Hits and misses in ‘The Voice Kids 3’ compilation

COMMEMORATIVE album features talent search’s top nine contestants.

If we were to pick our top choices from the latest batch of “The Voice Kids” finalists based solely on the talent search’s latest compilation, “The Voice Kids, Season 3: The Album,” the result would be different from the roster of winners declared last Aug. 28—and second placer Antonetthe Tismo would come out on top.

Season 3 big winner Joshua Oliveros’ triumph corroborates the impression that the talent search prefers diamond-in-the-rough types (think Season One’s Lyca Gairanod) over their more polished counterparts (Darren Espanto).

But, it must be noted that Lyca has been having a difficult time sustaining the career-boosting gains she was expected to enjoy after having bagged the show’s prized top plum. Let’s hope Joshua’s handlers learn from the mistakes of Lyca’s  managers and do a better job at keeping their ward busy and visible in the public eye.

In Joshua’s version of Ryan Cayabyab’s “Mama,” diction gaffes get in the way of clarity, but it’s nevertheless significant because of the young champ’s earnest, uncluttered singing.

True, there’s something about the controlled setting of a recording studio that smoothens a performer’s rough edges, even in albums that are recorded as live.

This is where Antonetthe takes full advantage of her edge over her competitors—she doesn’t need a lot of “technological” tweaking to enhance her  version of George Canseco’s “Paano Ba Ang Mangarap?”—an exceptional, seamlessly sung revival she hones to vocal perfection.

Romantic context

Antonetthe’s number would have been age-inappropriate had she interpreted it the way Basil Valdez did—but Sharon Cuneta’s ward cleverly readjusted its romantic context and turned it into a young girl’s song about parting and parental estrangement.

After all, it would have been hard to empathize with a 13-year-old girl singing about her romantic woes and “wounded” heart, especially with lyrics like “‘Di ko na alam muli pang mag-isa mula nang makapiling ka/ Pagmamahal mo ay ang tangi kong buhay…”

Speaking of age-inappropriate song choices, Heart Salvador’s “Turning Tables” (“I won’t let you close enough to hurt me/ I can’t give you what you think you gave me”) and Xylein Herrera’s “Love Yourself” (“Now I know I’m better sleeping on my own”) are well-sung but thematically “unsuitable.”

“Pangarap Ko Ang Ibigin Ka” is vocally appropriate but ill-suited for Alvin Dahan, who has a tendency to scoop his notes.

Third placer Justin Alva is notable for smooth, clean crooning, but why is a 12-year-old singing about rekindling a failed romance, or lying beside his paramour in the dark and feeling her heartbeat with his? E, ‘di wow.

Angel Peña makes no such mistake in her stirring cover of Mandy Moore’s “Only Hope.” With a voice that is as clear as it is soothing, she sings the lovely tune devoid of distracting gimmicks and show-stopping excesses. So, when she scales the notes and goes for the note-breaching jugular, the impact of her performance is pronounced and powerful.

JC Tan’s “You Raise Me Up” benefits from the lyrical quality and rich heft of the young comer’s impressive pipes.

Birit aficionados might enjoy Yessha dela Calzada’s savvy belting in “A Moment Like This,” but it’s weighed down by rushed and incomprehensible phrasing. You can’t tell a clear and “relatable” story with garbled lyrics and compromised enunciating skills.