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| PhilPop Grand Prize Winner Karl Villuga |
By
now, the winners of the first ever Philippine Popular Music Festival (PhilPop)
have already made the news all over. The celebrations and hopefully, the
conspiracy theories as well have mellowed down a bit. Although I think that
the winning composers, grand prize winner Karl Villuga (Bawat Hakbang), and runners up Toto Sorioso (Tayo-Tayo Lang) and Soc Villanueva (Kontrabida) still couldn’t believe that they’ve won and are
probably still on a PhilPop high. I was an adjudicator during the earlier
rounds and I still feel that high since this has been incredible experience for
me as well.
After
the announcement of the finalists, what kept me on my toes was the announcement
of the interpreters for the compilation album and the performances on finals
night that was held at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC). And when the interpreters were finally announced, I was surprised by the
inclusion of some artists like Nyoy Volante for Slowdancing, Sam Concepcion for Kontrabida
and Marié Digby for 3 AM. Some
interpreters were already expected like Cathy Go for Negastar, Gary Granada
for Minsa’y Ibang Bansa and Joey
Ayala for Piso.
I
awaited the release of the album anxiously since it would be the first time for
me to listen to the final songs entirely. During the screening process, we
usually proceeded to the next entry by the time a song got into the chorus. And
some of the entries were raw demos which aren’t fit for commercial release.
Hearing the studio versions of the finalists made me think ahead on how they
would fare in the local music industry outside of the competition like if they
would gain some radio airplay.
Aside
from the compilation album, the most awaited event for PhilPop has got to be
the performances during the finals night. Here are my thoughts on the
performances of the Top 14 songs that night which was hosted by Ogie Alcasid and Nikki Gil.
Negastar
Music
& Lyrics by Mike Villegas
Interpreted
by Cathy Go
I
guess that this song, tailor made for Cathy Go, was already in the can and Mike
Villegas just decided to try his luck and enter it in the competition. Hence, a
very comfortable performance by Cathy who had the daunting task of performing
first. The song’s title, a play on Megastar and negativity caught my attention
during the screening. The rest of the song was strong enough to carry it
through the finals.
Dulo
ng Dila
Music & Lyrics by Noah Zuñiga
Interpreted
by Jay R & Deejay Poblete
I
really liked this song when I first heard it during the earlier rounds. The
triple meter, the old school vibe and the duet nature of the song appealed to
me. I just wish that the chorus was just as strong as the verses.
Slowdancing
Music
& Lyrics by Kennard Faraon
Interpreted
by Nyoy Volante
This
is one of the finalists wherein I liked the submitted entry a lot more than the
studio version. No offense to Nyoy but the one that I heard during the
screening stood out more and was a lot more memorable with the electronic sound
giving it a certain charm. I was not too keen with the live band arrangement
during the finals night as well.
Minsa’y
Isang Bansa
Music
& Lyrics by Gary Granada
Interpreted
by Gary Granada
It
makes me wonder if people consider a song to be good if it has a moral lesson
to it. Does a song become automatically good if it’s talking about a good cause
like caring for the environment or being patriotic? These are the questions
that came to mind when I heard not just this song but also a lot of songs as
well during the screening process.
Tayo-Tayo
Lang
Music
& Lyrics by Toto Sorioso
Interpreted
by Ebe Dancel
Here
is a prime example that a song does not need to have a moral lesson in order to
be good. Ebe Dancel had some major voice problems during this performance that
I initially thought would hurt the chances of this song placing among the top
three. Fortunately and a bit eerily, Ebe’s troubles somehow fit with the
message of the song.
3
AM
Music
& Lyrics by Keiko Necessario
Interpreted
by Marié Digby
I
remember humming the chorus to this song during the screening process. That is
how inescapable this song’s melody is. The band, especially the drums, was off
during the performance and I felt that they accelerated too fast to the point
that I couldn’t figure out the downbeat during the chorus.
Takusa
Music
& Lyrics by Byron Ricamara
Interpreted
by Rocksteddy
This
was yet another song with an intriguing title that had everyone curious during
the earlier screening rounds. I think that the chorus was too repetitive and
that there could’ve been more to it lyrically. In the actual performance, the
drums section was off again, just like what happened in 3 AM . I don’t know what happened but there could’ve been
some problem with the band’s monitor.
Himig
ng Panahon
Music
& Lyrics by Thyro Alfaro
Interpreted
by Duncan Ramos, Luke Mejares, Loonie, Thyro & Yumi
I
admit that this song went under my radar. During the performance, I was put off
with the sheer number of interpreters on stage. I think that this song could’ve
done a lot better performance wise if there were fewer singers on stage. But I
like how this song explored rhythms a lot more.
Kontrabida
Music
& Lyrics by Soc Villanueva
Interpreted
by Sam Concepcion
I
wasn’t too keen on this song until I heard Sam Concepcion’s version. This was
when I felt that this could be part of his performance repertoire and that it
could possibly stand on its own outside the competition.
Bawat
Hakbang
Music
& Lyrics by Karl Villuga
Interpreted
by Mark Bautista and Akafellas
This
gave me goosebumps when I first heard it. The refrain with the leaps leading to
the chorus gave me chills and right then and there, it became my favorite. Mark
Bautista being added with the Akafellas surprised me a bit. I wish that it was
just Karl or Mark doing the solos instead of making it a duet.
Kesa
Music
& Lyrics by Edwin Marollano
Interpreted
by Daniel Grospe
Daniel
Grospe was entirely unknown to me before so I had no idea how he looked or
sounded like prior to this. His voice sounded odd which suited the song. But
the pants he wore during the performance actually stole the show.
Bigtime
Music
& Lyrics by Trina Belamide
Interpreted
by Baihana
The
intro to this song had the adjudicators grinning and nodding their heads to the
big band beat. It’s a cute song but for me, it was too old school and lacked
that current vibe and feel. It felt too much: the big band arrangement and the
jazz trio. It would’ve been a lot more refreshing if current vocal styles were
used alongside the big band arrangement or a jazz trio singing alongside
current rhythms.
Brown
Music
& Lyrics by James Leyte
Interpreted
by Brownman Revival & James Leyte
This
is another upbeat song with that had adjudicators nodding their heads to the
beat during the screening process. But I personally found it hard to connect
with this song though. It was a personal song for composer James Leyte which
was probably why it didn’t get through to me at all. But it did get through to
a lot of people since this song won the Smart People’s Choice Award.
Piso
Music
& Lyrics by Krist Melecio
Interpreted
by Joey Ayala
This
song is another case of too much patriotism and nationalistic for my taste
especially when I’ve had my fill during the screenings. But I was pleasantly
surprised on how well this song came out during the live performance. The addition
of the drum line helped a lot to generate excitement for this song.
Other
performances that served as breaks from the competition included an opening
song by Ogie Alcasid and the Ryan Cayabyab Singers; Macho Guwapito by the
comedy duo Jose and Wally; classic song medley by Christian Bautista, Erik
Santos, Regine Velasquez, Basil Valdez and Sharon Cuneta; and a Metropop medley
by a bunch load of singers. What made these numbers remarkable was that the
network wars were forgotten at this point and all the performers on stage were
just Filipino recording artists/musicians uniting to show everybody how awesome
OPM is.
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| Gian Carlo Vizcarra, Sam Concepcion, 2nd Runner Up Soc Villanueva & Kathleen Dy-Go |
I am
so glad that I wasn’t under any pressure to judge these entries since my part
as an adjudicator was over and done with during the earlier rounds. But I did
have my own bet that night which was Bawat
Hakbang. And I always told people that I’ve always been behind my PhilPop bet “every step” of the way. Kontrabida
was the other song that grew on me because of the studio recording by Sam
Concepcion. And by the end of the night, the judges thought that these songs
among the 14 are the most awesome:
Grand
Prize
Bawat
Hakbang by Karl Villuga
1st Runner Up
Tayo-Tayo
Lang by Toto Sorioso
2nd Runner Up
Kontrabida
by Soc Villanueva
Smart
People’s Choice Award
Brown
by James Leyte
The
winners are definitely happy with their cash prizes, P1 million for Karl
Villuga and P500,000 and P250,000 for Toto Sorioso and Soc Villanueva respectively.
James Leyte bags P200,000 for garnering the most number of text votes.
The
judges for the finals night of the Philippine Popular Music Festival were
singer, songwriter, advocate and FILSCAP President Noel Cabangon, radio
personality Chico Garcia, Universal Records’ Managing Director Kathleen Dy-Go,
PhilPop Treasurer Randy Estrellado, former Eraserheads frontman Ely Buendia,
songwriter and music director Louie Ocampo, and APO Hiking Society Member Jim
Paredes.
On a personal note, I'd like to thank Mr. Ryan Cayabyab for giving me the opportunity to be an adjudicator for this event. Never had I imagined that I'll be a part of this. Thanks also to Patricia Bermudez-Hizon who worked tirelessly in order to make this a success. Thanks also to Fonz, Kriz, Verna, Vida, Ross-man, Oscar, Vince, Rica, Perry, Jeman and Azrael.
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| DJ Myke, RAd, Poppert, Krina and Celine during the PhilPop after party |
On a personal note, I'd like to thank Mr. Ryan Cayabyab for giving me the opportunity to be an adjudicator for this event. Never had I imagined that I'll be a part of this. Thanks also to Patricia Bermudez-Hizon who worked tirelessly in order to make this a success. Thanks also to Fonz, Kriz, Verna, Vida, Ross-man, Oscar, Vince, Rica, Perry, Jeman and Azrael.
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