Local talents shine in Talentadong Catbaloganon

By LAIMINH MABULAY
June 13, 2012

CATBALOGAN CITY  –  Talentadong Catbaloganon (TC), the two-day competition sponsored by the City Government of Catbalogan in line with the city’s 5th Charter Day Anniversary Celebration, has produced two sets of winners after competitions conducted separately in the barangays of Silanga and Guinsorongan last June 10 and 11 respectively.

Jake Santos, a resident of Brgy. Guinsorongan, bested nine other contestants in Silanga to claim the grand prize of P3,000. A former semi-finalist in the nationwide talent show “Pilipinas Got Talent”, Santos wowed the audience and judges with his ability to change vocal range from male to female in his “doble-cara” style of singing “Aray Naku!”.  GV Rondalla, a 12-member group comprising students from the Special Arts Program of the Samar National School placed second. Maikee Mendiola, an 18-year old girl from Brgy. 03 Poblacion completed the top three with her rendition of “And I am telling you, I am not going”. The second and third placers received P2,000 and P1,000 respectively.

In Brgy. Guinsorongan, Samuel Thomas, proved that the adulation of his neighbours was not just a matter of hometown pride when he bagged the grand prize after a song and dance performance of Michael Jackson’s classic hit “Billy Jean”.  Aira Mae Contemplo and JLJ Crew completed the winners’ circle in this second leg of the competition. Aira Mae placed second after giving a touching rendition of the song “Liparin mo ang Pangarap” and was followed by the the all-male, four-member dance group, who landed on the third spot.  The winners also received cash prizes worth P3,000, P2,000 and P1,000 respectively. As with the Silanga competition, all the winners here will provide the entertainment on the fellowship dinner, which is the main event of of Catbalogan’s 5th Charter Day Anniversary.

All of the winners will have the chance to showcase their winning talents on the fellowship night on June 15, 2012 in front of city officials and other important guests. All of the 18 competitors in Silanga and Guinsorongan had to undergo a screening process which was conducted by the Waray-waray Youth Advocate, who are the main organizers of the event. The first screening was held on June 9 at the City Hall Lobby while the second round of screening was held in Brgy. Silanga on the morning of June 11. Ten contestants ended up competing in Brgy. Silanga while eight contestants competed in Brgy. Guinsorongan.

TC was patterned after today’s popular talent competitions such as American Idol and Pilipinas Got Talent, where a panel of judges would critique contestants’ performances. But whereas the latter depended largely on viewers’ votes in determining the winner, here, the judges themselves carry the task of choosing the winner based on a set of criteria which included Performance (50%), Entertainment Factor (40%) and Costume (10%).