When I called Justine to ask her a few questions, I listened and smiled as I heard her ringback. It was Sayaskwela by Ichthus band, the song that won the top prize at the Globe Kantabataan held recently. But that’s getting ahead of my story.
Kantabataan started as a songwriting and band competition (of three to five members) for students at the college level. It is more a competition about composing original music than about performing covers, a competition that allows the young to let it all out – in song, that is.
The top prize for Kantabataan this year is the chance to have one’s music video aired over MTV, plus P100,000 for the band, and another P100,000 for their school. Free Globe phones from Sony Ericsson were also given to the top five final bands. The band also received free mentoring sessions with Rivermaya, Mike Villegas of Rizal Underground and Cynthia Alexander.
Writing songs that speak of the joys and angst that young people experience in life while they are young is what Globe was looking for. "Songs that have meaning," adds Justine. "That is what set Kantabataan apart from other band competitions."
Once Globe got Kantabataan ironed out, everything else fell into place. The competition ran from May 28 to Aug. 27. And yes, there were entries from as far away as Zamboanga in Mindanao and as near as Pasig, where the Globe head office is located. A total of over 80 bands signified their desire to join the competition, but that was whittled down because, as Justine points out, "the bands had to come up with their own compositions" and that made it difficult for most. The people from Globe also discovered in a study by McCann-Ericsson that, in the past, kids used to worry about finishing college and getting a job after work. Now, they are concerned about the environment, crime and pollution.
"If there is one thing that we learned, it is that it is easy to find bands that do covers, but difficult to find young composers," adds Justine. Bands were calling and texting Justine asking her for more time as they perfected their compositions. And, as Globe was looking for excellent entries, the deadline was twice extended to accommodate the requests.
There was one major component of the songmaking that Globe set as a must. This was that the chorus of the song used the lines: "Bago ang Panananaw"; "Husay mo Kaibigan"; "Posible ang Sigaw"; and "Ang Lakas Mo Kabataan."
Although Justine admits that making this a must for all songs limited, to an extent, the way the songs could be written. But she adds that Globe also wanted the songs to carry some of the "branding" that Globe is known for. And the catchwords, like "posible" and "lakas mo," are identified with the brand. Justine says next year they might require only one word to be part of the composition, so as to allow the bands more originality. "These are some of the things we learned along the way," she adds.
Drumming up support for Kantabataan and making the youth market aware that the competition was in the offing was one of the biggest hurdles for Globe. It was at this time that it joined up with ABS-CBN to reach a wider audience.
When the final five were chosen, their hits were played on the air over 70 radio stations. The five final songs were played at least four times a day. This way, texters could text in their vote for the song they liked best. It was the texters who chose the winning song, although the songs were also judged by Gary V, Jett Pangan, and Star Records A&R manager Civ Fontanilla. The judges’rating amounted to 30 percent of the final vote. At the end of the day, it was the texters who decided the competition for the band.
On judgment day, Ichthus won by 41.72 percent over the first runner-up. Ichthus got 64 percent of texter votes and 26.29 percent from the judges. It had the highest score of 92.29 percent. Clearly, the winning band.
Globe is happy with the outcome of the Kantabataan, but there are many things that they have learned in the process. One is that perhaps there is a need to rethink the weight given to the text votes. The group that won first prize, Ichthus, is associated with the Jesus is Lord Movement, and that could have given them an advantage as far as the text voting was concerned.
"Ichthus was among one of the top three bands for Globe," quips Justine. "But we are sure that they got a lot of help from their church."
Kantabataan is really about young people, their goals, ambitions, hopes and joys. Music is a language they understand and truly listen to.
"There is a need to allow young people to give vent to their feelings," says Justine. "Kantabataan hopes to continue to do that for them."
Ichthus is set to perform with MyxMo on Nov. 11 at the CCP open grounds in Pasay City.
The event will be a gathering of the most popular local bands and singers as well as the best upcoming acts for the memorable all-day, all-night inter-university fair. Myx plans to create a school-fair atmosphere with rides, booths, battle of inter-school bands, cheering competition, and other fun-filled activities for the youth.
Ichthus will join Shamrock, Callalilly, 6CycleMind, Color It Red, Maverick and Ariel, Soapdish, and 19 others at the 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. timeslot.