Monique keeps dream alive

CEBU, Philippines - Keep your dream alive. Don’t stop holding that microphone.” Those were the words of encouragement from rock icon Steven Tyler for Cebuana Monique delos Santos, the only Filipino who travelled from the Philippines all the way to the United States to join the “American Idol” competition and made it as far as Hollywood Week. She was eliminated on the last day of that Hollywood round, but keeping to heart what the Aerosmith frontman and the rest of the season 10 judges counseled, she will not stop chasing the dream.

Monique’s “American Idol” journey—the San Francisco audition, waiting for callbacks, preliminary rounds, and then Hollywood Week—lasted a total of four months. In all that grueling time, she acknowledges the constant push of her family that got her started and their all-out support that got her through. In fact, after years of feeling she wasn’t prepared to join such a huge contest, it was her grandma who finally gave her the courage to give it a shot.

“I moved to Manila when I was 16 and people were asking me why. I said I wanted to be a singer. They would ask me, ‘Why don’t you join American Idol?’ Back then, I felt I wasn’t ready for something that big, I felt I was too raw. I was kind of a confused artist,” said Monique, now a much more confident 22-year-old. The FREEMAN was one of those who welcomed her back in an intimate homecoming show at LX (LUXX) at VUDU, held to thank her supporters and to celebrate her feat.

“My family has always been very supportive and encouraging. But last year, my grandmother heard me play the guitar with my original songs and she told me, ‘You should audition for American Idol.’ That was what finally pushed me. My friends and family have been telling me, so why not? I’m older now and I already went through a lot of things.”

While she felt she needed more experience, the singer is actually no stranger to the industry and the limelight.

When her mom, former lead singer of ZEE band Eva delos Santos, went solo, Monique sang in most of her shows. “She let me choose what kind of music I wanted. She knows how the music industry works, so she gave me warnings when I was younger. I watched her sing Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey songs when I was 7. I watched her vocalize everyday at home. After watching her first concert, I was like, please let me join the next time. That’s how it started for me.”

By 11, she bagged the lead role in the musical “Oliver Twist” shown at Ayala Cebu Cinema, then followed it up with another theater role in “The Sound of Music.”

At 14, she was a part of the weekly TV variety show “Sabado na Gyud” at ABS-CBN Cebu where she sang, danced and hosted. She left Cebu at age 16 and had a banner year after winning Studio 23’s nationwide VJ Hunt, being chosen as one of the Palmolive Perfect 10 models and appearing in a TV ad for a mineral water brand.

She also auditioned for “Starstruck” and “Star Circle Quest,” both talent searches of GMA 7 and ABS-CBN respectively. But because Monique had a foreign twang (owing to her American dad), she didn’t really figure highly in those local TV competitions. “I figured that in contests like that, you have to be fluent in Tagalog. There were so many contests here that I could have joined but back then, I just wasn’t ready.”

Under the name Monique Rae, she also released a debut album “All Up to Me” under PolyEast Records, which contained some of her and her mom’s compositions. Looking back, Monique views that album as part of her “confused artist” phase. “I was very young. I didn’t really know so much yet. Until now, I’m still learning but back then it was worse. After that, I was still practicing my singing and experiencing things as a woman.”

Feeling that she knew herself better as an artist and with the strong prodding of her family, Monique flew to the US with her dad. She began practicing a lot and mastering some songs on guitar. Because her mom couldn’t join them abroad, they rehearsed together online through Skype.

“She’s the best mentor! She coached me how to do it right and how to feel the song. It also took a lot of calming down because it had a lot to do with your personality, your attitude and your emotions—those played a big part in the competition apart from talent. I had to simmer down a little bit since I was a very hyper person. I felt I really needed to be my best before I faced the judges,” she shared.

The first audition was in a huge stadium with at least 10,000 other hopefuls, where Monique stood in line from 5 am to 3 pm under such cold weather. She recalls befriending a lot of fellow Filipino auditionees while waiting for her turn, but sadly, didn’t see them in the next rounds.

“I also made friends with other singers and it made me wonder how come they’re taking so many people out when there were so many good singers there. You just don’t know what to expect. You don’t know what they’re looking for. During that round, you face the producers. There were three rounds and I made it in all of them unanimously. I waited and got a call back to meet the TV judges. I was the last one for the day and they all said yes.”

When Monique finally came face-to-face with judges Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez and Steven, she was intimidated, starstruck and excited all at the same time! She sang the Beatles’ “Oh Darling,” and that performance got her the golden ticket for Hollywood Week.

“They gave me really good pointers, such as to tone it down just a little bit. Then they said, definitely yes, you should go to Hollywood because you got the voice.”

Her portion wasn’t shown on TV, but Monique was given the boot on the last day of the Hollywood Week. She got positive comments in all three rounds, which was why she did not see her elimination coming.

“That’s the thing! I don’t know why I got cut. What happened there was, Steven said, stop. The next round, please do ‘Piece of My Heart’ by Janis Joplin. I was wondering how many girls has he told that to? Janis Joplin is one of his favorite rock singers and turns out I was the only one he told that to. To think he recommended a song to me for the next round, I was so honored. I sang that and I got in. It was a very hard song to do because Janis Joplin is very grungy and intense. Second round was Group Week. They all said yes without a doubt.”

Then came the last round where Monique belted out Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing.”

She recalled, “That was the most difficult round because a lot of people were forgetting their keys and lyrics. It was down to top 100 so it’s very nerve-wracking. You had to be the best before you go to Las Vegas. I really wanted to do the song justice. Steven said, ‘That was very nice. That was very good Monique.’ So from there, I honestly believed that I would at least make that round.”

When she didn’t, Monique understandably felt really bad. “I would have understood if I made a mistake and if there were bad comments. But I never got a bad comment. I honestly did not expect it.”

Despite her bid ending early, she credits the experience for making her a stronger person and a better performer. “There’s no shame in failure because I’ve auditioned so many times before. For each failure, I have become a better person. American Idol is the biggest thing I’ve ever done, the hardest and most challenging experience I’ve had as a singer. It helped me grow, and for that, I’m so thankful.”

Asked if she has her own bet on who would win this season, she replied: “I don’t know, they’re all good! Like Pia Toscano is my friend, we met on the bus. She has a very strong voice. Stefano Langone, is also my friend, he’s from Seattle and we were on the plane together. He is cute, and he is a very, very nice guy. Scotty McCreery was also my groupmate and he was really a sweetheart.”

Now settled back home, Monique is set to continue with her Psychology course at La Salle. She’s hoping to get more gigs and co-produce her own pop-rock album soon. It will be a more mature sound than her initial effort, still with her compositions in it.

“I really want to be a known singer and songwriter. I want people to understand me as an artist, to love me for it, and relate to my songs. Because all my songs, they’re really from my heart.”

Will she give “American Idol” another try given the chance? She’ll see. “It’s so easy to say I’m going to fly to the States and audition. But the process is just so hard! You have to put a lot of work and thought into it. Not just talent preparation, but you need to be emotionally ready for something like that.”

We’ll surely see more of Monique, for she’s keeping her dream alive. (FREEMAN)