PhilPop to crown 4th winner Saturday night

PhilPop Executive Director Ryan Cayabyab poses with this year’s finalists.

While most of the finalists’ entries in tonight’s (Saturday) grand finals of this year’s Philippine Popular Music Festival (PhilPop) songwriting contest will be performed by music acts both seasoned and up-and-coming, some competing composers have opted to interpret their own work themselves.

“It’s an advantage for us. We know our song better than anyone else, so I’m confident that we can give it a good and a more heartfelt rendition,” Thyro Alfaro, who wrote “Triangulo” with girlfriend Yumi Lacsamana, told the Inquirer at a press conference.

The music duo, who penned Sarah Geronimo’s more recent hits such as “Ikot-Ikot” and “Kilometro,” is also behind “Dati,” which was sung by Sam Concepcion and Tippy dos Santos and won PhilPop’s 2013 edition. “To be able to sing our own work is a jackpot for us, because we want to show that we’re singers, too,” Yumi said.

READ: Familiar faces land PhilPop finals | Real-life sweethearts win Philpop 2013

“We songwriters consider our songs our children so who better perform them than their parents?” said returning finalist from last year, Davey Langit, whose entry this year is called “Paratingin Mo Na Siya.” “This has always been a dream of mine. It’s an honor.”

Though 2013 finalist Lara Maigue echoed her colleagues sentiments, she pointed out that having a famous song interpreter does have its perks, especially since all 12 entries are available on Spinnr, Spotify and YouTube. “That means your song will be readily searched by fans of the artists singing it,” said the classically-trained singer, who wrote “Nasaan.”

Other contestants who are either performing their own songs or in collaboration with another are Side A bassist Ned Esguerra, who will perform “For the Rest of My Life” with his band, as well as Ramiru Mataro who will be joined by Donnalyn Bartolome in singing “Walang Hanggan.”

Meanwhile, the rest of the entries, their composers and their assigned interpreters are: “Tanging Pag-Asa Ko” by Paul Armesin (The CompanY);  “Kilig” by Soc Villanueva (Jinky Vidal); “Apat na Buwang Pasko” by Gino Cruz and Jeff Arcilla (Jon Santos);

“Edge of the World” by Johannes Daniel Garcia (Josh Padilla and Yassi Pressman); “Musikaw” by Melchor Magno, Jr.; (James Reid and Pio);  “I Owe You My Heart” by Melvin Joseph Morallos (Anja Aguilar) and “Sa Ibang Mundo” by Mark Villar (Kean Cipriano and Nadine Lustre).

PhilPop will crown its fourth champion tonight at the Meralco Theater. The winner will receive P1 million, while the first and second runners-up will take home P500,000 and P250,000, respectively. Winners of the Best Music video and People’s Choice awards, on the other hand, will both take home P100,000

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