‘Labyu Langga’ big winner at VISPOP 2.0

CEBU, Philippines - A song inspired by a mother’s term of endearment for her daughter won the second edition of VISPOP, a songwriting competition that encourages the creation of quality Visayan music.

Jerika Salve Teodorico bested five other finalists with her entry “Labyu Langga,” which she herself sang Tuesday night during the finals held at SM Cebu Cinema 1. At 17, she is the youngest in this batch of finalists.

“Labyu Langga” was also given the MOR 97.1 Listeners’ Choice Award and the Super Song Award.

Teodorico said she submitted three VISPOP entries, and “Labyu Langga” was the last piece she hurriedly finished in less than a day.

Her lyrics might be professing undying love, yet Teodorico said she wasn’t necessarily writing about a specific romantic inspiration.

“My mother calls me pangga. I just added ‘Labyu’ to make the title flow better. If you’re an artist, you just observe your surroundings, and from there, you can already get lots of ideas. The song is not about a specific person, but to everyone in my life, including my family,” said Teodorico, a second year Political Science student at Cebu Normal University.

Teodorico has been fiddling with songwriting since she was ten. She looks up to Missing Felimon and Artist Ko’s Insoy Niñal, as well as international artists Jason Mraz, Adam Levine, and the Beatles. While she appreciates all music genres, she is particularly fond of rock and roll.

“This is really my passion. I was frustrated that I wasn’t able to join VISPOP in 2013, so I made up for it this year. When I learned there was a second edition from my songwriting mentor Jude Gitamondoc, I grabbed the chance,” she said.

She plans to buy a new guitar using her cash prize of P30,000.

To those who wish to pursue songwriting, she said she would advise them not to “force yourself if you’re not yet inspired to write a song. The inspiration will come to you naturally.”

Placing second was the entry “Kasikas,” written by Johnever Canlom and interpreted by Mike Fegi. Canlom, an illustrator from Toledo City, said he wrote the song for the victims of last year’s Bohol earthquake and super typhoon Yolanda.

At third place was “Dili Pa Panahon,” penned by Kenneth Corvera and interpreted by Freon. It also won the Pinak-Fighter Vispop Award. Corvera is an Entrepreneurial Marketing graduate from Mindanao State University, who is also a singer-songwriter for a band named Offlimits. This 24-year-old from Agusan del Norte was struck with his song’s idea while babysitting his cousin, an experience that taught him that love should not be rushed, because with it comes serious responsibilities.

The second and third place winners received P20,000 and P10,000, respectively.

Finalists were judged based on the music (quality of melody, harmony and rhythm), lyrics (arrangement of words and ideas), over-all impact (musical treatment, commercial appeal, radio-friendliness, uniqueness and breakthrough qualities).

Sitting as judges were Bisrock icon Errol ‘Budoy’ Maraviles, Eping Amores of the Ambassadors band, and MOR 97.1 DJ Jacky G.

FILSCAP (Filipino Society of Composers Authors and Interpreters) president Noel Cabangon and FILSCAP’s newly-elected vice-president Jim Paredes handed out the plaques for the top three winners.

The audience was also treated to performances by Rommel Tuico of “Dili Tanan” fame, Insoy Ninal, Balay ni Mayang, and last year’s winner Jewel Villaflores (singing her winning piece ‘Duyog’). Offbeats Productions also showed an excerpt of its upcoming Bisrock play “Gugmang Gi-atay,” a follow-up to last year’s “You’ve Been Facebooked.”

VISPOP organizer and screening committee member Jude Gitamondoc commended all the six finalists, saying the competition was “a bit ludicrous and funny because it’s like pitting one genre to another. I always tell the finalists that the contest is just exterior. We want to generate interest, that’s why we hold a contest. But our mission is really about imparting the message that Bisaya is cool. You can write a song in Bisaya and hit the hearts of listeners, just like songs in other languages.”

He added that plans to shoot music videos for each song are underway, with talents volunteering their services for free. In the meantime, music enthusiasts can enjoy the VISPOP 2.0 songs through their online lyric videos. “What people see now online are the lyric videos of the six compositions, which is also in line with our mission to push the Bisaya dialect. Some of the words in their songs might not be familiar or common to other people, so when they hear it in a song, it will pique their interest, and they will try to learn what those words mean.”

“Our serious intent is to give Cebuanos something new to expect each year. Because last year’s ‘Balay ni Mayang’ [the third placer during VISPOP’s first edition] was such a hit, people were submitting songs like ‘Balay ni Mayang.’ And that’s not what we want. We don’t want exactly the same song. We want people to explore, and realize that Bisaya songwriting is applicable in any genre. We want to surprise our audience, and challenge the Cebuano ear,” Gitamondoc added.

VISPOP is a brainchild of Artist KO, a non-profit, non-stock organization that supports individual creativity, skill and talent. Artist KO has artists, musicians and entrepreneurs as members. VISPOP was conceptualized in 2009 and had its first staging in 2013.

The first batch of VISPOP finalists and winners captured the hearts of not just Cebuano listeners but non-Cebuano speaking music fans all over the country as well. It produced well-crafted songs such as Duyog, Laylay, and Papictura ko Nimo, Guapo, among others. The songs have been topping charts nationwide. Balay Ni Mayang alone landed 3rd in an MOR Manila countdown.

This year’s six finalists were chosen from among 120 entries from all over the country’s Visayan-speaking regions.