Fil-Am on “American Idol” names Regine Velasquez, Lani Misalucha as music idols

Two of the country’s most popular singing sirens were cited as musical influences of the “American Idol” semi-finalist Ramiele Macrowon Malubay, a Filipino-American from Miami Florida. Regine Velasquez and Lani Misalucha, who’s now based in Las Vegas, rank equal among her top inspirations, along with American heavy-hitters in the music industry such as Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson and Aretha Franklin, whose song “Natural Woman” was Malubay’s audition piece in Miami. 

This revelation appeared in her official profile on the American Idol website at www.americanidol.com. The petite hopeful, who only stands at 4’11, also looks up to US pop artists Jason Mraz, Justin Timberlake, Stevie Wonder, John Mayer, James Morrison, Kanye West, Boys II Men, Bee Gees, Elton John, Brian McKnight, Marvin Gaye, Music Soul Child, Neyo, Jon B., Phil Collins, Robin Thicke, as well as Tamia, Diana Ross, Spice Girls, Christina Aguilera, Robyn, Lauryn Hill, among others.

The 20-year-old sushi waitress is the 8th Filipino-American to have made it to the Top 24 of the worldwide hit US reality TV singing search. There was Brad Estrin in Season 1, Jordan Segundo in Season 2, Jasmine Trias and Camille Velasco in Season 3, Melinda Lira in Season 4, Jose “Sway” Penala in Season 5, and AJ Tablado in Season 6. Trias went all the way to the final 3, buoyed up by a lot of texter support, before being booted out.

Malubay started singing when she was 12 during a cousin’s birthday and currently has a vocal coach to help her in her singing training. As for other talents apart from singing, she revealed, “I can play the piano/guitar a little bit. Also, I used to dance.”

In a video interview posted on www. americanidol.com, Ramiele shared what she felt about being included in the Top 24. “I kinda stood and sit up a whole bunch of times because I really didn’t know. I thought she [judge Paula Abdul] was psyching me out and telling me I wasn’t gonna make it. I don’t know, I don’t know what she was thinking. And then, when I made it, I kinda freaked out a little bit. I went downstairs and they told me I was just like I had this plain look on my face,” she said.

With thousands of AI wannabes auditioning, being included in the Top 24 is no ordinary feat. Her official website, www.ramiele.com, is already bombarded with messages of support from fans from the Philippines to Filipinos in Canada. This is apart from the Facebook and Friendster accounts set up by fans for her, a thread dedicated to her on the AI website. But Ramiele maintained in the video interview that fame hasn’t hit her yet. She said, “I didn’t know how to take it yet. It still hasn’t hit me. I’m not like, ‘Oh yeah.’ Maybe it’ll hit me when I’m like walking on the street.”

She added, “It’s not like I wanna be famous, but I wanna represent for Asian people and I wanna just live my dream. Singing in the showers is a lot more different than singing on stage in front of all these people.”