dyAR answers singing contest controversy

Some marketing and sales reps should religiously learn good public relations to avoid ruining somebody’s day. I’m talking about my experience with a certain Jojo of station dyAR, who told me he is connected with the company’s marketing department. I called up last Thursday looking for the station manager to get their side regarding the complaints I received from the parents of the grand finalists of the station’s “Radioke Singing Challenge” held at SM Entertainment Plaza last Wednesday.

I specifically asked to talk to the station manager whom I did not know at first. I don’t know the problem of this Jojo as he accused me of being arrogant, then got my name and contact number even if I was done with the necessary courtesies of introducing my name, designation and the media outfit I represented. He told me to call back because the manager was still out. When I asked for the name of the station manager, he just said “you find out” and then he put down the phone without even saying good-bye. Is that how he deals with advertisers? Aren’t marketing representatives supposed to be patient and accommodating, even under pressure? Good thing I was able to laugh about it, although I have to admit my temper rose. Anyway, the story was this. Wednesday night, when I was already closing Hugyaw, the entertainment section of The Freeman’s sister tabloid Banat News, I got a text from a very good friend, alleging that some “hocus-pocus” happened in the said singing contest. Then not too long after, I was already talking to the parents and two grand finalists of the junior division—Samantha Abadilla and Rose Merry Cajes. Ed Cortez, the father of another finalist, Dawn Amber Cortez, also told me that they felt disappointed and insulted, sharing the suspicion that the winner, Morisette Amon, was favored by the station. They suspect that there was a manipulation of some sort so that Morisette, who made it to the grand finals as wild card entry, would get the title to represent Cebu in the national tilt. All the parents immediately made it clear that they were not questioning the decision of the board of judges but were questioning what appeared to them as unfair treatment and a lack of delicadeza. This was because a guy identified only as “Mike” was suspected by the parents of being the talent manager of Morisette, so they find it unfair that the guy was also reportedly connected with the station as “sales and marketing staff.” They said that Mike was overheard as telling Morisette to do her best so as not to disappoint Sir Philogene Florita, who served as chairman of the board of judges. The same guy also reportedly told Morisette that she had nothing to worry because he had already talked to the judges and that they would proclaim her the winner. There was also an issue between Morisette and Samantha because they had the same song, “And I’m Telling You,” bolstering suspicion of favoritism because Morisette, when confronted about this, reportedly told other contestants that it was the management that did not want her to change her song.

By Thursday afternoon, when the parents came back to the office to expound their side of the story, the plot thickened. There were suspicions about “technical maneuvering” because one of the fathers reportedly saw Mike adjusting the sound system while his daughter was singing. Dawn Amber revealed she was surprised that her microphone was so “hinay” but the audio was so loud. The mothers of Danielle Ozaraga, another finalist, and that of Samantha also revealed how their daughters complained of a bad microphone. The parents appealed for the management to look into all these in order to clear the cloud of doubt.

As I write this, I was able to talk to Sir Phil because he dropped by the office when I messaged him about it. According to him he did not know why his name was dragged into these statements which were overheard by the other grand finalists. But he said it was impossible because they even had a deliberation after all the performances because there was a close fight between Samantha and Morisette, adding also that all five contestants were good. He said that personally Morisette was not her choice while he was not also impressed by Samantha that time because her performance was dry which he found out later to be an aftereffect because the girl was sick days before the contest. Sir Phil added that he also found Samantha that time to be overconfident. In the end, he said star quality ruled so much so that Morisette went home with the title, after giving her some tips because he said he was not so confident with her voice especially when it comes to reaching for high notes and it should be polished before she goes to compete in Manila.

Since, it was well explained by Sir Phil, I felt that the next thing to do was to get the reaction of the station. So after that Jojo guy put down the phone unceremoniously, naturally I said a mouthful, attracting the attention of officemates. After about 20 minutes, the telephone rang, with the person on the other line asking for me as the station manager, Benjie Cantalan, wanted to talk to me.

Thankfully, Cantalan was very accommodating and spoke in a very friendly manner. He told me he knows me (Personally? Intriguing ha), because we have met in Ayala before and he frequents our office. So after I’ve relayed the parents’ concerns, Sir Benjie clarified that Mike is not connected with the station, but does freelance marketing work for the station. He was at the venue during the competition to entertain advertisers who sponsored the event. Mike, he also said, is not a talent manager of Morisette. He then went on to say that it was impossible for some technical maneuverings to take place because the sound engineer was around, everything was guarded and he was on top of things to ensure a successful contest, especially since it’s their first time to do it in Cebu.

He also said manipulation of the results is impossible as there were also five judges who could vouch for the credibility of the results. He also explained why Morisette and Samantha have the same song—this was because it was not in the criteria that a contestant is not allowed to have the same song with another. He added that Samantha was already at home with the song, while the same also suits the vocal chords of Morisette, so they never bothered to ask them to change songs.

After Sir Benjie said his piece, he thanked me for getting their side before running the story. See? Sir Benjie knew it well that I was doing them a favor because I could have just written it here that they were not available for comment especially as someone initially gave me a hard time to get their side.

But I chose to be responsible and fair so I listened to Sir Bejie’s side. Hopefully Jojo could learn a thing or two from his boss about public relations, and about being accommodating and patient even under fire.

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Catch Karel Marquez and Rayver Cruz later at 6:30pm at Gaisano Main Food Square and at 8:30 at Gaisano Countrymall for a mini show, as a highlight of Countrymall’s 14th Anniversary Sale.

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