Philpop’s Top 12 bared at summit

MANILA, Philippines– The Philippine Popular Music Festival (Philpop) songwriting competition announced this year’s Top 12 song entries during the recent “Pinoy Music Summit: Basta Pinoy Push Mo ’Yan” held at the Landbank Plaza in Manila.

As in the songwriting tilt’s previous two editions, this year’s finalists are a mix of aspiring and veteran composers.

Among the established songwriters and musicians who made the cut are Mike Villegas (“Dear Heart”), Jungee Marcelo (“Salbabida”), Soc Villanueva (“Babalikan Mo Rin Ako”) and the Filipino-American hip-hop duo Q-York (“Qrush On You”).

The batch of new hopefuls includes Davey Langit (“No Girlfriend Since Break”), Daryl Ong (“Torpe”), Jude Gitamondoc and Therese Villarante (“Song on a Broken String”), Venelyn San Pedro (“The Only One”), Ronaldo Sorioso (“Awit Mo’y Nandito Pa” and “Langit Umaawit”), Cecilia Bocobo and Isaac Garcia (“Kung Akin ang Langit”), and Allan Feliciano and Isaac Garcia (“Hangout Lang”).

Philpop associate executive director Patricia Hizon said over 2,500 entries were received this year. The number was narrowed down to 1,000, then 100, then 30, and finally, to 12—after a series of “stringent adjudication.”

“For this batch, I see more collaborative work,” Hizon told the Inquirer. “Also, the topics aren’t just love or heartbreak. We managed to put together a lineup of songs that tackle different subjects, all of them mirroring the lives of Filipinos.”

Hizon added, “The top 12 entries also represent various music genres. The quality of songs just gets better as we go along.”

She also pointed out that this year’s finalists come from fields not necessarily related to music. “It just goes to show that we don’t look at the contestants’ backgrounds; we consider only the quality of the work submitted,” she said.

On the other hand, Philpop executive director Ryan Cayabyab said he was pleased to note that not one of the entries sounds like an “obvious contest piece.”

“Hindi siya pabonggahan… What I love about this year’s finalists is that they just wrote to express and wrote what they liked—not what they think listeners would like,” he explained.

Envisioned as a platform to discover fresh talents and foster the creation of more original material, Philpop 2014 will hold its grand finals on July 26 at the Meralco Theater. At stake is a P1-million cash prize. The top 12 song entries will be included in the Philpop 2014 album, which will be produced and distributed by Universal Records.

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