Star-making recording debut for Juan Karlos Labajo

LABAJO. Love songs-heavy repertoire.

There’s nothing more “cinematic” than “The Voice Kids” grand champion Lyca Gairanod’s rags-to-riches tale—but, behind third placer Juan Karlos Labajo’s playful flirtations and feisty performing style is a back story that is just as dramatic:

School bullies used to tease the cash-strapped Fil-German Cebuano for his Caucasian looks—and, like Lyca, he also had to occasionally collect and sell junk to make ends meet! Indeed, life has a way of reversing people’s (mis)fortunes.

Labajo’s sob story took a more felicitous turn when he decided to try his luck in show biz—after all, Karlos doesn’t just sing well, he knows how to charm the pants off viewers and listeners.

His songs benefit from his soulful note-tweaking and idio-syncratic phrasing, made uniquely endearing by occasional hints of his Visayan accent.

His star-making debut album, “JK,” banks on Labajo’s easy likability and charisma to “sell” his love songs-heavy repertoire—an uneven collection that he nevertheless performs with flair and crowd-pleasing relish.

JK sings mostly about puppy love (Kennard Faraon’s folksy “This Song Is For You”), discovering the rules of attraction (Faraon’s alluring “Para Sa ‘Yo” and Brad Go’s ’60s-style “Maybe Love”), and the heady thrills of romance (“Summer Time Love”).

Thanks to arranger Bimbo Yance’s inventively pulsating hooks, Jensen Gomez’s “This Gravity,” the album’s irresistible top track, brims with youthful vibe and romantic fervor.

There’s something about the album that leaves a discordant note, however: Every song is about romantic love—and it pours it on with a trowel, which is a bit inappropriate for someone so young.

When Labajo sings about heartbreak (“Inaalala ang ating nakaraan/ Binabalik-balikan dating tagpuan”) in the stodgy ballad, “’Di Ka Man Lang Nagpaalam,” you’d think that JK were—14 going on 40! It makes you wonder where the romance with his runaway lover began—in the nursery?