Another Fil-Am contestant in ‘The Voice US’

Anatalia Villaranda

In the 12th and current season of “The Voice US,” Filipinos already have someone to root for—Filipino-American Anatalia Villaranda.

The young singer impressed all four judges during the blind audition round with her performance of Bruno Mars’ “Runaway Baby.” Villaranda chose to be in Alicia Keys’ team.

The reality talent tilt, which features judge-mentors Keys, Adam Levine, Gwen Stefani, and Blake Shelton, premiered on Feb. 28 and airs on Star World at 2 p.m. (live telecast) and 7 p.m. (replay).

“I believe reality singing contests are still relevant. Although we are now consuming a lot of digital media, television—especially here in the Philippines—is more widely available in a lot of homes,” said Ehm Ignacio, program head of Fox Networks Group Philippines, which carries cable channel Star World and “The Voice US.”

“Singing competitions are still there; people still clamor for them. That is why we still have shows like ‘Tawag ng Tanghalan’ and, of course, the local counterpart of ‘The Voice,’” he added.

“The last season of ‘The Voice US’ was watched by 30 percent more people than the 15th and last season of ‘American Idol,’ which we also aired. We expect viewership to grow further,” pointed out Ignacio, who added that having Filipinos in the program definitely makes it more attractive to local viewers.