WATCH: Filipina stuns judges in ‘X-Factor UK’ with Whitney hit
A Filipino singer received the nod of judges, including Simon Cowell, during her astonishing audition on “X-Factor UK” on Sunday, Sept. 11.
Ivy Grace Paredes, from Malaybalay, Bukidnon, was lauded by the show’s judges—music Cowell, Fil-American and “Pussycat Dolls” vocalist Nicole Scherzinger, TV personality Sharon Osbourne and Irish music manager Louis Walsh. Paredes belted out Whitney Houston’s hit “All the Man that I Need.”
Cowell, who was blown away by Paredes’ voice, asked, “Oh my God! What just happened there?”
Scherzinger said, “She just sang our faces off, pretty much, that’s what happened.”
Walsh expressed his amazement by calling her a “little diva.” Simon added, “More than amazing. It was the second half of the song. I mean I thought the first half you were good, and suddenly it was like you were possessed by somebody. I mean, it was incredible…One of the best we had.”
Scherzinger again expounded, “Everybody comes in here saying, ‘I want it so bad, am fighting for it’ but that, right there, is wanting it and fighting for it.”
“You did yourself proud,” Osbourne told Paredes.
When the judges interrogated Paredes on the reason behind joining the show, Paredes answered, “For me, I believe this is the biggest competition and I want to be a part of it, and X-Factor [UK] can give me the stepping stones I need to do good in the future because this is all for my daughter.”
She received all four “yeses” and proceeded to the show’s next round.
Paredes joins the roster of Filipino contestants who joined the singing reality show including Neneth Lyons, Jenesa Gil and Filipino-British Sean Miley Moore. Filipina girl band 4th Impact, previously known as Cercado-Gollayan sisters and MICA, made it to the Top 5 of the 12th series of X-Factor UK. Gianna Francesca Catolico
