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Pinoy Pop Superstar is going global. The Songbird herself talks to iGMA about this ambitious project and their expectations from the challengers.
Pinoy Pop Superstar is going global. In this season of Pinoy Pop Superstar expect the unexpected because the show will be highlighting best Pinoy talent here and abroad. The Songbird, Regine Velasquez, talks about this ambitious project and their expectations about the new format of the show and its new set of contenders. Text by Alula Dela Cruz, Photos by Jason Lim. The TwistThis year Pinoy Pop Superstar added a little spice to its original format, as they introduce the World Challengers, Pinoy singers living and working abroad. Half of the challengers are overseas contract workers working in the Middle East, and the other half are Pinoys who grew up in the United States. It’s no wonder that the shows host Ms. Regine Velasquez is smiling about this added twist, “I’m very happy with the eight finalists that we have and of course the eight world challengers”. Out of the eight world challengers, only one will remain to join the Final Night. With all these talented hopefuls joining, Regine predicts that this is going to be an exciting season, “Kasi walo sila, pipili (lang) tayo (ng) isa para maging ika-ninth na Pinoy finalists so (it’s) pretty exciting.” Despite the excitement, she also said that this season is going to be twice as hard compared to the previous ones, especially for the balikbayans. She explains that for the first two seasons, they already had several balikbayans joining the competition, the only difference is that the World Challengers are champions in their own respective countries. “Ngayon, it’s harder nga for them kasi pag nanalo sila doon, may competition doon, may finals doon, papadala dito (and) another competition here”. The Songbirds Choice So who among Jae Buensuceso (San Francisco), Dessirie Joy Poblete (Los Angeles), Anthea Neri (North Carolina), Imelda Gaborno (Canada), Kervin Sawyer (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), Joe Magallano (Sultanate of Oman), Nerissa Binoya (United Arab Emirates) and Sid Vasquez (Kingdom of Bahrain) is Regine’s choice? “Naku! Ang hirap niyan, ang hirap niyan” she explains that all of the contestants are constantly improving so it’s difficult to have a specific favorite. “I’ve seen how they’ve started, how they’ve improved and lahat sila they all listen to what the judges are saying.” She also admires these new breed of talents in their endless quest for self-improvement and flexibility in terms of style. “It’s very admirable eh kasi minsan pag meron ka nang naka-sanayang style, you just stick to that but these kids are not like that”. So if all the contenders are bona fide winners, how about star quality which happens to be sixty percent for the over all criteria? “I think they all have that. Siguro ano na lang, yung confidence na lang yung paglalabanan, the pressure is just tremendous talaga.” Advice from the Songbird Regine gives all of the challengers a word of advice. “Just concentrate on what you’re supposed to do. Don’t try to outdo anybody or everybody”. She also agrees with what Director Floy Quinto (judge) said, “Ang isang magaling na singer doesn’t mean na mataas lang ang boses at malakas. It’s also about control, you know, giving feelings to the song, giving life to the song and giving it your own style. Pick a good song that (is) right song for your voice (and) for your range”. The power is in you hands, vote for you favorite world challenger, Click here Read about the local finalists on The Next Pinoy Pop Superstar Be sure to catch Pinoy Pop Superstar World Challengers special, Saturday nights after Bitoy’s Funniest Videos.