PhilPop is back

Time now to brush up on your songwriting skills because PhilPop is back. The songwriting contest, which made its debut early this year to much fanfare, has recently announced that it will start accepting entries to the second Philippine Popular Music Festival by Jan. 1, 2013 up to Feb. 28, 2013. This means that all of you out there who are interested in joining the competition can now spend the next few weeks composing that would be masterpiece and winner of a cool million bucks.

This year, that went to Bawat Hakbang, a song composed by Karl Vincent Villuga and interpreted by champion balladeer Mark Bautista with the Akafellas. Written during a personal crisis, Villuga said he derived inspiration from the beautiful poem Footprints in the Sand. The song was simple but heartfelt and from what I later heard everybody agreed with the choice of the judges. Bawat Hakbang was one of the 14 finalists chosen by panels of music industry professionals from the pack of nearly 3,000 entries from all over the country.

The other winners were: First runner-up which won a cash prize of P500,000 was Tayo Tayo Lang, a pop rock ballad about the lonely, bittersweet life of a performing artist written by Toto Sorioso and performed by Ebe Dancel; the second runner-up was Kontrabida, a bouncy pop tune about not being liked because of being different, composed by Soc Villanueva and performed by Sam Concepcion.

There was also a People’s Choice Award for the most popular entry, which was decided by text votes. It went to Brown, a lighthearted ditty about liking girls with brown hair composed by James Leyte and Jezreel de Oca. The song was interpreted by reggae band Brownman Revival with Leyte himself singing along. All of the winners also got to bring home beautiful glass trophies created for the contest by the famous sculptor Ramon Orlina.

The other finalists were: Timothy Anjello Alfaro for Himig Ng Panahon; Trina Belamide, Bigtime; Noah Zuñiga Cabalquinto, Dulo Ng Dila; John Kennard Eleazar Faraon, Slowdancing; Gary Granada, Minsa’y Isang Bansa; Edwin Marollano, Kesa; Kristofferson Melecio, Piso; Keiko Necesario, 3:AM; Byron Ricamara, Takusa; and Michael Angelo Villegas, Negastar.

Take note that these songs were among the 3,000 entries and I have a feeling that given how successful the contest was, there will surely be more participants next year. The rules, I suppose, remain the same. The contest is open to Filipino songwriters, both amateur and professionals, residing in the Philippines; the songs can be of any genre, rock, pop, etc. in English or Filipino or a native dialect; and most of all, the entries must have not been performed in public. For a better look at the rules you can check out the PhilPop website www.philpop.com.ph or wait for further announcements.

 I hope that entrants this year will all be honest and reveal from the start whether their work has been performed on the web, or has already been recorded in far off Timbuktu. I also hope that the entrants would refrain from bashing the professionals who make it to the finals. It is not their fault that they are good and they should not be punished with exclusion. What I know for a fact is that they work harder than others. That is why they are professionals.

Now, here is something I want clarified this early in the day. Maybe festival executive director Ryan Cayabyab can come up with an announcement. Can the winners and finalists of 2012 still join PhilPop 2013 or are they automatically disqualified? I think they should be allowed to join as it is also not their fault that the judges named them the best. I would much rather have the same winner every year if his work is truly extraordinary rather than hand the prizes to the mediocre just because it is nice to “give chance to others.”

I would also like to know what has happened to the 2012 winners. The life of these songs should not end with the finals night. I don’t think any of them became hits. Now, it is obvious that the PhilPop Foundation has the funds so I think serious marketing efforts should also be exerted to make hits out of the winners. Otherwise, this contest might just end up with winners every year but no hit songs. And hit songs are what music is all about.