PHILIPPINE IDOL: 9th ELIMINATION
Philippine Idol Stage at the Idol Theatre, SM Megamall3
PI: Final Four, Big Band night
Black Christmas rip
Hopefully, the final three!
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My recap tonight will be short. Sorry about that, I need to sleep early tonight, big and very important day tomorrow, Monday. Wish me luck!
Theme: Standards and big band songs tend to bore viewers who are not so into the genre, that is why it is commendable that the one at the helm of the show made it snappy and short (PI didn’t run for two hours tonight). It’s great seeing some innovations, too. The spiels in between performances were okay, save for one Idol hopeful who evidently “memorized” his script. The band playing before and after a gap also contributed to the big band feel of the show. Good blocking too. The set looked great, a nice goodbye to the Idol Theatre. I watched the show on tape, in totality, it worked! Take a bow, Rich.
Fever: take away the showgirls and that was quite a classy opening number. All four Idol hopefuls looked glamorous. So did the Mega Band and the back up singers. Even those who got eliminated already but were present inside the venue looked more dressy tonight. How come the judges didn’t try to glamorize their looks tonight?
JAN NIETO
Beyond The Sea
The Way You Look Tonight
I’m so glad that Jan appeared more relaxed tonight. The constipated look was almost non existent. It seemed like he practiced in front of the mirror, finally! Kudos!
Kakasabi ko lang na ang mga supporters ni Jan malamang nasa mga bahay bahay nila. pero tonight, parang ang daming Jan fans sa Idol Theatre ah? May practiced chant pa and color coded shirts.
MIGUEL MENDOZA
True
I’ve Got You Under My Skin
Decent but not awesome vocals (what am I saying, this is Miguel). I still believe he should go. In fact he should take Mr. C’s pakunswelo offer of a “song for him” if he leaves tomorrow. If I were you Miguel, huwag na ang top three ang puntiryahin ninyo. Magandang offer na iyung binigay ni Mr. C.
Ryan Cayabyab:
“Miguel sa iyo ko lang ito sasabihin, if you don’t make it tomorrow, I’ll sit down with you and let’s write a song for you…”
But yeah, that tearful reaction of his to the comments of the judges, brownie points! I’m sure he earned votes with that “moment”. The back up singers shed tears. His mom who was standing at the back, was crying too. Quite touching. He really is a nice kid, too bad this is a singing contest, primarily. Having said that, hay, mukhang delikado ang isa kina Jan, Gian and Mau bukas ah?
MAU MARCELO
My Funny Valentine
Waray Waray
Boy, Mau’s really improving looks wise, week after week after week. Mukhang malaki ang dapat niya ipasalamat kay Ricci Chan and of course sa sarili niya for the discipline sa diet niya.
Her rendition of the first song wasn’t perfect, but at least she showed everyone that she can control that voice of hers. Less birit, it had a more “intimate” feel to it. Parang whispering, ganun. The right amount of restraint. Magaling ka talaga, Mau!
The spiel part where she was dressed up dolled up was a hoot! Out of place in my opinion (classy to komedya, hehehe), but really hilarious.
Waray waray! Last night’s highlight! She sang it with aplomb and with much gusto! The right amount of “gigil”. Longest applause in PI, so far! People gave her a standing ovation. I gave her one. So did Ma’am Gretchen! Grabe ang pag cheer ni Mr. C! Dinig na dinig. Ang galing mo Mau!!!
Ryan Cayabyab:
“Woohoooooo hoooo hooo”
“Mau Marcelo!!!!!”
“Mau, ayan, humatol na ang tao, we’ll see you in the finals!”
Francis Magalona:
“Mau, matanggal na lahat huwag lang ikaw!”
Pilita Corales:
“Wala ako masabi eh… you are becoming more beautiful!… look at you, you are glowing, ang galing mo!”
GIAN MAGDANGAL
They Can’t Take That Away From Me
The Very Thought Of You
You have it, Gian. You have the talent and the so called total package. Kahit hindi ka pa umiyak o maiyak kanina. Walang kaso iyun.
Tonight’s theme was Y-O-U.
Ryan Cayabyab:
“Gian, I see in you a very young Frank Sinatra… maybe they are alienated with your international style, I think they have forgotten that this is an international franchise…
of all of these people singing here tonight, ikaw lang pwede ko maihanay sa mga international winners ng franchise. In our book you are really the best here, in our book, but you have to hurdle the Filipino voters, in the end sila din ang boboto…
I really hope they vote for you in the finals!”
Nice words, Mr. C, but a lot of people would have wanted to hear that from you weeks ago. Eh di sana daw hindi na nadelikado sina Gian if you didn’t decide on being too hard on the better singers and lenient and really mabait/underdstanding sa mga not so good singers sa PI. I sort of felt na the push you gave Gian tonight may be “quite” too late. I hope he doesn’t go home tomorrow. I hope.
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Even Ryan Agoncillo belatedly gave this tip:
“Kung sino man iboboto ninyo, tandaan ninyo itatapat ninyo yan sa iba’t ibang Idol sa buong mundo!”
Me: Hoping for the BEST!
They deserve to be in the finals at the Araneta Coliseum!
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I was a seat filler tonight. Hehehe.
We filled the seats assigned to the group of our boss Tony Boy Cojuangco, so that their seats didn’t look empty on air. BTW, happy birthday po, AOC!
My group had tickets. I gave away mine to friends (naks!) because I really wanted my pals (Jher, Bridget and Paolo) to experience Idol theatre before mawala na sa Megamall ang PI. In fact last night na nga ng PI sa Mega, Monday nite, or tonight.
Okay naman, ang pagiging seat filler, I was able to chat with Loren Legarda, whom I covered when she was still a senator. And we were able to look at Ma’am Gretchen and Lucy Gomez, up close. Good thing Sheree (the opening number girl) didn’t join the audience after her performance. Duon kami nakaupo sa kaniyang lugar e. Kung hindi, goodbye seats kami until matapos ang show.
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Before the show.
A meeting of bloggers.
, Me, Patty and Pamy (we had a group photo taken, malamang kay Noemi ang pics)
Useful links again:
ABC5 Forums, Philippine Idol, and Technorati (for the latest blogs that touched on PI)
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(THIS PART WAS WRITTEN BEFORE THE PERFORMANCE SHOW)
PLEASE VOTE WISELY TONIGHT!!!
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“MARKETING AN IDOL”
I received texts and emails requesting for the voice over report that came out of ABC5’s SENTRO newscast last Wednesday.
The report was filed by the team of Carmela Gonzales.
The subject of the vo: The Marketing Strategy for Miguel “Bunso” Mendoza.
Here is the transcript and some other info about the report:
Aminado ang pamilya ni Miguel Mendoza all out ang suporta nila para maiuwi ni Miguel ang titulong first Philippine idol.
Nag iikot daw sila sa mga eskwelahan call centers at mga opisina para mamigay ng leaflest ni Miguel.
Pati mga sari sari store sa mga bayan bayan ay sinusuyod daw nila.
At tuwing sabado si Miguel daw mismo ang namamahala ng kanilang mga restaurants para makuha ang suporta ng mga cutomers nila.
Pero mariing itinanggi ng kampo ni Miguel na namimili sila ng boto.
SOT: Mabelle Regala (Tita ni Miguel)
“San ba galing yang namimili ng boto na yan, hindi naman kami politicians… Walang ganunan, 2.50 lang yan eh, wala yan napakadali, pwede ka magbenta ng bote, para makaboto ka ng isa e”SOT: Miguel Mendoza Sr. (Lolo ni Miguel)
“I personally distributed these small wallet size leaflets of Miguel asking people to text vote for Miguel so it is actually working, pinaghihirapan rin namin ito, its not a case of money”Lalung umugong ang usap usapan na namimili ng boto ang kampo ni Miguel nang maging safe siya nung lunes at matanggal ang crowd favorite na si Pow Chavez.
Pero hindi raw pera pera ang usapan dito, kundi isang matibay na marketing strategy.
SOT: Mabelle Regala
“Boto naman talaga ang bottomline nyan eh boboto ka, boto ng boto, pano ka bobotohin? Kailangan i-market mo rin….tawagan mo, makikipag usap ka”Kahit nangangamba na raw ang lolo ni Miguel na baka mapabayaan na niya ang kaniyang pag aaral, hindi raw niya ipagkakait ang kasiyahan sa kaniyang 17 year old na apo.
SOT: Miguel Mendoza Sr.
“If I had the money to spare to help my grandson, wouldn’t any lolo do that? I think you would, if you have a child or you have a grandchild…”END
Notes:
There’s no you tube link of this report, so I’ll try to describe the images that came with the script.
The opening video was that of Carmela walking with Miguel’s very kind looking lolo. The setting was inside the Mendoza’s house in Madrigal Street, Ayala Alabang. According to our reporter, she also checked out the other Mendoza house in the same area (San Antonio), but she told me nobody’s home in that house that time.
There was also video showing Carmela with Miguel’s Tita, going around the Makati Med area distributing posters, big leaflets and pocket sized leaflets containing the picture and voting details for Miguel. So I asked Carmela, why the Makati Med area specifically. Nagkataon lang ba? Carmela told me that the area is the location of the two family owned restaurants: Sukina and My Tea House in Urban Street.
The cameraman also took shots of the interiors of the said restaurants and some of the employees working in them.
So, that’s it. Requests granted.
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Remember Mau Marcelo’s controversial “Mahirap Maging Mahirap sa Contest na Ito” comment weeks ago?
I just recently found out the persuasion of Mau when she said that live on national television. And I got it from an unexpected source: a co-reporter in Malacanang.
This lady reporter (a very good friend and the mother of one of my inaanaks) approached me one lazy afternoon inside the Press Working Area at the NEB to gush about Mau’s great performance during the weekend. I told her, yeah, she blew me away with her “Diamonds Are Forever” performance.
Then she shared this anecdote to me. You see, my co-reporter is the wife of a local politician in Quezon. In the middle part of the on going competition daw, Mau did some legwork and went around the offices of the local officials to get much needed support. That time, kung ma-aalala ninyo, ang time kunsaan nag set in na ang reality at usap usapan that the contest may require more than singing prowess, but a solid fan base and/or a solid support group as well. The local officials saw how Mau persevered to get support from her kababayans. Talagang personal na legwork daw. Kahit tanghaling tapat at kainitan ng araw! “Imagine? Imbes na mag practice, kailangan niyang gawin yun, kasi nga kailangan para matapatan ang labanan sa boto? May boses siya, pero natatabunan ng boto sa iba eh”, sabi ng kaibigan ko.
The interesting part of the story was how SOME local politicians in the said province, didn’t care about Mau’s pleas. How some of them gave her the cold shoulders because they simply didn’t know who she is. “Pero sige lang si Mau sa paghingi ng suporta.” My kaibigan added.
That was then, now we know that a big part of Quezon is very supportive of their Mau.
And you know what’s ironic?
The local officials are now crazy about Mau not because of the legwork she did weeks ago, but because they have finally seen her perform on Philippine Idol and nakuha niya ang boto nila.
One politico daw even remarked: “Yun pala ang Mau, magaling pala siya!” (as quoted by my co-reporter)
Admiration on prowess or capability, translated into votes, isn’t that what the idol franchise is all about? I know that a lot of people are frustrated about the way voting is turning out in PI. Stories like this make some of us “keep the faith in the franchise”. (To be clear, NOT to a specific idol hopeful but on the future of this franchise in our shores)
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The past weeks showed us how Gian Magdangal went from bottom three favorite to safe zone idol. Sigh of relief for a lot of us, huh? That’s one good singer safe. (Kesa naman yung undeserving ang maging safe lagi)
A friend told me that one group is giving Gian his much needed push to reach the top spot of this race. The support group of Gian happens to be his brothers and sisters in faith. No wonder his “kid brother” Sam Concepcion promotes and campaigns for him in the Sam website, all the time.
But there’s one “bloc” or market that is pushing for Gian to win: the young ladies of this country. Cough-patty-cough-sister of patty-cough.
And Patty&Sis are not the only ones! I’ve seen it inside and outside the Philippine Idol Theatre (Megamall), and I’ve seen it inside the ABC 5 Novaliches Studios too! The ladies were swooning like there’s no tomorrow when Gian taped an episode of I Love Philippine Idol. Yup, kasama na diyan ang mga young lady reporters ng singko. Alam ninyo kung sino sino kayo, hehehe. Ahem-tere-Ahem-faye-ahem-carmela-ahem-etc…
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Now about Jan.
One of the strong contenders- VOTE WISE. Compared to the others (like Mau, Pow, Gian and Apple) mukhang ang mga supporters ni Jan ay ang mga nasa kani kanilang bahay bahay? May supporters siya sa Mega3 every week, pero hindi sing dami or ingay ng mga mentioned sa umpisa ng paragraph na ito. So malamang ang voters niya ay nasa labas or nasa mga bahay bahay nila.
What I always notice sa Mega3 ay ang family and friends support for Jan. Same faces, same great and really supportive group. In fact, a week ago (when Ken and I shook hands) I had a quick chat with some of the people in Jan’s group. One of them asked me if I’m from UST and if I took up BS BIO. Yes, yes, yes. Hehehehe. Nagkamustahan tuloy kami ng mga batch namin. That’s great, sabi ko sa sarili ko. We may not be supporting the same idol hopeful, pero masaya pa rin di ba?
No wonder Bombet is pro Jan, mukhang malakas si Jan sa mga doctors and science grads ah? Hehehe.
GO USTE!, Go BS BIO! Go BIOSOC Biology Society (I’m really sorry for failing to attend Bio week last week, my coverage schedule in Malakanyang was very hectic that time. I feel sorry for not being able to deliver the closing remarks for the event organized by the BIOSOC officers this year. Thanks for the invite, at least alam ko na maganda pa rin ang nararating ng organization that we put up in 1990. Salamat!) Doom film
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Shout out to Ken, Jeli, Arms, Drae, Reymond, Apple, Stef and of course: POW!
MAU, GIAN, JAN, Miguel: Good luck later sa performance night!
(BTW, it is the last PI weekend at the PI Theatre Megamall Cinema 3, Araneta Coliseum, here we come!)
Break a leg, Rich Ilustre!
