TheVoicePH - Top 8 Review

The Voice of the Philippines

Top 8 Live Show, September 22, 2013

REVIEW

If last week’s theme was 3Cs (Calm, Cool, Chill), guess what’s the theme last night? Well… it’s MMK NIGHT! Too much drama from all of the contestants. Oh well, this is semi-finals, and everyone wants to stay in the final 4 badly!  

With my predictions, I only got 2 out of 4. Let’s now break this down…

1.    Team Lea

Mitoy

Mitoy sang Power of Love, with his usual TENORish super high notes birits. What’s new? Nothing, it’s the same old banana. It was boring. Rearrangement on the original song was very minimal. Listening to him was like listening to a typical karaoke session in your neighborhood, except of course he birits those high notes well. Again, since his forte is the high notes, his number was really not pleasing to the ears at the beginning of the song, in those low notes.  Well, all he’s got to do is to make the high birits, to win the pinoys’ hearts. Thus, he won the public votes.

Radha

Classy version of Let It Be, showcasing her technical skills in high- and low-notes, as well as her kulot-ability. But, you’re up against the masa-favorite Mitoy. Even if Lea gave Radha a 55% score, Radha is not as popular as Mitoy to secure the final spot of TeamLea. Hence, she’s out. Ouch, too bad, I started to like Radha last week, when she sang a slow version of Time After Time. And Radha is starting to break my iTunes Data Analytics Pattern.

  

So, I predicted Mitoy will win, and MITOY WON. This was an easy prediction! Why? Well, pinoys get easily impressed with high birits. And, maybe, just maybe, he won the masa hearts when he was saying in the Saturday broadcast that he was even poorer than that person they visited in Payatas. Plus, he had that MMK moment with her wife on stage, with Lea validating what Mitoy was going through.

Ok, Radha was out, it’s an ouch. But let’s move on.

2.    Team Bamboo

Myk

Myk’s signature beat and voice were again heard in his version of “Oh baby I love your way.” Well, he’s consistent. It’s in the same sound as the songs he’s been performing since the Blinds. Hope his formula flies until the finals. The difference this time is he was guitar-less. He was dancing. But, I think his moves looked too awkward. It even seemed like he was in a demonic possession. And his shirt looked too fitted for him. Was it two sizes smaller? Good thing, this is THE VOICE, not YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE, so the coaches just let it pass. Finally, toward the end of the song, Myk inserted that “Oooh, Sarah I love your way”. Well, this could have earned him some popsters’ kilig votes as well, which I briefly mentioned in my last blog. 

By the way, Myk is such a little Bamboo. I downloaded some of his soundcloud.com songs, and shuffled it with Bamboo in my iPod. Now, I dont know which one is Myk and which one is Bamboo. 

Paolo

Paolo sang a jazzy version of ELESI. Well, Bamboo asked for a total performance from Paolo, and he gave it in ELESI. The performance was really entertaining, to be objectively honest, especially with the colorful backup dancers. Unfortunately, the song was not a The Voice Semi-finals material. It didn’t have the high notes that Pinoys are looking for. And at some point, it seemed like Paolo was losing his breath to power his notes. But again, it was really entertaining. This costed him his coaches’ vote. Bamboo gave Paolo 45%. His 3-percentage lead in the public votes over Myk was just not enough to reverse his coaches’ score. Thus, he lost.  Some Zamboanguenos are saying they couldn’t vote because there’s a curfew and stores were closed, hence they couldn’t buy loads to vote. Oh… how unfortunate.

Result

I correctly predicted that Bamboo will give 55% to Myk, but my predicted public votes for Paolo fell short. It was not enough to reverse Bamboo’s score. He was 6% deficient. Hence MYK WON instead.

A second OUCH for the night. But, I’m glad he didn’t win, and most especially he didn’t get the leading score from Bamboo. If he did, his haters will just multiply exponentially, at ma-LEE-LEE GRANE na rin si Paolo, thus ruining his just took off career. Anyway, iTunes top notchers are Paolo and Myk. Paolo’s votes > Myk. Clearly, this is not the end for you. With his gwapong voice (as mentioned by Lea), we will see you on ASAP for sure. And I think his ELESI performance is his way of saying, “My voice might not be a match to Mitoy, but I’m ready to entertain on the ASAP stage.” 

Oh, to credit TeamBamboo, even if it was MMK night, the little Bamboos were consistent with their team’s motto. Just cool and chill music. No drama, except of course that Saturday tears from Myk. And isn’t their numbers a welcome break to the biritans of the other camps? They added a different flavor to the show, pampaalis umay.

Interesting tweet from Lea: At one point there were so many girls in #KampKawayan... remember those days? Then that team's top 2 were guys. Funny!

3.    Team Sarah

Morissette Vs. Klarisse

Well, Team Sarah is like the traditional singing contest performers. Vocal power, vocal quality, kulot, birit… etc. etc. Morissette’s performance was impactful, though not all viewers are familiar with her song. And Klarisse, she just showed how versatile she is. She sounded well in low notes, in mid notes, in high notes. She did kulot. She did birits. And that falsetto thing was a climax to her performance. Since day 1, she has been doing different genres, and she passed each test with flying colors. Her coach cannot help but notice this, thus the score from Sarah.

I correctly predicted Sarah’s 55% score for Klarisse, and that Klarisse will win this round. What I failed to predict was Klarisse had a significantly higher public votes than Morissette. Since I prefer Klarisse over Mori, this was a pleasant surprise! KLARISSE WON!

And, to stay true to the night’s theme, Mori and Klarisse also gave their MMK stories as well. But Karisse’s story was more touching. Oh by the way, you two, your names are difficult to spell. Some votes might have been misspelled.

4.    Team Apl

Thor 

Thor sang that competition song CLIMB EVERY MOUNTAIN. Is it just me? Why does it seem like whatever song Thor sings, it ends up sounding like a telenovela theme song. Thor was my early favorite. I started losing interest in him due to his telenovlish delivery of every song. Well, guess what, he gave another telenovela performance again last Sunday. And I saw that signature Thor litid-tearing birit at the end of the song again. Nothing new!!! He was not reading my blog. Hehe. Maybe we'll hear his voice on Primetime Bida soon enough, singing telenova theme songs. 

Janice 

As for Janice, it was a different Janice I saw in the Saturday’s show (with their Umagang Kay Ganda song). She showed her sweet 16 voice, which surprisingly, was beautiful. And in her Sunday’s performance, she sounded great in her low and high-notes, for the IMAGINE performance. Good job! I like it. No wonder, you are a star in Bangkok. From a Thor fan, I instantly shifted to Janice last Saturday.

 I predicted a 55-45% score from Apl. And that’s what Apl gave. But I incorrectly predicted the public votes. Janice surprisingly surpassed the votes of Thor. Again, this was a pleasant surprise! I think it’s the Umagang Kay Ganda song that shifted the public’s votes from the strong Thor to the big Janice. Thor is showing the same thing since day 1. Hence naumay na talaga ang tao! JANICE WON!

Of course, staying true to the MMK theme, Thor gave his MMK flavor as well (but it looked kinda forced to me). And Janice, as the last performance, gave hers as well. Truly, it’s an MMK night at The Voice PH.

Bamboo, your team was not following the theme, huh!!!

NOTE FOR THE LOSERS

For the non-winners of the night, don’t be sad. One of the grand prizes is a 4-year MCA Universal recording contract. Why not Star Records? It’s because The Voice has a global contract with the Universal group. So, losers with great talents, don’t be sad. It might actually be better not to win the grand title, as Star Records is not contractually prohibited to contract you. We know the muscle that ABS-CBN and Star Records have in developing stars. So, the main winner for the eviction of iTunes top-notchers might actually be Star Records, don’t you think?

SIDELIGHTS

What happens when you have 2 siblings hosting a show? Last Saturday, it was just amusing when Alex said:

The coaches are very generous in giving donations to the Payatas choir. Toni, as the main host of the show, what are you giving? Thus, the impromptu talent fee donation from Toni. Haha.  

On Sunday, Alex did it again. Picking it up from Twitter, Alex called Toni, the BANGS OF THE PHILIPPINES! Haha. The MMK's title for the show should be BANGS!

Bangs of the Philippines

It also looks like some of them came for a First Communion last night.

And a number of them from a funeral?

PREDICTIONS FOR NEXT WEEK

So, who will win? Since my favorites are out, I’d go for any of them, except Mitoy. I just don’t like the sound of his vocal tone. Yes, he belts really well. But, I’m not a fan of his vocal tone in low- and mid-notes. With his original song Bulag, I now get it. ABS-CBN plans to market him along with the market of Jovit, Renz Verano and April Boys. 

Anyway, if I have to choose one, I'd go for Klarisse. I also predict KLARISSE WILL WIN! Going back to my review after the 2^nd Live Show, I already predicted then that the winner will come from Team Sarah, for sure. Why? Here’s what I’ve written in that blog.

"Sarah has got tons of loyal followers. They will vote whoever is left with Team Sarah (even if they don’t like that artist). I hate this, but this is what will happen. I’m already seeing comments from popsters in social networks encouraging fellow popsters to get ready to vote, as they want the first TheVoicePH winner to come from Team Sarah. It totally defeats the purpose. The Voice of the Philippines will not be the best vocal talent, but will be the artist from the most popular coach. If your bet if not from Team Sarah, accept this now and you won’t be disappointed. With this, I just hope it’s Klarisse from Team Sarah. Klarisse has the qualities of a Bamboo talent. Unique quality tone and original. Remember, Bamboo and Sarah were fighting for Klarisse during the blinds."  

So there, I’m just glad and fortunate that Klarisse is the last-man standing of

Team Sarah.

Also, it’s a pleasant surprise that an iTunes download is now considered as 5 votes. Using my iTunes analytics which I established in my previous blog:

•             Team Young tops iTunes
•             Team Old is at the bottom of iTunes
•             Chill songs top iTunes
•             Birit songs are at the bottom of iTunes

It would seem like Myk and Klarisse are the main beneficiaries of the new voting system. And Mitoy is at the main disadvantage. Let's wait and see! I just don't get it. If Mitoy has a lot of fans who are ready to spend to vote, why aren't they buying his song on iTunes? Don't they want to listen to their idol over and over again in their iPods?