After struggling through more group rounds than solos (yes, I’m still very salty about this), we’re now down to our Top 12 finalists for this season of Idol Philippines. Tonight, the Idols are taking a peek at Ryan Cayabyab’s massive songbook, hopefully pick the right song, and perform for the live audience for the very first time this season. Also a first this season is the public vote which will decide who goes home in this week’s live elimination night. Well, only partly, as only 50% of their total “score” for the week will come from the public vote, and the other 50% is from the judges, which just defeats the purpose of this whole live show.
Another thing, I still don’t know how to feel about dividing the performances in two separate shows instead of doing all in one night and doing an overnight vote. One could argue that both have their pros and cons, but I guess only time will tell how that decision affects the results. But I’m rambling now, so let’s get on with the first live show.
Lance Busa – Hajji Alejandro’s “Kay Ganda Ng Ating Musika“
The almost theater rock take on this Hajji Alejandro classic brought much needed life and a modern flair to a song that has been sung countless times. As much as his original plan to stick to the melody would’ve been more respectful, I think the re-arrangement paid off in the end. It wasn’t as clean of a performance as I’m used to hearing from Lance, but it sure did made him a little bit more relevant than before.
Trish Bonilla – Smokey Mountain’s “Kailan“
Coming back from the previous round’s excessive display of growls, Trish’s softer delivery this week offered a nice breath of fresh air and a chance to admire the more delicate parts of her voice. It still wasn’t up to par with my expectations of her, but it was miles better than her last performance.
Lucas Garcia – Regine Velasquez’s “Sometime, Somewhere“
One of Lucas’ greatest strengths can very easily be his biggest weakness, as Mr. C has kindly pointed out. Luckily, on this particular performance, he chose to dial back on the riffs and left the performance as simple as it needed to be. The way he made everyone anticipate the riffs, which he completely left out until the very end, was genius.
Matty Juniosa – Basil Valdez’s “Nais Ko“
Matty has an undoubtedly powerful vocals, and this song showed that off really well. Unfortunately for Matty, the arrangement of the song wasn’t able to show as much dynamic as I would’ve wanted. It was on 10 the whole time, and it showed in how much he strained towards the end.
Elle Ocampo – Basil Valdez’s “Paraisong Parisukat“
Elle’s unique vocal stylings lent itself really well on this obscure Basil Valdez track. I just hoped it was a little bit more consistent. There were a lot of notes not being hit right on the money and that really affected the overall effect of the performance.
Dan Ombao – Regine Velasquez’s “Tuwing Umuulan at Kapiling Ka“
One of my many wishes for the live shows is that they’d improve or at least amp up the microphone level because there are a lot of times in the performances tonight where the band overpowers the vocals. With Dan, the problem was with how they mixed his microphone input with the audience’s microphone level. It messed up more than half of his performance, especially the first half, but the parts that we got to hear is classic Dan. Really smooth, and that distinct sound cuts through. It’s still isn’t as good as his audition. I still need to see him get to that level before I’m completely sold.
Sheland Faelnar – Ariel Rivera’s “Tunay Na Ligaya“
Sheland is one of those contestants that really improved leap and bounds since their auditions. I was completely on the fence about her and her style in the beginning but with each performance she slays, I get more and more sold on this little powerhouse. Arguably, the best performance of the night for me.
Renwick Benito – Regine Velasquez’s “Araw Gabi“
Fatima Louise – Barbie’s Cradle’s “Limang Dipang Tao“
Zephanie Dimaranan – Smokey Mountain’s “Paraiso“
Miguel Odron – Basil Valdez’s “Kahit Ika’y Panaginip Lang“
Rachel Libres – Bugoy Drilon’s “Paano Na Kaya“
That’s it for this week’s performances. Now, before we get to the results, sound off below for your favorite performance this week.
RESULTS TIME!
Safe:
Lance Busa
Trish Bonilla
Lucas Garcia
Dan Ombao
Sheland Faelnar
Renwick Benito
Fatima Louise
Zephanie Dimaranan
Miguel Odron
Bottom 3:
Matty Juniosa
Elle Ocampo
Rachel Libres
Going Home: Matty and Rachel
Safe: Elle Ocampo
SCRAWLRS. 