The Voice Of The Philippines: The Battles Round 3

Last night was better than last Saturday. I was impressed with the contestants who did not have that much noise during their blind auditions. But before we start, I was really happy that Sir Lord Lumibao is really sport to admit that Thor was the better man at the night of their battle.

Who got eliminated? Let's start.

First one was Coach Bamboo. He paired up Paolo Onesa against the Father-Son team, Cordovales Duo. I was not that familiar with the Cordovales Duo so I predicted Paolo to take this battle but I was wrong, he was clearly outperformed by the Father-Son duo. I think why Coach Bamboo chose Paolo was he sees himself with Paolo. He said that he was like that before but he was able to adopt to the need of the industry and I think that's what he saw in Paolo. It's not like Paolo did bad on that performance. I think Bamboo still did the right choice. Paolo has a greater chance of becoming big in the industry rather than the Cordovales Duo.

This will be another controversy for Bamboo as people thought that this was hands down a Cordovales Duo win. I am puzzled on what Coach Bamboo is planning for his team.

Up next are Coach Apl's Dream Bebots. :) He paired three very beautiful girls in Penelope, Moira and Cara. I can still remember their auditions so I thought this will be an easy win for Penelope. And I was right, it might be tough to say but Cara and Moira did bad on that battle. They were struggling. Penelope was the only bright spot on this performance. Nothing to say but this was just a very easy win for Penelope. He was clearly the Dream Girl for Apl. Coach Apl clearly has the most talented team on this season. 

Penelope was the star of the night

Coach Lea's team clearly brought the house down tonight. Probably the best performance of the night. I even asked Ms. Lea Salonga if its possible to have a studio version of this one. To my surprise, she replied back! :) :) :)

Kimpoy won this battle against his good friend Taw

Taw and Kimpoy really did a very good job on the song Without You by Usher. Although they both did great, I can really see Taw staying longer on this competition. I was surprised when Coach Lea picked Kimpoy. He is good, but Taw also did good on this performance. Everyone was emotional, even Coach Sarah was somehow teary-eyed. I just hope Taw gets a shot to be in the music industry because we need someone like her. Props to Kimpoy for winning this one.

Team Sarah's Junji Arias and Dave Lamar were the last performers of the night. Upon seeing this pairing, I honestly felt bad for Dave Lamar. Come on, battling with Junji? It's like facing suicide. Dave has a chance but with that song Bohemian Rhapsody, his chances clearly went from 50 to clear zero. Dave is a good singer, it's just that he was paired with a really really great singer. Junji clearly owned him on that battle. No questions asked.

Junji and Dave rocking Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody

I am looking forward for next week! Excited to see my bets Janice Javier, RJ Dela Fuente, Radha and Maki Ricafort face their battles against equally good singers. 

Even my good twitter friend RJ Dela Fuente is excited for this battle:

Do you agree with the decisions of the Coaches?

Credits to: Ithevoiceph for the videos.

Keep the Faith.

Paolo

The Voice Of The Philippines: The Battles Round 1

Now we are on the stage which I can consider the best part of the competition. The Battle Rounds! This will be the biggest test for them. They will either win or beaten alive by their opponent. Having a 4 chair turn on your blind audition is not a guarantee that you will be the instant favorite of your coach. This is also the chance for those who only got 1 chair turn to prove that the other judges made a mistake by letting them go. This is the survival of the fittest. This is the battle rounds! Anything can happen!

First up for battle are #TeamApl's Tristhan Perfecto and the Lorenzana Duo. Coach Apl tapped the help of Journey's frontman, our very own Arnel Pineda to help the team prepare for this battle. Coach Apl picked Stevie Wonder's Sign, Sealed, Delivered to be their song. Being the first to perform is really nerve-wracking that's why I did not expect that much of a battle from this one. Tristhan clearly ate the Lorenzana duo alive. Tristhan's advantage is really his high and clear range while on the other hand, I think Lorenzana duo lacked harmony together. They could have done really well with this song since this is an upbeat one, but they didn't maximize their skills. Coach Apl was right on this one. 

Note: I can see Tristhan spoiling this thing from Thor and Janice. The two clearly are the front runners for Team Apl but I have this feeling we might see Tristhan giving them a run for their money!

    Tristhan winning against the Lorenzana duo

Kamp Kawayan's frontrunner Lee Grane will be paired up against Dan Billano. If we will just base our assumptions on who will win this one, your guess will be as good as mine. Lee Grane. NO DOUBT. NO QUESTIONS ASKED. But after Bamboo chose the song One by U2, I already had a doubt for Lee Grane since this is a man's song and this is not her genre. Bamboo was accompanied by the respected musician Mr. Joey Ayala.

Lee Grane winning against Dan Billano

True enough, Lee Grane was clearly out performed and out sang by Dan. Dan knew he has the advantage on this one so he made the best out of all the chances he have. Dan performed really well that surprised the judges as well. Lee Grane knew this was not her best performance. But to everyone's surprise, Coach Bamboo still picked Lee Grane. 

I know,  you guys will say it's quite unfair for Dan since he did his best and all, but I think Bamboo still made the right decision. Why? I think Bamboo knows that Lee Grane is more mold-able than Dan. Bamboo has a vision for Lee Grane. He knows what he can do with Lee Grane. Bamboo also has that special emotional connection with Lee Grance because of her blind audition. I must say, this is not the first time that this happened. Since I've been watching the US version of The Voice, I've seen this happened too. It's really with the coaches vision and strategy on how he will complete his team. It just sucks that we still don't have the benefit of Steal since this is just the first season. 

I did not agree with this decision since Dan clearly won that battle, I hope Lee Grane picks herself up come Live Shows and prove us all wrong.

Team Sarah's Morissette Amon and Lecelle Trinidad are up next to perform for Sarah's vote. As what I have said on my blog regarding Team Sarah, it is just now that I realized that Sarah clearly has a very strong and well rounded team! It is because of experience, that Sarah picked Mr. Gary Valenciano as her co-mentor. The two ladies will be performing Donna Summer's "No More Tears(Enough is Enough)". I was really impressed with this performance. Props to Coach Sarah on this one! This is what you call a battleround! This is war! They are making us feel like this is really a war! 

One of the best performances of the night: Morissette vs Lecelle

This is Morissette's battle to lose for me. She clearly has the advantage on this one. Her voice is just big and well composed. Lecelle was good, but this was a no-brainer for me. Morissette clearly won that battle.

Thought we got what we want? Team Lea's Mitoy Yonting and Chien Berbana ends the show for us. After I found out that their song will be Alone, I had to worry for Chien! This is Mitoy's song! He can sing this song anytime, anywhere! Ms. Lea tapped the help of her brother Mr. Gerard Salonga to help Mitoy and Chien prepare for this battle.

Mitoy vs Chien

To my surprise, Chien actually did quite good. He did not let Mitoy beat him that bad. She stayed focus and did her parts well. It's just a case of too much to handle for Chien. I am sure Ms. Lea didn't even break a sweat on choosing who will advance to the next round. 

I am very happy that The Voice welcomed past and seasoned artists who believe they still have it, they just need to have that chance, and their chance is now. 

So far, I got it all right, do you agree with the judges decision? :)

Credits to the Youtube Channel: ITHEVOICEPH for the videos! :) Thanks!

Keep the Faith.

Paolo

The Voice Of The Philippines: Team Bamboo

The coach that has an eye for great music also has a gift of sighting a pretty face eventhough he haven't seen their faces yet. Coach Bamboo has a very competitive Kamp Kawayan crew but only few really stood out for me.

Definitely, Lee Grane is his best chance of winning this season. Probably the most talked about contestant in the whole competition. She is probably the choice of majority to win this season. I am not that impressed with her but there is something special about her voice that makes you want to listen to her. She is Bamboo's best chance, she will stay until the end. I'm sure of that.

My personal pick for TeamBamboo is Myk Perez. With his Jason Mraz style, he can do a lot with his voice. Ihope he can have a breakout performance for people to really see what he can do. I would pick him over Lee Grane!

Last one would be Nicole Parada. First, she is really pretty! Second, she is very talented! She deserved at least a 3-4 seat turn! Bamboo's very lucky to have her! 

I only picked 3 as top contenders on his team primarily because we all know that Bamboo will have Lee Grane with him until the end! I hope there will be an upset and Myk Perez or Nicole will emerge as his final member! 

Here are the rest of Kamp Kawayan:

1. Deborah Victa

2. Lee Grane Maranan **

3. Isa Fabregas

4. Angelique Alcantara

5. Cordovales Father & Son (Willy and Mark)

6. Don Michael Perez **

7. Angelica Prado

8. Paolo Onesa

9. Nicole Parada **

10. John Philip Duka

11. Talia Reyes

12. Denise Sagun

13. Dan Billano

** Paolo's picks

Do think Lee Grane will represent Team Bamboo until the end?

Keep the Faith.

Paolo

The Voice Of The Philippines: Team Sarah

It's time to get to know the members of each team. I will enumerate everyone and will probably tell who I think are the strongest members of each team. 

Let us start with Team Sarah. I am correcting myself, I honestly thought that Team Sarah was one of the weakest team but I have got to say, she also got some really good singers on her team. I am impressed that Sarah, despite being the youngest among the 4, know what she really want for her team.

Probably her strongest weapon for this season, Junji Arias will be Team Sarah's front runner for this season. Junji sang the song I'll be there for you and got a 3 chair turn. I must say, I did not expect Junji to choose Sarah in the first place, but who couldn't pick a coach who treated you like a hero after you performed? I would say this was a very smart choice for Junji too.

Junji Arias: I'll be there for you

Sarah also got a very good soulful singer in the name of Maki Ricafort. The former South Border member is now ready to make his own name. His version of Foolish Heart is probably one of the smoothest version I have ever heard. Controlled, and you can really hear that he has been doing this for a very long time. Among Team Sarah, I am rooting for Maki Ricafort.

Next one would be Morissete Amon, she was the one who looks like and sounds like just like Sarah Geronimo. Definitely has the qualities to become the next popstar. She is also one of the better singers on her team. Michaellen Temporada, a registered Nurse but now he is not in the hospital but rather in the stage fulfilling his dream. He sang the song Summertime and got a 4 chair turn from the judges. Sarah is very lucky to have this guy.

Last but not the least, I can also see Hans Dimayuga staying for a long time in this competition. Sarah was the only one who pushed her button but I was really impressed with his vocals on that song. Let's hope that he will stay consistent.

Those are my top picks for Team Sarah. Here are the rest of the team:

Team Sarah

1. Junji Arias **

2. Eva delos Santos

3. Morissette Amon **

4. Michaellen Temporada **

5. Gabriel Ramos

6. Hans Dimayuga **

7. Kathreen Castro

8. Hideyuki Ito

9. Lecelle Trinidad

10. Maki Ricafort **

11. Klarisse de Guzman

12. Rouxette Swinton

13. Dave Jonathan Lamar

Note: ** Paolo's picks

Do you have the same picks with mine? Who are the strongest singers for Team Sarah? 

Keep the Faith.

Paolo

The Voice of The Philippines

I am a huge fan of the American adaption of The Voice and that is why I am really grateful that we were able to bring the franchise on our country. It's no question that Filipinos are probably one of the best if not the best singers in the whole world. Charice, Lea Salonga, Arnel Pineda and Paolo Valencia to name a few. Hahaha. It's not surprising though since we Filipinos really love to sing and belt our lungs out during our Karaoke times with our friends.

The expectations were really high, from the set, to the hosts and to the contestants, the pressure will be there for the production team of TVOTP. But I have to give props to them for giving their all on this one. Of course we can't compare USA to us, for obvious reasons we lacked something, from the location to the stage setup but what's important is the talent that we will be witnessing on that stage. Talent is still greater than all of those. 

Now we go to the judges, this set of judges is probably the best set of judges on any singing competition we've ever had in our country. Bamboo-Sarah-Lea-Apl. They created their own name in their own music genre. 

Bamboo provides that cool and awesome vibe that will make you really believe that he wants you to be on his team, plus the fact that he really has an eye for very beautiful ladies even he hasn't seen them yet! That's an awesome gift! Ms. Lea Salonga gives that very lively and positive vibe. She shows how she wants you badly, and really gets into it whenever someone performs really well. She is just very transparent. Apl De Ap clearly gives that international feel whenever he talks, you know he clearly knows what to do to make it to the international scene. Sarah Geronimo provides that certain charm and lights up the whole set whenever she speaks. 

I am very excited for this season! I've been watching the audition clips and I must say that the poor stage setup is being outpowered by the great voices of the contestants! All in all, I am very proud that we were finally able to raise our singing competition to a higher quality!

After the blind auditions, I can safely say that in my opinion, Team Apl is the strongest team followed closely by Team Lea, Team Bamboo then Team Sarah. Stay tuned for my next blog for the explanations. I'd also give my predictions for the Battles.

Who stood out for you during the blind auditions? Tell me! :)

PS: Grabbed photos from Google.

Keep the Faith.

Paolo