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Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Philippine Idol: My Final Notes




All’s well that ends well. After the humps and bumps that plagued the initial run of Philippine Idol, Mau Marcelo’s winning the plum finally confirmed the Pinoy’s commitment to talent.

While I did root for Gian, I still agree that Mau was an excellent choice. I have always recognized her talent, long before PI. She actually was my bet in Star for A Night where she was bested by Sarah Geronimo. I knew her time will come.

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But just like her, I too had my doubts if she indeed was idol material. Everybody knew that the world she was trying to conquer had fascination with beauty first and talent second. That’s why I was convinced that Gian was a sure winner. He fits all the requisites – looks, talent, charm.

Fortunately, the PI format allowed the people to have a say in the outcome. At the same time, the two-hour voting period limited the impact of wholesale voting. If the judges controlled the proceedings, I am quite sure Mau would not have gotten the crown.

(I cannot say the same for Pinoy Dream Academy. It’s format allows maximum use for block votes. It will be no wonder then if Irish Fullerton will later win despite being the least talented in the final six. The mighty US dollar will surely trounce its rivals who hitch their dreams on the lowly peso. Look what happened to Yvan Lambatan.)

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Mau was not consistent on finals night, no thanks to the judges uninspired choice of song for her to interpret. “Balut …Penoy” was a novelty song, regardless of the fact that it was a challenging piece. It was good theater stuff but definitely not contest material. What were the judges thinking? Were they grooming Mau to be this generation’s Nanette Inventor?

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I loved Gian’s version of Impossible Dream. It made a classic tune sound more like pop. I hope he records the song in his debut CD. With a minus one I should add. I guess it will be major karaoke stuff from hereon.

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I feared I would miss the Philippine Idol finals night.

I was in Bacolod City early morning Friday and left Saturday afternoon. Our flight was delayed by the rains of Senyang and we all thought we’d be stranded. Fortunately, we were able to fly out of Negros. As we arrived, we tried traversing EDSA but it was complete chaos. We diverted to C-5 but it was worse. At 7 pm, we were still crawling out of Libis. I heaved a sigh of relief when traffic eased as we approach Katipunan. I was home some time 8:00. But after about 10 minutes, the lights went out.

The unannounced brown-out was not enough to let me pass on the chance to watch Philippine Idol. I started searching for possible places where I could grab a good view- a restaurant, a friend’s house, anywhere! Even if I was quite tired, I was stubbornly willing to go wherever it takes me just to watch the show.

Good thing I was spared the trouble. The lights came back just in time for the opening number. It was a wonderful ride from thereon.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yoyoy Villame is old. Fred Panopio has been forgotten by the new generation. Elisabeth Ramsey is semi-retired. Mystica's career has surged to an all-time low. And yes, Pilita Corrales, with her belly bending antic, is a has been.

Philippine Idol has given birth to a new "Idol of Novelty Songs". Mau Marcelo.

Thanks, Ryan, FM and Tita Pilits, and their hundreds of voters!

atto aryo said...

He he. Should I agree?

I guess Mau will be packaged as a soul singer. A la Jaya. :-)

How to sell her is another story. Ngayon pa nga lang di na siya makita. It was indeed a wrong decision to give ABC 5 the Idol franchise.