Foregone conclusion

TOP FOUR: (from left) Darlene Vibares, Juan Karlos Labajo, Darren Espanto and Lyca Gairanod with coach Sarah Geronimo. Coaches Lea Salonga and Bamboo (partly hidden) are behind them.

Last July 26, we sat down with many others to view the “results” telecast  of the grand finals of the “The Voice Kids,” and the big question on all our minds was, “Will little Lyca Gairanod romp off with the top award?” After carefully surveying the lay of the land, our personal hunch was that the answer to that million-peso question would be—in the overwhelming affirmative!

In fact, in our view, it was well-nigh a foregone conclusion, given the “seminal,” “elemental” and “primal” excitement that was swirling around the finalist bid.

What did we mean by this? Lyca wasn’t the best singer among the tilt’s finalists but she was so masa in projection that, for quite a number of show biz fans, especially those with a long memory span, Lyca called to mind the similarly “populist” projection of wee, little Nora Villamayor (Aunor) in the 1960s, when she, too, sang her heart out to the championship of another singing tilt, “Tawag ng Tanghalan”—and into millions of people’s hearts.

Now, we aren’t saying that Lyca will become another Nora, that isn’t a sure thing— because there are many imponderables to consider for that to happen. We just want to point out that some indications suggest that it could happen—Lyca’s Pinoy looks, small size, big nose, masa backstory, feisty projection, etc. Yes, the slogans are there—which is why when the final telecast started last July 26, Lyca was the front-runner in our book.

Fact is, Darren Espanto is a better all-around performer, which he decisively proved with a duet with Martin Nievera. Darlene Vibares sang next (with Lani Misalucha) and also did well. She wasn’t as effective as Darren, so we put her next to him in the final ranking (however, it would ultimately pan out).

Mega-goodies

After that was Juan Karlos Labajo’s turn with Gary Valenciano helping him “sell” their number. JK was charming, good-looking and all that, but his overall performance was weak so we put him at the bottom.

Then came Lyca with her masa song number with three Aegis band soloists— and the performance was so effective and persuasive that it gave us no reason to doubt that, when all the votes were counted, Lyca would end up clinching the tilt’s prized title—and all the mega-goodies that went with it!

So that’s how our list stood before the final ranking was announced—Lyca, Darren, Darlene, JK. As everybody knows by now, when the voters’ verdict was finally announced, it was Lyca, Darren, JK and Darlene. So we didn’t get it all right, unlike the previous round, when we had hit the bull’s-eye, four out of four.

In any case, our most important hunch had turned out to be correct, so the next big question is, will Lyca indeed turn out to be this generation’s masa superstar, like Nora in the ’60s? We certainly hope so, because the country’s case of “colonial mentality” has gotten so bad that we need another masa star to make Pinoy and not Tisoy “in” again!

All by her lonesome, that’s what Nora was able to do in the ’60s and ’70s, because she was so phenomenally popular, and we trust that Lyca will be able to make that key phenomenon happen again starting this year. It’s all up to her, her handlers, and the viewing and listening public—so  hope springs!