Tuesday, August 06, 2013

The 2013 Philippine Popular Music Festival Experience Part 4

The Finals Night

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.

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


August 9, 2013, 7:00 PM
Eastwood Central Plaza
Quezon City

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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