Morissette Amon: Starting young at 2 helped her become diva at 20

While some of the great Filipino singers underwent “weird” struggles on their process to train and improve their voices, former The Voice contestant Morissette Amon says she does not have any “horrific” tale to tell on how she has mastered switching smoothly from low to high to extremely high note.

During her guesting last week at ShowbizLIVE, the Inquirer Group’s first entertainment talk show, Amon told us that she simply practiced singing at home after school every day “para lang ma-stretch yung boses ko.”

Although she has been receiving nothing but praises for her voice, she humbly claimed she is not so “great” as everybody says she is. She attributes her sing prowess to the fact that she started singing at a very young age, thus her voice just got trained.

“Ever since po kasi kumakanta na talaga ‘ko, my family is very music oriented. I started singing at two,” she said.

Amon shared that she has been a product of amateur singing contests back in her hometown in Cebu. But when an opportunity to audition came for a talent show in TV5, she grabbed it and came to Manila.

“When I found po na may audition po ang ‘Talentadong Pinoy,’ nag-audition po ako pero hindi po ako pinalad doon. At that time, meron pong artista search ang TV 5, ‘Star Factor,’ na every week iba-iba yung challenges, ayun dun po ako nasalang, naging first runner-up po ako,”, she said.

On comparison with Sarah Geronimo

Oftentimes she gets comments that she has a resemblance to The Voice coach Sarah Geronimo, Of course, she feels flattered, at the same time confessing that the pop princess has had a musical influence on her.

“Natutuwa po ako at natatawa kasi pag tinitingnan ko po yung sarili ko, paano kami magiging magkamukha ni Coach. Of course I’m flattered. Hindi po ako nao-offend pag sinasabi na kastyle ko si coach kasi siya po talaga yung musical influence ko and si Ms. Reg (Regine Velasquez-Alcasid),” she said.

The 20-year-old songstress sang her signature hit “Akin Ka na Lang” at the August 24 episode of ShowbizLIVE and, due to public demand, belted out a few lines from songs of Mariah Carey, Celine Dion and Adele.

Slambook segment

The young diva gamely answered a series of “quickie” questions from the hosts.

1. Books or movies – “movies”
2. Dancing or singing – “singing”
3. Mestizo or moreno – “mestizo”
4. Gwapong mahirap o mayamang di kagwapuhan – “gwapong mahirap”
5. Piolo or John Lloyd – “Piolo Pascual”
6. Chicken or beef – “chicken”
7. Popstar or rocker – “popstar”
8. Kiss or hug – “kiss”
9. Lipstick or blush – “lipstick”
10. Coffee or tea – “coffee”
11. Mariah or Celine – “Mariah”
12. Justin Bieber or Charlie Puth – “Charlie Puth”
13. Batman or Superman – “Superman”
14. Darna or Dyesebel – “Dyesebel”
15. Lalaking ma-abs or lalaking hairy – “lalaking ma-abs”
16. Wish na gusto matupad ngayon – “Sana hindi umulan masyado in the next few days”
17. Happiest childhood memory – “singing competitions”
18. Love or money – “love”
19. Dream date – “simple lang pero masaya”
20. Kung may powers kang magbago ng kahit anong bagay sa mundo, ano yun? – “world peace”
21. Tatlong taong tinitingala o iniidolo mo – “Coach Sarah, Ms. Reg (Velasquez), Ms. Lea (Salonga)”
22. Bagay na nagawa mo noong bata na gusto mo uli gawin ngayon – “Gusto ko at home sa Cebu”
23. Tatlong qualities na hinahanap mo sa lalaki – “respectful sa family, understanding, God-fearing”
24. Most sensitive part of your body – “voice”
25. Biggest turn-on – “musicians”
26. Biggest turn-off – “wrong grammar, nai-stress ako pag mali mali yung grammar”
27. Powers na gusto mo – “flying”
28. Dresses or t-shirts – “T-shirts”
29. Facebook or Twitter – “Twitter”
30. Instagram or Snapchat – “Instagram”
31. Ways to relax – “humiga”
32. Una mong ginagawa pag-uwi – “magtanggal ng make-up”
33. Best friend or boyfriend – “best friend”
34. Singing or acting – “singing”
35. Rain or shine – “Depende sa mood”
36. Gwapong bobo o matalinong pangit – “matalinong pangit”
37. Gwapong sakit ng ulo o pangit na peace of mind – “pangit na peace of mind”
38. Yes or no to retoke – “no”
39. Have you ever been cheated on? – “yes”
40. Do you ever see yourself cheating in a relationship? – “no”
41. If someone cheats, patatawarin mo ba? – “depende”
42. Virginity before marriage or otherwise – “virginity before marriage”

ShowbizLIVE can be viewed every Wednesday at 8 p.m.-9 p.m. on Radyo Inquirer, Inquirer 990 Television and on Inquirer.net website, Facebook, YouTube and Periscope. The show is hosted by Inquirer Bandera’s entertainment editor Ervin Santiago, Inquirer.net entertainment reporter Izel Abanilla and Mark Suntay (global entertainment news). For exciting show-biz news follow them on Instagram: @ervinsantiago7, @zelabanilla and @themarksuntay.