Lyca Gairanod’s ‘Havana’ cover draws laughs, criticisms

Lyca Gairanod recently sang Camila Cabello’s hit track “Havana” on the ABS-CBN morning show “Umagang Kay Ganda”. While the young singer may have caught the hearts of “The Voice Kids” fans with her take on Filipino songs, viewers this time weren’t that fond of her version of the popular song.

Wearing a black and white figure-hugging dress and a pair of nude high heels, Gairanod looked charming while singing Cabello’s hit track live last Wednesday, July 11. Although she was able to hit the right notes, the grand champion of the first season of “The Voice Kids” appeared to have a hard time properly pronouncing the lyrics. Nonetheless, Gairanod performed confidently.

The young singer’s cover was immediately uploaded by a YouTube channel, Kapamilya Trending, on the same day.

Netizens were quick to comment on Gairanod’s version of “Havana”. Unsurprisingly, fans lauded the fact that the young singer has gone far from her humble beginnings. For example, one fan, Ella Marie, congratulated Gairanod on her progress with singing English songs.

Because the young singer had a hard time pronouncing properly the song’s lyrics, netizens found her cover funny. One netizen, Christ Mateo Sayo, said, “Kaya pala may subtitle eh kayo na lang daw [mag-adjust]… kala ko talaga [C]hinese version.”

(They put subtitles so that the audience could be the ones to adjust [by means of reading the lyrics of the song as opposed to what the singer is singing]… I really thought it was a Chinese version.)

One netizen, Yvie Smith, went as far as to “transcribe” Gairanod’s lyrics.

Some netizens complained that their ears and heads hurt after listening to the cover, while others attributed Gairanod’s performance to lack of preparation. They acknowledged the fact that the young singer indeed has a hard time singing english songs, but they believe it is not enough reason for Gairanod to botch her cover.

Some netizens brought up the young singer’s 2014 win in “The Voice Kids”. Some viewers of the show questioned why she was hailed the champion of the competition when she can’t sing English songs as well as her runner-up, Darren Espanto.

Meanwhile, other netizens found something else that’s funny: they inferred that Gairanod’s back-up dancers were dancing to Momoland’s “Bboom Bboom” instead of “Havana”.

Lyca Gairanod’s “Havana” cover upload is currently #39 on the trending videos list on YouTube. It has over 575,000 views, 6,000 likes, 1,800 dislikes and 3,300 comments, as of this writing. JB

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