The Voice Of The Philippines: Top16 Part1

And so the real battle begins. The quest for the very first The Voice Of The Philippines winner will come from this very talented 16 artists. It is very good to see a wide variety of music styles being showcased for this season. Last night was no exception, who made it to the top8? Did the public and the coaches gave the right score? Let's find out.

TVOP divided the group of 16 into 2 groups, with the first one performing first last night. Two members from each team will battle it out for one slot on their respective teams, but this time, the public and coaches have the equal scoring. 50% for the public votes and 50% for the coaches decision.

First to perform was Team Sarah's Morissette Amon and she will be up against the soulful Maki Ricafort. I am honestly disappointed with this pairing because I saw this coming up but not this early, I predicted them to fight for that final slot for Team Sarah. Both are very talented and it's really sad to see them go at this time of the competition. 

Morissette performed the song What About Love. Not the song I would have picked for her, but that's good since she showed her versatility as a singer. She did really well on the song and she really chose her moments very well. She knows where to hit the high notes and just let her voice do the magic.

Coach Sarah's decision: 60%
Public's decision: 50.41%

I think Morissette really brought her A game last night. She deserved that win. The public got it right too.

If only Maki performed One Last Cry last night instead of last Saturday, this will be a different battle in my opinion. Maki wasn't able to maximize his talent on this song. He sounded great, but the viewers are always waiting for that one big moment where they can say, "Yes, I will be voting for this guy!". It lacked that wow factor.

Coach Sarah's decision: 40%

Public's decision: 49.59%

Note: I wouldn't be surprised if it will be a Klarisse vs Morissette fighting for the last spot on team Sarah. But in my opinion, Morissette's the best on Sarah's team by far. 

This is my favorite battle last night. Team Lea's Darryl Shy and Mitoy Yonting. Two different artists but have one thing in common. Pure musicality. Musicians at its finest. They bleed music. It's evident. I was more impressed with Sir Darryl Shy (I tend to call him Sir because I really like his music and he is really one of the most underrated singers in the competition).

Majority of the people predicted that this will be a walk in the park win for Mitoy but Sir Darryl proved them wrong. He sang last night to win. He did a magnificent job singing "Balita" and I really liked it. This Noel Cabangon type of music is what our industry misses. We've had enough of the party songs and digitalized music. We need this somehow folk music back on our radio.

Coach Lea's decision: 40% (I really thought she'd be in favor of Darryl)

Public's decision: 55.89% (Yes people, she bested Mitoy on public votes. I guess the 82% Mitoy last week was attained because of the people he was up against with. No offense to Mitoy's talent and all but he was clearly the best on Team Lea last week so it made the public's decision a lot better)

As much as I wanted to see more of Sir Darryl Shy, but who are we kidding? Who doesn't get excited whenever Mitoy performs? He is on a different level, 10 levels higher than the rest. Coach Sarah was right, where have you been all this time? Although sometimes I think whenever he performs the approach becomes too theatrical but who cares? His voice has not limits! It will be very tough to see him battle against Radha!

Coach Lea's decision: 60%

Public's decision: 44.11%

Kamp Kawayan's up next and I am pumped up to see what his team can bring tonight. People have been really mad at Coach Bamboo for always saving Lee Grane. He saved her twice. And people on the social media are wishing that hopefully Coach Bamboo will make up his mind and also for Paolo Onesa to give a good job.

Lee Grane was the first one to perform, I was excited while watching her VTR because she said she'd sing a faster song, but when she sang it, I was like, you have got to be kidding me. It is still the same as before! Same attack every time. I was really disappointed. At this time, I was just hoping that Paolo will really perform great.

Coach Bamboo's decision: 40% (FINALLY, COACH =) you made a lot of people believe in you again after this decision)

Public's decision: 18.76% (The public has really spoken. Pretty sure the fans of Dan and Talia also joined force in saving Paolo)

Not the flashiest performance of the night but I would to say that Paolo did his job last night. He gave justice to the song Skyfall and the fans obviously loved it. My only concern for Paolo is I hope he opens up more, loosen up more. He has the talent. He just have to start believing because people believe in him.

Coach Bamboo's decision: 60%

Public's decision: 81.24% (Paolo Onesa fans + Dan&Talia fans + Lee haters made this possible)

It was Team Apl tasked to be the last to perform and I must say, this was also one of the hardest. His team is just loaded with a lot of talents and that's good for all of us! This is the battle of the two most consistent singers on Team Apl!

Penelope is also one of the more underrated contestants because of too many talented artists on Team Apl but she really is a star. Her voice is magical and I must say, crazzzzzzyyyyy clean. And that's where I also had a problem with her, maybe she was too concentrated on the thought that her performance should be perfect so she lacked giving emotion on the song.

Coach Apl's decision: 45%

Public's decision: 35.28%

If you will sing a Stevie Wonder song, you gotta think twice or thrice before doing it. First, as a singer too his songs are hard and really needs a lot of emotion and power. But Thor just blew it all! He was amazing, I can really feel that he is offering his every performance to his late mother. I honestly see myself in him, I hope I can be like him next year.. Haha. He is really one of my favorite singers aside from JayR, and others. 

He took the song Lately to a different zone. He did it really, I mean really really well. Outstanding.

Coach Apl's decision: 55%

Public's decision: 64.72%

In all honesty, Penelope did great. Really great. It's just who did better at that time and I think the public got it right when they saved Thor. 

One of the highlights of the night was really the performance of Ms. Lea Salonga and THE Patti Austin! It was amazing and I really felt that Patti was impressed with our local talents!

The coaches, and most especially the public got it right this time! I really hope we can still be like this come our National Elections! Can't wait for next week!

Anyway, the studio versions are available on iTunes :) Go buy and support them!

Credits: ABSCBNBestProgram for the videos. Google for Photos.

Keep The Faith.

Paolo

The Voice Of The Philippines: Live Shows 2

It's that time of the week again! Sunday is The Voice Of The Philippines day! After the success of the first live show, we are all thrilled to see what the contestants prepared for us tonight. I must say that the first live show will be very hard act to follow since "MAJORITY" of the title contenders were on the first one. Did the second half performed better than the first one? Who completed the Top 16? Let's all find out. :)

I would like to thank everyone who have been supporting my blog! My twitter mentions have been crazy so far and a lot of requests have been asked too. I will try my best to really give some of your requests. Thanks everyone :) My blog views just reached 12000 views with my last blog posting a 1,200+ views. Awesome!

Again, I will be doing my review through a ranking category just to spice things up. This are all from my own opinion. For the worst performance of the night..

12th: Angelique Alcantara - Nobela (Team Bamboo)

BORING. Wrong song choice. Everything in that performance was wrong. There was nothing spectacular on her performance at all. Why didn't Coach Bamboo changed the song of Angelique? No offense to the Join The Club but that song was not for contest-type performance. Her voice can be compared to KZ Tandingan but what's missing is her lack of emotion and style. Everyone knows that from this point it would just be Isa and Paolo for the night on Team Bamboo.

11th: Diday Garcellano - Rumor Has It (Team Lea)

BIG. BIG. BIG SONG. If you will cover an ADELE song be sure to really do it well since people will really compare you to the original one.  She was eaten alive by that song. We were wondering if there was a technical malfunction because we can't hear her that well while she was performing. She struggled last night. She knows it that's why she started to cry when Coach Lea was about to make her decision on who to save between her and Kim.

No offense to Diday and Kim, but with their performances last night it kept me thinking that RJ deserved a slot if he performed tonight!

 

10th: Tristhan Perfecto - When I Was Your Man (Team Apl)

Tristhan started strong with his performance. It was cool until the middle part where he struggled. I was wrooonggggg....... That will haunt him for a couple of days. It was just after his performance where Coach Apl defended Tristhan that he voice wasn't really perfect at that time. I just wished that Tristhan changed that part where he will not suffer since he knows that his voice isn't that well at that time. I must say, that part of the song was the MAKE OR BREAK point of his performance & sad to say, he failed to deliver that part. Overall, he still did well. Rest your voice Stan! I believe that you will  be performing with Bruno Mars soon!! :)

 

9th: Klarisse De Guzman - Beggin' (Team Sarah)

Wrong song choice again. Yes, I know that people want to see the other side of Klarisse but that song did not bring out anything good in her. It was plain and simple. I would have opted to see her perform more upbeat songs like Domino or any song by Jessie J, just to be different. Beggin' was performed by Phillip Phillips on American Idol where he performed it as an acoustic version. 

But, despite of that somehow disappointing number, we all know that Klarisse will be saved last night, no matter what happens. Sarah will definitely save Klarisse, for all obvious reasons. She's great but I think Sarah has a female contender already in Morissette Amon which I think has more chance of winning this competition compared to Klarisse. 

8th: Kimpoy Mainit - Hallelujah (Team Lea)

I did not like his version of this song. It was just too much of everything that the song needed. He over sang it. It was too theatrical. He also struggled on the middle portion of the song. This was not how I expected Kim to deliver come live shows, he did well on his performance with Taw and he also did great last night with his duet with Janice Javier. I really felt that none of Kim and Diday deserved to move forward to the next round. I hope he will be able to give us a better performance come next week.

 

 7th: Isa Fabregas - You Got A Friend (Team Bamboo)

This will all be good comments from now on. Haha. Isa really did great last night! She sounded classy! It was like were were all watching her perform on a bar. It's really good! This is how you pick a song. You pick a song that will bring out the best in you. Where you can shine and stand out among the rest. I was having doubts with Isa before since I for me, her vocal range might limit her to only a number of songs but she made the necessary arrangements and really made it her own!

 

6th: Yuki Ito - A Song For You (Team Sarah)

I did not like the arrangement of the song, but who cares? His voice is really incredible! I can consider his voice one of the best voices for this season! He gave his all! His voice quality is crazy good! The control, depth, texture and all! We lost a great talent!!! What a waste. :( He deserves to be in this competition! SAYANG!!!!!

 

5th: Paolo Onesa - You Give Me Something (Team Bamboo)

He has really something to show! Paolo gave a very good interpretation of the James Morrison song. I thought he will still be that shy and awkward while performing but he definitely improved last night. He just needs more confidence and take the risk of hitting those high notes much longer. He can do it, he should give it a try. I believe we will be seeing Paolo for a long time in this competition! 

Coach Bamboo proved to us that he was right when he chose Paolo over the Cordovales duo. Cheers Coach Bamboo!

PS: Paolo's are really great singers. Paolo Valenciano, Paolo Onesa and Paolo Valencia. Kidding.=) haha!

 

4th: Penelope Matanguihan - Ordinary People (Team Apl)

I am disappointed with her performance but I still ranked her 4th. Why am I disappointed? This song was too easy for her! In other words, no challenge, no thrill for her. She needs to test her limit, take risks, she has wide range so she can definitely play with her voice. I ranked her 4th because of her voice, it's probably one of the smoothest voices in the competition. Coach Apl can make her sing anything! Penelope, we know you're a good singer, we want more! We know you have the talent! Don't hold back!

3rd: Maki Ricafort - Without You (Team Sarah)

I'm up for a Maki-Thor-Mitoy and Myk finale! Woohoo! Maki murdered the song! He sounded like Brian Mcknight! I applaud his effort to really not sound as much as Brian Mcknight and it showed somehow. His runs and riffs are crazy good! We were all shouting at home! Coach Sarah was also on point where she said that Maki needs to show emotions while singing. Coach Lea gave a very good criticism too, sometimes when singers tend to style it too much, the lyrics of the song were suffering. I'm sure come next week, he will improve on those things. Maki all the way!

2nd: Janice Javier - I Believe I Can Fly (Team Apl)

Standing Ovation from the judges. No words needed! Janice soared high last night! Shame on me for underestimating her. She's here to win this competition! I felt that she really meant every lyric of that song! Big Momma J brought the house down! She owned the stage and really made the tv viewers and the live audience feel her fire!! Coach Apl is very lucky to have a very diverse and strong team with Thor, Janice, Jessica and Penelope!!

1st: Mitoy Yonting - Don't Stop Me Now (Team Lea)

Mitoy saved Team Lea last night! It felt like he was not a contestant but a guest performer! He totally rocked the stage and fired up the crowd! That's how you make someone understand on how you should define stage presence! He is a PRO! He made it look easy! Hitting those crazy high notes from time to time! I'm speechless as I am under his spell too! Mitoy is a total performer! Definitely the best performance of the night! Mitoy also got the highest vote percentage of 82%! Talk about total domination!

It's like he just sang and told everyone that THE SEARCH IS OVER!! I will win this competition! :)

 

 And there we have it! Klarisse and Maki completed Team Sarah. Mitoy and Kim for Team Lea. Janice and Penelope for Team Apl & Isa and Paolo for Team Bamboo! I would also like to congratulate the voters for doing a job well done! We are making the right decisions! Let's continue to vote for the best until the 2016 National Elections! Haha!

We now have our The Voice Of The Philippines Top 16!!! Who's the strongest team? Here's my take on each team.

#1. Coach Apl de Ap's #TeamApl

How can you go wrong with: Thor Dulay, Janice Javier, Penelope Matanguihan & Jessica Reynoso? This will be really challenging for the four of them to do better than the other! Another headache for Coach Apl! :)

#2. Coach Lea Salonga's #TeamLea

Headed by the two musician veterans on Radha Tinsay and Mitoy Yonting, plus the originality of Darryl Shy and Kim Mainit, Team Lea is also one of the teams to watch out. I can see Mitoy and Radha fighting for the finale spot on Team Lea but I hope Darryl and Kim will do something to surprise us!

#3. Coach Sarah Geronimo's #TeamSarah

It's Maki Ricafort versus the ladies for Team Sarah! Morissette Amon, Klarisse de Guzman & Eva Delos Santos will surely fight hard to win Coach Sarah's vote. I'm prediciting a Maki vs Morissette for the number 1 slot on Team Sarah.

#4. Coach Bamboo's #TeamBamboo #KampKawayan

I can see Myk Perez leading this team all the way but we should also watch out for Paolo Onesa, Isa Fabregas and definitely Lee Grane. This team needs to do a lot of work to somehow keep up with the intensity and talent of the other three teams!

There you have it everyone! Please tell me about who you're picks are! I have a comment section and we can discuss anything! Put your ranking too and let's see if the other readers agree on your ranking!:) Let us all interact and really discuss things out!

Credits to: The Voice Of The Philippines for the photos. ABSCBNBestProgram and ALiWAN for the videos!

Keep the Faith.

Paolo

The Voice Of The Philippines: The Battles Round 5

Two more battle rounds before we head to the live shows, I am addicted to this show! Surprised that I am this passionate as I am with the US version of the show. Filipinos are really the greatest singers in the whole world!

This episode proved to us why Sarah Geronimo, the youngest judge in the competition. Her battles are by far the most consistent in terms of vocals and performance itself. She maybe the underdog but she is surprising everybody that despite of her youth, she can still help them and mold them into better performers!

THIS IS MY FAVORITE BATTLE. Up to now, I am still singing this song. Haha. Team Sarah's Maki Ricafort and Hans Dimayuga performed K. Lamar. I never knew this song until the time they performed it. I am really sad that someone has to go because they really performed this song like they're having a guest performance on The Voice! The vocals, adlibs were all great! Maki Ricafort really took this competition to a higher level. He might not be as talked about as Thor, Lee Grane or Junji but he is clearly making noise at the right time. I hope to see him in the finale! 

As for Hans Dimayuga, best things in life are yet to come. You are too talented to not be in this industry. :) You deserve another chance.

That was a hard act to follow as the next contestants have to match or even exceed the performance of Maki and Hans. It was the turn of Team Apl's two Bebots namely Emmanuelle Vera and Jessica Reynoso. If the last one was the best performance in the competition, this one by Emmanuelle and Jessica has got to be one of the worst. No chemistry and harmony was done in this performance. Pure battle. It should be good since this is really a battle round but they did not sound good at all. Too much trying to overpower and overshadow one another. I don't know if Coach Apl made the right decision.

Not a good interpretation of the song Just Give Me A Reason

Team Bamboo's Talia Reyes and Denise Sagun are the next to perform. I honestly got bored with this performance so I think I'd also go with Talia. They sounded great and all, but I did not feel anything. They just performed it. 

Denise looked overconfident on this performance and I think it didn't do her any good. Talia just performed with more composure. I am really finding it hard to understand on what will be the game plan of Coach Bamboo come live shows, did he do this so that Lee Grane will have much easier opponents and it would be easier for him to put him until the finale?

Team Lea's trio of RJ, Juvi and Ranier were the last performers of the night. I thought that Juvi would win this one but after watching the performance, RJ clearly deserved to win. Ranier and Juvi sounded mad which is not what the song tries to say. RJ kept his cool and performed with ease. Ranier and Juvi tried so hard for this one and even Coach Lea and guest judge Mr. Gerald Salonga noticed it too. There were just too much trying going on. This was a clean win for RJ.

I did not know that RJ have a relation to the Valenciano's and all. But I think this is unfair for him to be labeled that his entry to this competition was "luto" or fixed so that he can be in the industry too. It's unfair. He sounded great. He sings well. He has the talent. He is in the competition and I believe he is here to stay. He doesn't deserve the hate that he's been getting! Heads up bro!

Credits: VoicePH for the photos and TheVoiceABSCBN for the videos.

Still rooting for Team Apl, but my second team is now Team Sarah. :] How about you?

Keep the Faith.

Paolo