Pinoy Pop Superstar finalists and me

It is on record that I was the very first contestant to be eliminated in K: The One Million Videoke Challenge (then still hosted by Arnell Ignacio and now by Jaya and Allan K.). That more than humbling (it was actually humiliating) experience, however, had always been under protest from my end since I’ve always maintained that I was a victim of injustice there – a victim really of technical malfunction. (It was the pilot telecast and there were still plenty of technical errors).

But rather than go to court and fight it out, I just decided to accept another K challenge a year later – and true enough, I was vindicated when I ended up in the Top 3. My feeling then was that I was on the same level as Jasmine Trias of American Idol fame.

A few months ago, however, I got another invitation to join K. I hesitated to accept the challenge at first because I was already happy with my third place finish. Going back another time would open me to the possibility of sliding down to fourth, fifth or – heaven forbid – back to the last place where I started. But then, it was also possible that I could still improve my performance and so I said yes.

But when I reported to the K set in the GMA 7 Broadway Centrum studio, the first two people I saw were Brenan Espartinez and MC Monterola, two of the Pinoy Pop Superstar finalists. The whiner that I am, I loudly complained about the competition being unfair – what with those two singing contestants there. They may be a lot younger than I am, but they are veterans in the field of music. But then somebody from the show pointed out that the theme for the evening had something to do with bringing together the people from GMA-7’s Saturday programs and Brenan and MC were representing Pinoy Pop Superstar. So why not bring in Regine Velasquez? If I was going to get mowed down in this contest anyway, I might as well get it from Asia’s Songbird herself.

But there was nothing I could do at that point. The contest began and I prepared to get eaten up alive by the two Pinoy Pop Superstar finalists.

By some stroke of miracle, however, I was wrong about my prediction. Brenan and MC came out fourth and fifth (I don’t remember their ranking) and I ended up in second place! Their problem as I recall it right now was that they were quite too young to be familiar with some of the songs selected for the game.

Since we were all in the same contest, we somehow became familiar with each other and one day before the Pinoy Pop Superstar grand finals at the Araneta Coliseum last May 8, they went to Startalk to promote the event.

During that brief reunion, I wished the two of them good luck and – monitoring the finals on TV – I rooted for them.

But then, early in the contest, I was easily impressed with the performance of this young girl from San Mateo, Rizal. Her name is Jonalyn Viray and she was the dark horse in the competition.

Then, there was also Michael Anthony Garcia, who – despite being pint-sized – has a wonderful singing voice that could serve as his ticket to being one of our more popular balladeers in the very near future. Unfortunately for him, he chose the wrong song – She’s Out of My Life – during Round 2 of the contest. This Michael Jackson song is so unchallenging and it’s not something you perform in singing competitions. (Somebody from the show later told me that Michael had been advised by some members of the board of judges to change his piece, but he wouldn’t listen – so there.)

Brenan? I spotted his problem early on in the competition. I’ve always believed that he is a good singer – almost excellent even. But that night at the Araneta, he seemed overwhelmed by the bigness of the event. His rendition of Home by Brian McKnight wasn’t as impressive compared to those nights when he was belting out the same piece in his quest to win the weekly finals.

Brenan Espartinez at least made it to second place – with Jonalyn Viray getting crowned Pinoy Pop Superstar winner.

Jonalyn gets to bring home P1-M from Coca-Cola, a brand-new Toyota Innova, a house and lot from Filinvest Homes and a one-year recording contract with GMA Records.

Brenan need not despair, however. At this point, he is already assured of a bright future in the field of entertainment. Just think of Mark Bautista, who was only second to Sarah Geronimo and other runners-up in other singing contests who also did well as singers.

Right this moment my prediction is that he will become a really famous singer – a big one in the league of Gary Valenciano and Martin Nievera. And when that finally happens, I hope you all remember that once upon a time, he lost to me in K: The One Million Videoke Challenge.