The Finals Night
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| PhilPop 2013 Grand Prize Winners Yumi Lacsamana and Thryo Alfaro |
I
guess almost everyone now knows who won this year’s edition of the Philippine Popular Music Festival (PhilPop). Returning finalist Thryo Alfaro, along with Yumi
Lacsamana finally bagged the Grand Prize with Dati that was interpreted by Sam Concepcion, Tippy Dos Santos and
Quest. Another favorite, Kung ‘Di Man
by Johnoy Danao and interpreted by Ney Dimaculangan ended up as the 1st
runner up while Pansamantagal by
Jungee Marcelo and interpreted by Sitti and Julianne Taroja was 2nd
runner up. I was surprised that Kung ‘Di
Man won the Smart People’s Choice Award since I thought that Dati already had a lock in this prize
considering how popular it was going into the finals night. A new prize
introduced this year, the Meralco Special Award was given to Segundo by Paul Armesin which was
interpreted by Yael Yuzon.
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| Ney Dimaculangan and 1st Runner Up Johnoy Danao |
The
Finals Night held at the Meralco Theater was not as lavish as last year’s show but
it went more smoothly and its flow was a lot tighter. Ogie Alcasid returned as
the host and he was joined this time around by Jasmine Curtis-Smith.
Unfortunately, the funniest moments between the two happened during commercial
breaks and too bad that the television audience didn’t get to see Jasmine beat
boxing and Ogie throwing in pop culture references from decades ago to a
clueless, yet a very good sport Jasmine.
 |
| 2nd Runner Up Jungee Marcelo |
My
bet to win the competition was Kung ‘Di
Man and it almost won the top prize. The first time I ever heard the studio
version of the song, I fell in love with it. The superb arrangement of Louie
Talan was a stroke of genius, giving the song a nice organic feel with an
exquisite cello solo by Giancarlo Gonzales. Unfortunately, there wasn’t any
cellist when Ney performed the song for the competition. And for me, it lacked
one of the key components that made this song truly awesome. I really believe
that if there was a cellist during the finals night, Kung ‘Di Man would’ve won the Grand Prize. The same could be said
for Pansamantagal wherein the studio
version had a live brass/wind section which was nowhere to be seen or heard
during the actual competition.
 |
| Tippy Dos Santos and Sam Concepcion |
But
on the other hand, Karylle’s sublime rendition of Sa’yo Na Lang Ako offered something that could never be duplicated
inside the studio. She didn’t aim for perfection but instead went for emotional
authenticity. The occasional flats and notes that could’ve been sustained a lot
longer, instead of making it a sub par performance, actually gave it more
character. Towards the end, I felt that Karylle was on the verge of breaking
down and I realized that she was singing as if she knew that she would not be
loved in return by the one whom she was longing for. This gave me a new
perspective of the song since listening to the studio recording made me feel
that it would be a happy ending for the two of them. It’s one of those magical
moments which I can liken to the huge difference between just listening to a
recording of an orchestra and watching an orchestra live.
 |
| Ace Libre and Toto Sorioso |
Grand
Prize Winner
Dati
by Thyro Alfaro and Yumi Lacsamana
1st Runner Up
Kung
‘Di Man by Johnoy Danao
2nd Runner Up
Pansamantagal
by Jungee Marcelo
Smart
People’s Choice Award
Kung
‘Di Man by Johnoy Danao
Meralco
Special Award
Segundo
by Paul Armesin
 |
| Karylle and Lara Maigue |
I
appreciated the a cappella number by
the 28 voices featuring The Company, Baihana, The Ryan Cayabyab Singers, Myke
Salomon, 5AZ1, Charice Pempengco and Ogie Alcasid that gave the spotlight to
recent music. Last year’s medley were of hits from decades ago and although
these songs are considered classics, I felt that this has been overdone already
and that the current music need to be on the spotlight to show that OPM is
truly alive. Thankfully, this year’s production realized the importance of
showcasing current music and gave recent hits like Gloc 9’s Sirena, Yeng Constantino’s Chinito and even Banda ni Kleggy’s Discolamon some airtime. The opening
number with Martin Nievera and Regine Velasquez singing portions of the songs as
the finalists and interpreters were introduced was unnecessary in my opinion.
And it gave such pressure to the interpreters since Martin and Regine are hard
acts to follow. Sandwich ’s performance of Tayo’y Mga Pinoy felt somewhat flat for
me since by that time, people were already looking forward to know who won and
this number further delayed the announcement of the results.
 |
| Ryan Cayabyab Singers' Poppert Bernadas and Jasmine Curtis-Smith |
I
also like to point out that it served the competition well to release the Philpop 2013 album weeks before the finals
night. Because of that, the public were able to listen to the songs and pick
their favorites. The tracks were also picked up by radio and received lots of
airplay. The release of the music videos prior to the competition also gave
more exposure to the songs as well. So there was momentum, anticipation and more
excitement coming into the finals.
 |
| Ryan Cayabyab and Ebe Dancel |
PhilPop 2013 goes on tour with mall concert series
The 2013
Philippine Popular Music Festival finals night may be done and over with but
that doesn’t mean that PhilPop is truly over. Just like last year, the
finalists and interpreters will be going on tour and this will kick off with a
show this August 9, 2013 , 7:00 PM at the Eastwood
Central Plaza
See
live performances by Ace Libre of Never the
Strangers, Kean Cipriano of Callalily, Banda ni Kleggy, Kimpoy Feliciano, Ney
Dimaculangan, Sam Concepcion, Tippy Dos Santos, Quest and Six Part Invention as they interpret the songs that made it to the finals. The PhilPop 2013 concert series continue on August 17,
2013 at Lucky Chinatown Mall and on August 18, 2013 at the Venice Piazza in Taguig.
And
soon enough, it will be time for Songwriting
with the Maestro, a songwriting lecture/workshop featuring Ryan Cayabyab
himself. I remember meeting Adrienne Sarmiento-Buenaventura during the workshop
at San Beda College after the competition last year. And lo and behold, she
ended up as one of the finalists this year.
The PhilPop 2013 album, released by
Universal Records is still available in record stores nationwide. Dati, Kung ‘Di Man, Pansamantagal
and the rest of the tracks can also be downloaded via MyMusicStore Philippines and
iTunes.
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