalty.

Atasha is 21 years old and she’s graduating this month from her business course in London. So how did she get into Viva?

It’s Vincent who answers. “We have always had a close relationship with the Muhlachs and kuwentuhan lang ang lahat, wala namang pilitan. Never naming kinulit sina Aga about her, but now that Atasha is graduating from college, we had dinner with them. Atasha sang to Boss Vic who later said, we have our next big star.”

Boss Vic says he wants to thank Aga and Charlene. “Salamat sa pagtitiwala nila sa Viva. Our goal is to make her a multi-media artist. But ayaw naming madaliin. Hinay-hinay lang, in her own time, nang hindi siya mabigla.”

“After I did ‘The Sound of Music’ when I was 10 years old, I’ve known that what I really want to do is perform,” says Atasha. “But my parents want me to finish my studies first, so I focused on that muna since I always give my best to anything I do.”

So what does she want to do exactly? “I’d like to act, sing, dance and do hosting. I want to try everything. I’m open to try all sorts of movie genres, but my first project for Viva will be record a single. It’ll be a happy song in Tagalog. “

Is being a Muhlach an advantage for her? “Yes, both of my parents have been in showbiz for long, so they can guide me well. They have no objections about my getting into this. They are no stage parents. They’re both just very supportive as they know this is what I really want to do. They just tell me to always be kind, respectful and be myself.”

Her mom Charlene is a beauty queen. Would she also consider joining a beauty pageant?

“I’m not closing my doors on it. If the opportunity is there, why not? But I’m taking it one step at a time. Right now, I just want to focus on showbiz first.”

Atasha answers all her questions in English and she’s very articulate. But how is her Tagalog?

“I can understand it but in conversations, I have to practice to be more fluent. My dad gave me his script in Tagalog and told me to read it aloud, so I’d know raw what I’m getting into. I think kaya ko naman.”

How would she describe the childhood of her and her brother Andres?

“Oh we’re just normal kids. He has been my best friend from day one. We play together. Growing up, we were not even allowed to have our own cellphones until we were 16 years old. I am quite a daddy’s girl. We’re best friends who play basketball together. But we’re all very close as a family. We do wakeboarding and we all love water sports.”

Will Andres also join showbiz, like her? “I wouldn’t want to answer for him. It is all up to him, but it would nice if could work together in the future, also with our parents.”

Her mom has uploaded some of her videos while she’s singing and dancing and she looks so perky and “kalog”.

“Yes, I’m really kalog. Those videos are just meant to be home videos. I’m just in my pajamas, but when they were posted, I felt that I just have to embrace them.”

Who among the actors of Viva would she like to be paired with later? “I have no one in mind. No one in particular. I still have a lot to learn and I trust Viva will help me make the right decisions.”