DELEVA looks up to Whitney Houston, Regine Velasquez and Sarah Geronimo.
DISHEARTENED by past losses in competitions, Apple Deleva almost didn’t try out in this year’s edition of the McJim Dreams Get Real talent search. But with much encouragement from her mother, the big-voiced, 19-year-old singer gave it a shot and ended up snagging that elusive win.
“I didn’t want to audition—I was losing hope! If it weren’t for my mom, I wouldn’t have sent an audition tape,” she told reporters shortly after the singing tilt’s recent finals night at Music Museum, where she bested the other finalists, Trix Casauay, Zsarina Concepcion, Micah Llona, Carmella Ravanilla and Erickson Malabanan.
Deleva, a semifinalist on GMA 7’s “Bet ng Bayan” and a Top 10 finalist in the Karaoke World Championships in Stockholm, Sweden, both in 2014, delivered robust performances of Jeremiah’s “Kunin Mo na ang Lahat sa Akin” and Yeng Constantino’s “Ikaw” in the final’s first and second rounds, respectively.
Asked if her being a belter was an advantage, Deleva, a communications student at the University of Perpetual Help in Las Piñas, surmised that it could’ve been a factor, pointing out that Filipinos have an affinity for show-stopping high notes. As a singer, Deleva looks up to Whitney Houston, Regine Velasquez and Sarah Geronimo.
(apolicarpio@inquirer.com.ph)