Glorious Pinoy victory in Shanghai

Having survived the tough finals round of Search for a Star in a Million Season 2, it did seem like Jimmy Marquez would be able to take on any kind of singing contest and come out with flying colors. But the Asia New Singer Competition was something else. Now on its ninth year, the music festival brings together the finest young talents from the region. They bring along a variety of musical influences, a diversity of temperament and cultures as varied as the slant of their eyes and the color of their skin.

This year there were 24 entries and they came from the Philippines, Mongolia, Bulgaria, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, Korea, Thailand, Japan, Malaysia, Malta, Singapore, China, Macau and Mainland China. Thanks to a common love for music, contestants easily established camaraderie among themselves. But when the competition went full gear last Oct. 28 and 29, it was clear that although they have become friends, those kids were out to win the top prizes no matter what.

But you know how Pinoys are when faced with seemingly formidable odds, they rise beautifully to the demands of the occasion. It was no different in Shanghai. Jimmy believes several reasons did it for him. He had to nurse an awful head cold throughout his stay in Shanghai but it helped that the fellow contestant from the Philippines was Maria Donna Taneo, an old friend from Cebu whom he had known since college. Though in competition, they ended up supporting one another.

And then there were his songs, Today and Minsa’y Naging Bahagi Ka, two moving love songs, both composed by Vehnee Saturno. The latter is one of the cuts in his debut CD Jimmy Marquez.

Vehnee is the writer of songs like Be My Lady, Isang Lahi, Forever’s Not Enough, Only Me and You and many others. But aside from his success as a local hitmaker, he has also become the most award-winning composer in the international music festival circuit. If I remember right, the Shanghai songfest alone had already given him two Best Song wins and those are aside from Silver Prizes for Rachelle Ann Go and Aryana. Vehnee has this unexplainable knack for creating songs festival judges like and choosing interpreters who will win.

This time around, he had Jimmy and Maria Donna, for whom he also wrote two songs, You Make Me Whole and Only When Our Hearts Unite. He was confident about their capabilities but it was not going to be easy. This year’s batch had talent and star quality in massive doses. For a while there the Filipinos were ready to concede victory to Mainland China’s delegate Alan Dawazhuoma. Extremely attractive, she had a voice that can go from traditional Chinese to New Age and to pop and seemed like a sure winner.

Also quite strong were the cool R ’n B tones of Hariyati Zaynab of Sri Lanka, the jazzy style of Aigul Adidhanova from Kazakhstan, the impressive soprano of Eleanor Cassar from Malta, the sexy energetic appeal of Latin heartthrob Fabrizio Faniello, also from Malta and the adorable singing and dancing by Sista Five, a group of five pretty sisters from Japan.

Only a few points from the international panel of jurors separated the winning entries. At the end of finals night, Maria Donna had scored the Gold Prize of a trophy and $5,000 while Jimmy emerged as the Silver Prize winner with a trophy and $1,000. For the first time in our music history, two local singers ran away with the top prizes in a major competition. It was truly sweet victory for the Filipinos who once again proved themselves tops where music is concerned. And in the case of Jimmy and Maria Donna, they also showed the winners often hail from Cebu.

Filipinos have the gift of music. Check out karaoke joints one evening and you will surely find singers who deserve recording contracts in an instant. And Cebuanos seem to have more of this gift than others. This was proven true with the legendary Pilita Corrales and is happening again with newcomer into the bossa nova scene, Raffi Quijano. Now with Maria Donna’s and Jimmy’s performance in Shanghai, there are two new names to add to the list.