Category: Philippine Idol Update

If the words of the Philippine Idol judges woere an inidcation of who will be eliminated on Pinoy band night, then Ken Dingle would have been the next person to go. Ken did not sound bad. He seemed unprepared for his performance since he invented his own lyrics three times or more during his performance. Mr C even said that his Philippine Idol journey should have ended earlier and that it is because of him that Drae Ybanez and Reymond Sajor have been eliminated. However, things did not go this way because of another technical glitch that happened during voting. So Ken has another week to live. Will he be able to redeem himself? Or have the viewers seen enough of him that even if he performs well this coming Sunday, he will receive the least amount of votes come Monday night?

One of the best male aspirants for Philippine Idol has been eliminated. Reymond Sajor who sang Be My Lady got the least amount of votes and was eliminated. I've been following Philippine Idol religiously and this guy, Reymond, is one of the few consistent male candidates. Among the pool of contestants, Reymond is the only contestant who sounds like a CD when performing. He looks effortless while giving a very good voice quality in all his performances. It is a pity that the best two male performers were on the bottom two for that night. It was either Gian or Reymond who will be eliminated that night. For me that was really bad since these two set the standards for the male performers. I guess this is also the reason why Mr C lost his cool. O well, we'll see if the voters get to learn this time.

So after two weeks of competition, the first two Philippine Idol casualties are Stef Lazaro and Drae Ybanez. It's kind of sad to see them go specially since they performed well on their last night. Steff sang Tina Turner's Proud May (Rollin on the river). The song was very appropriate for Stef since her voice (which FM said as 'basag na boses') is one of the things that will make the song Proud Mary work. Drae performed very well. However, they still failed to get enough votes to save them from elimination. Does the vote of the viewers reflect how the performed? I don't think so. I'm sureothers will agree with me that there were others who performed worse than these two but still made the cut. Do I think they should be booted out because of their performance that night? No.

Compared to the boy's results, the girl's results night was less surprising. At least two of the best girl performers landed a slot in the top 4. Though not all the best girls made it, the results are still better than the boys wherein only one of top performers made it to the top. The two I'm talking about are Pow and Armarie. They were excellent in their performances and they were able to get enough votes. Am I surpised to see Jeli in the top 4? Not really. She's got beauty and brains. She can sing even if she hasn't wowed us yet. And I think people would like to see her more that's why they voted for her. I hope she delivers during the finals to prove that she can be the Philippine Idol. As for Apple Chiu, I think she's ok. She may come of as strong or mayabang for some. Though I think this can go both ways for her. Since malakas ang dating could also be a good thing for a performer–giving a lot of impact whenever he/she does her thing on-stage.

The boy's results night was a surprise for the judges and I guess for most fans as well. Only one of the top four in the eyes of the judges received enough votes to get to the final 12. The others who made it did not perform as well as the others who the judges pointed out . And there's even one who made it to the final 12 but sucked during his performance. I wouldn't want to name names but I guess viewers would know who I'm talking about.

If you missed what happened on that night, you visited the right site.

After a group performance by the 12 male finalists, Ryan Agoncillo divided the12 finalists into two groups. Group A and Group B. Ryan called out the names one by one and told them what group they should be in. The six who formed group B were Ramirr, Jan, Gian, Miguel, Reymond, and Drei. The other group was composed of Freddie, Robert, Ken, Onyx, Joseph, and Christian. It was then announnced that the group that has the four finalists is group B. Group A was asked to take their seats while Group B remained on stage. Ryan then announced Drei and Miguel are part of the Final 12. Ramirr and Reymond were then called on center stage. Betwen the these two guys,itwas Reymond who made it. This left Gian and Jan fighting for the last of the four slots. For many viewers like me, I expected Gian to make it since he was the performer in theBoy's Performance Night. Adding the fact that he was pitted against Jan who just gave a so-so performance, Gian was the logical finalist. Finally Ryan announced that it was Jan who made it according to the voters. The night did not only give four finalists. It also gave a shock to the judges and to the viewers like me as the best performers in the Boy's Performance niight namely Ramirr, Gian, Robert, and Joseph were snubbed by the voters. This made me think if staging Philippine Idol was a good idea altogether if andwhen the voters who will ultimately decide who the Philippine Idol will be do not know who to vote.

Below is a run down of how the 12male finalists performed during this night and what the judges had to say:

Freddie Cabael sang Macho Guapito.

Francis said, during the autions he saw Freddie an Ameasian with the foreign look but after his performance he can now see the Pinoy in him. Pilita said she would like to see more of Freddie literally by advicing him to lose the hat. Ryan Cayabyab didn't enjoy that very much and suggested another genre for Freddie's next performance. Two out of three which is not bad.
Robert Bernades performed Take a look inside my Heart.

FM said Robert was relaxed during his performance and vocally equpped. Mamita complimented Robert's transformation as Robert slimmed down. Ryan said 'My bet.' Three outof three, impressive and for the maestro Ryan Cayabyab to bet on Robert like that Robert should be the happiest contestant.

Kenneth Dingle sang More today than yesterday.

Francis M said 'You had fun.' Pilita gave a warning to perform better than tonight on the succeeding rounds. Ryan C advised him to use his wide range to his advantage. The performance was ok over-all. He just didn't wow the judges enough.

Paul Andre Ybanez performed What you do for love.

FM said It's the best performance I've seen you do. Pilita said she saw confidence on stage with his performance. Ryan said he wasvery relaxed and his charm was oozing. That's 3 of 3 which is always a good sign.

Onyx Culala sang The Windmills of Your Mind.

Francis M said that Onyx's deep vocals is his weapon. Pilita said 'Kulang ng Pwersa.' The maestro Ryan C put it bluntly and said the performance was 'not beautiful.'

Giancarlo Magdangal performed Footloose.

FM told Gian:”You were born to do this.” Mamita commented on Gian'sappeal while Ryan C found Gian to be very professional and very sleek. He also said: 'I hope voters vote for you.'
Ramirr Greppo, the long haired rocker, sang Bed of Roses.

Francis M said 'Kinikilabutan ako.' Pilita just said four words: 'Ramirr, I love you!'. Ryan C said 'The best choice of song tonight. You'rethe singer to beat.'

Miguel Mendoza performed Highways of my Life.

FM said Miguel hadpotential but he should strive better. Pilita asked those from La Salle to vote for Miguel. Ryan C wanted a different song for Miguel since is not matrue enough for his choice of song. To put it simply, the judges did not like his performance.
Reymond Sajor sang Tell her about it.

A microphone malfunction happened during Reymond's performance. I thought he just forgot the lyrics but I guess that's what happens when the show is live. Reymond carried it well and performed again from the top in a seamless fashion. FM commended whathe saw as 'grace under pressure'. Pilita told that what Reymond did makes him a star while Mr C summarized it with 'Bongga ka!' I guess the malfunction made his performance even better.

Joseph Astor performed Why can't it be.

FM noticed Joseph's diction should be improved but he added that apart from FM said 'Pasok ka, pare.' Pilita started by saying 'I've always liked Piolo.' Joseph and Piolo have this similarity and it could be said that Joseph is the 'dark Piolo' in Philippine Idol. Pilita also pointed out that during the performance she could see Joseph's sincerity. Ryan Cayabyab said 'Gusto ko ang boses mo.' He also liked Joseph's earnestness and sincerity while performing. It's like he really wants others to see what he can do and show on stage.

Christian Masaga sang Have I told you lately.

FM said the performance was moving. Pilita said almost thesame thing by saying that it was full of emotion. Ryan Cayabyab said 'I would have wanted another song.' But on the brighter side Mr C said Christian's performance was good enough.

Jan Kurt Nieto performed Bridge ove troubled water.

I wasn't able to hear the comments of the two judges. Ryan Cayabyab said 'I didn'tlike the performance.' Ryan C was trying to connect with Kurt but he wasn't successful.

If we base what the voters should be voting from this night's performance and from the judges comments we would be having Giancarlo Magdangal, Ramirr Grepo, Reymond Sajor, Paul Andre Ybanez, Robert Bernales, and Joseph Astor in the top 6.

I don’t have much to say in terms of the credentials of the Philippine Idol judges. Francis Magalona, Pilita Corales, and Ryan Cayabyab have proven their worth in their respective areas of music. They may have their stature in Philippine entertainment but there are still others who are not impressed. Some people thought Pops Fernandez would be a judge since she is somewhat in the mold of American Idol’s Paula Adbul. It would be a logical thing to think that way but the Philippine Idol team went with Pilita. As weeks pass by, I see now why Pilita is on the show. She has this certain niceness in her comments which puts the contestant’s perforamcne in a positive light. She also has this sideshow thing going on with host Ryan Agoncillo.

What Idon’t like about the judges during the autions is that they seem to be waiting for each other. This comment mostly goes to Francis Magalona. Doesn’t he have his own say? He seems to be waiting for Ryan Cayabyab’s and Pilita’s votes before making his mind. From what I watched on television especially onthe Davao auditions, the judges seem to be forming a consensus before giving a contestant the yellow pass. They have their own mindsand they should be able tomake their own decisions. If Francis M wants to say yes to a contestant, he shouldn’t be held back by what his fellow judges would say. If they argue and fight for a contestant that is their right as one of the three judges. It could be that Francis M is afraid of his co-judges since they are more senior than him.

The Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao audtions produced 164 Philippine Idol aspirants. The were trimmed down to 84. (I'm don't know how they were cut down to this number since I failed to see that episode. If you do know, feel free to comment.)
The 84 remaining hopefuls then were grouped by three's and were to perform one group number in front of the judges. This made 28 groups (I'm not really sure if the 28 groups were composed of 14 male and 14 female trios). From what I saw I would assume that there were four songs. (Two songs for the male groups and two songs for the female groups). The only song I remeber is 'I'm so excited.' I remember it because of the performance of the trio composed of the Luzon Visayas Mindanao conncection. This group had me clapping after their performance even if I was just watching them on tv.

After the 28 group performances, deliberations took place to cut 84 into 40. When the judges had made their decision, the 84 apirants were grouped into 4 rooms. The judges would then enter the room and announce to the group inside if they made it. Two rooms celeberated while the other two rooms ended their Philippine Idol Journey.

The competition continued the next day as the remaining forty were given a solo performance each. Another set of deliberations was due after the 40th solo performance. The judges would then make their decision on who will be included in the Final 24. I liked the manner in which the judges' decision was made known to the 40 remaining aspirants. The contestants had to go inside the theater one by one and had to sit in fornt of a judge waiting to talk to them. The judge then talks to the contestant and reveals his/her fate. 12 male idols and 12 female idols will then have to compete and fight for text votes which would land them a place the final 12.

Philippine Idol’s episode three featured the last main audition site, Davao. It was said that Davao is a ‘king’ city in its own right becasue of the following reasons: a.) Davao City is the world’s largest city in terms of landarea b.) it is home of the Philippine Eagle, the king of birds c.) it is the source of the king of fruits, durian d.) it is where we can find Mt. Apo, the king of Philippine mountains e.) waling-waling can also be crowned the king of orchids for its beauty. It wouldn’t be surprsising if the next king or queen of Pop music, comes from this place.
I wasn’t able to get the exact venue (though it could have been Pearl Farm) but what i’m sure about is what happened. I may not be in a good position to say this but as a viewer I was disappointed in what I saw. There were those who I felt deserved to be given the golden pass but was snubbed by the judges. Ok fine, sure there those who performed well in their auditons and were given the opportunity to test their wares in Manila. But sometimes we would see even better performances from people who were not given the chance than those who got the gold pass. One good examplewould be this married girl. I’m not really sure what she sang but hearing her reminded me of Lea Salonga. The judges however didn’t really believe in her and said she’ll just have a hard time when she goes to Manila. It was a good thing she had her supportive stage husband comfort her after the judges snubbed her.

Philippine Idol held its Visayas Audtions in the Queen City of the South, Cebu. A host of high caliber Filipino singers such as Dulce, Manilyn Reynes,Vina Morales ,and Philippine Idol judge Ms Pilita Corales trace their roots in this province. The venue for this leg of auditons was at the compound of Big Foot Entertainment which also houses the International Academy of Film and Television (IAFT).

The episode proved to be a winner with its selection of audition clips and interesting personalities. Aspiring Philippine Idols from all walks of life came to the Big Foot Entertainment compound hoping to get that golden pass which gives them the right to go to Manila and go on and compete. This was very evident during the Cebu auditions as people from all professions, all genders, and even people not coming from the Visayas (there were those from Manila, and there’s oneform Australia) who tried and auditioned to be the first Philippine Idol.