Filipino talents who came before Sofronio Vasquez in international talent shows
Story by Jerry Donato
Philstar Global
14 December 2024
MANILA, Philippines — Before the advent and emergence of reality TV singing and talent show formats from abroad, the Pinoy talent in this creative field and competition was witnessed in singing contests abroad.
Now Original Pilipino Music (OPM) icons such as Dulce and Ivy Violan (winning the grand prize at the 1988 Asia Pacific Singing Contest) and Regine Velasquez (also securing the top award at the 1989 Asia Pacific Singing Contest) represented the country.
Ivy also went on to perform at the Golden Kite World Song Festival in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 1989 and won the grand prize at the International Midnight Sun Song Festival in Finland in 1991.
Kuh Ledesma sang Till I Met in the 1989 Salem Music Awards show in London. According to a former entertainment writer, she was the first Filipino recipient of such an award.
All this partly contributed to the Filipinos’ reputation as a force to reckon with when it comes to singing competitions.
Around a bit more than two decades ago, most people around the globe got acquainted with talent programs like “Got Talent,” “Idol (‘Pop Idol’ and ‘American Idol’),” and “The X Factor.” They have watched and followed them ever since.
These shows have also been remade and produced in other nations and territories.
With Pinoys’ diaspora and migration worldwide, Filipinos, either full-blooded or of mixed race, would take a chance in joining any of these shows and showcase their innate knack for carrying a tune and conveying the song story.
As they commence their contest journeys, they get the support of Pinoys in their specific country and also back home.
Even if they’ve fully immersed in their new country, they are still tethered back home and represent what Pinoy is, resilient, hardworking, loving and talented, just to name a few traits.
Days ago, Sofronio Vasquez, a Pinoy now living in Utica, New York, did make Pinoys proud as the winner of “The Voice” USA Season 26.
His accomplishment is historic as the first Asian and Filipino to top such an American and international singing tilt. It’s also perhaps a proper time to crown a winner from the Philippines following a good number of contestants of Filipino lineage who had tried their luck in the previous editions of “The Voice” USA or in other similar competitions.
The win of Sofronio has made one recall contestants of Filipino ancestry that either came close to winning or were named a champion.
The list for this piece is, not in any way, comprehensive. The names of artists easily came to mind when this article was written.
The list was also based on available data and information online and virtually.
Marlisa Punzalan
Marlisa Punzalan is “The X Factor” Australia winner in 2014 and her audition song was Yesterday of The Beatles. Ronan Keating, an Irish singer-songwriter and lead vocalist of Boyzone, was Marlisa’s mentor.
Her Filipino parents from Bataan went to Australia and raised Marlisa in Sydney.
Cyrus Villanueva
Cyrus Villanueva, on the other hand, is the winner of “The X Factor” Australia in 2015. His dad is Filipino from Cotabato City, Philippines. The Villanuevas are from Wollongong, New South Wales.
In an interview with this paper back in 2016, Cyrus shared about his three unforgettable performances in the talent show, “I think one of my favorite memories is the song Dancing On My Own. That was the song I sang at the boot camp. I was on the piano... Jealous, I love piano ballad. I love just the piano, I love just the voice. I love how raw a simple song like that is, how vulnerable you are. You know it’s just a best opportunity to tell the story. It’s just the piano and the voice. That was in the grand finals that I sang that.”
“I remember when (judge-mentor) Chris (Isaak) told me that was the song he chose for me, I was so happy. It was the most important time of the competition because I didn’t want to choose a terrible song. He chose an amazing song for me. It allowed me to kinda showcase what I love about performing — just the piano and just my voice,” added he. “Stone, the very first single I have ever released. It’s such a great song… To know that that was the first song that I heard myself on the radio, the first time I heard my voice on the radio was on that song, it was strange. It was weird.”
With Marlisa and Cyrus’ wins, the Pinoy talent had a back-to-back win in “The X Factor” Australia.
From Down Under, the singing talent of Filipinos was also showcased in “The X Factor” Asia and Europe.
Rose Fostanes
Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) Rose Fostanes was named the winner of “The X Factor” Israel first edition. She performed If I Ain’t Got You, Sweet Dreams and My Way during the finals. Her rendition of the Shirley Bassey song, This is My Life, earned her to enter the audition phase. It helped her cruise the boot camps, quarter-finals, semifinals and finals.
She worked as a caregiver in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Bella Santiago
The professional singer in Malaysia, Bella Santiago, did a strong start in “The X Factor” Romania with a Jessie J cover (Bang Bang), and showed her performing skills, encompassing singing and dancing.
For the grand finals, she performed a mash-up of Beyoncé songs and claimed the top prize and title of “The X Factor” Romania winner.
The success of Pinoy talents continued in that part of the world with the championship wins of Justine Afante and Fil-Austrian Lukas Janisch in “The Voice Kids” UK (2020) and “The Voice Kids” Germany (2016), respectively. Her winning song was Listen of Beyoncé, while his were If I Ain’t Got You of Alicia Keys and When We Were Young of Adele.
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| Justine Afante, winner, The Voice Kids (UK) 2020 |
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| Lukas Janisch, winner, The Voice Kids (Germany) 2016 |
In “The American Idol,” Jasmine Trias and Jessica Sanchez were among the contestants who represented Pinoys. Jasmine from Hawaii reached the “The American Idol” Top 3 in its third season, while Jessica Sanchez of California was in the Top 2/runner-up for “The American Idol” 11th season.
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| Jasmine Trias, American Idol Top 3 (season 3 | 2004) |
“The American Idol” journey of Jessica was extra unforgettable for her and fans when judges Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler decided to use their one “save” for the season. Thus, she was able to continue and reach the finale.
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| Jessica Sanchez, American Idol Top 2 (Season 11 | 2012) |
Jessica took on Change Nothing, I Have Nothing, The Prayer in the final showdown. Jasmine, for the final round, performed All By Myself, Mr. Melody and Saving All My Love for You.
The Philippines was also well-represented in “Asia’s Got Talent” (with season one winner the shadow play dance group El Gamma Penumbra and grand finalists Gerphil Flores, DM-X Comvaleñoz, Neil Rey Garcia and Power Duo, to name some Pinoy talents).
With Sofronio’s win in “The Voice” USA season 26, Pinoy voices and talents continue to soar and be showcased in programs abroad.
Kudos also to Filipinos who have reached the audition and succeeding rounds of any talent competition and have proudly represented the country.
