Gretchen Espina: First Pinoy Idol

The eight-month search for the first Pinoy Idol ended last Sunday when Biliran lass Gretchen Espina was proclaimed winner. Espina bested Jay Ann Bautista and Ram Chaves in the final gala performance held last Saturday at the SMX Convention Center at the Mall of Asia. She received a total of 5.7 million pesos from the singing competition.

Pinoy Idol's Top 3

After weeks of competition, only three Idol hopefuls are left to battle it out and become the first Pinoy Idol.

Ram Chaves, Jay Ann Bautista and Gretchen Espina bested Kid Camaya and Daryl Celis in the final gala performance night Saturday night. Kid's rendition of Wham's Careless Whisper and Daryl's cover of Martin Nievera's The Promise did not earn them a post in the top 3, although they received good comments from Pinoy Idol's resident judges.

The three contestants will be singing three songs each during the finals, a personal choice, a favorite mentor's choice, and a judge's choice.

The finalé will be held at the SMX Convention Center. No less than Regine Velasquez, Basil Valdez, Cueshe, Freestyle, Itchyworms, South Border, Hajji Alejandro, Vernie Varga, Luke Mijares, Duncan Ramos, Jett Pangan, Pupil, Callalily, and the UP Chorus Choir will be performing with the top 3 on the two-day finalé this Saturday August 16, and Sunday August 17.

Pinoy Idol Eliminates Warren Antig

Another rocker has left Pinoy Idol.

Warren Antig received the lowest votes from the viewers last week to get eliminated from Pinoy Idol. The shocker of the night came with much surprise to the audience. While everybody thought that three contestants will be eliminated, only Warren left the competition. Next week, it was revealed that two contestants will be eliminated.

Three Idol contestants will face each other in the finalé on August 16 and 17. The Pinoy Idol Finalé will be held at the SMX.

Pinoy Idol Bids Farewell to Toffer Rei and Penelope

Toffer Rei and Penelope are the two new additions to those sent home from hit reality TV series, Pinoy Idol.

Toffer was voted out last Sunday, July 20 in the Jaya Week of the singing competition. Daryl Celis and Ram Chaves joined Toffer in the bottom group.

Last Sunday, another surprising twist came up as one of the Idol contestants with the better vocals ended up getting booted out. Penelope got the lowest number of text votes while Kid Camaya and Warren Antig joined her in the bottom group. The night before, her rendition of the song, Weak by Freestyle, in the Rock Band week of the reality competition didn't impress the judges very much. But everybody thought it was Warren who would go home after rendering a very poor performance of the song, Kahit Kailan, first popularized by South Border.

Idol host Raymond Gutierrez ended the night with hint that the next elimination week would be the biggest in Idol history worldwide. Their next mentor would be balladeer Basil Valdez.

Pinoy Idol Gives the Boot to Sue Ellen

Only eight remain as another contestant left Pinoy Idol last Sunday. Her name--Sue Ellen.

Her version of Dadalhin did not leave a lasting impression to fans of the hit reality TV show. Toffer Rei, Kid Camaya and Penelope joined her in the bottom group. Toffer sang You've Made Me Stronger while Kid and Penelope sang Narito Ako and What Kind Of Fool I Am respectively. In the end, Sue made her goodbye to her fans and the audience of the show.

Next week, the eight remaining contestants will be mentored by another music industry royalty--the Queen of Soul, Jaya.

Downloads (Live version):

Daryl Celis - Sa Piling Mo

Gretchen Espina - Kung Maibabalik Ko Lang

Jay Ann Bautista - Pangarap Ko Ang Ibigin Ka

Kid Camaya - Narito Ako

Penelope - What Kind Of Fool I Am

Ram Chaves - Tuwing Umuulan At Kapiling Ka

Sue Ellen - Dadalhin

Toffer Rei - You've Made Me Stronger

Warren Antig - Urong Sulong

Regine Velasquez Week on Pinoy Idol

Yes, we know American Idol had a week of Mariah Carey songs. The local franchise is taking the Asia's Songbird's most popular songs to the Pinoy Idol stage. You heard it right, Regine Velasquez herself will mentor the Pinoy Idol hopefuls. That's this Saturday in the third gala show.

Pinoy Idol Says Farewell to Robby

And now they're down to nine.

Another Idol hopeful, Robby Navarro got the boot last Sunday in the results show of top-rating reality singing contest, Pinoy Idol. Robby Navarro's performance last Saturday of Greatest Love of All did not wow the Philippine viewing populace bringing him together with Sue Ellen (Jesus Takes The Wheel) and Daryl Celis (Kung Kailangan Mo Ako).

Toffer Rei who did a cover of Bon Jovi's It's My Life, Ram Chaves who sang Yugyugan Na and Penelope who sang a version of Jordin Sparks' This Is My Now got the judges nod and performed the best last Saturday night in the performance show.

Downloads (Live version):

Daryl Celis - Kung Kailangan Mo Ako

Gretchen Espina - Follow Your Road

Jay Ann Bautista - Better Days

Kid Camaya - The Warrior Is A Child

Penelope - This Is My Now

Ram Chaves - Yugyugan Na

Robby Navarro - The Greatest Love Of All

Sue Ellen - Jesus Take The Wheel

Toffer Rei - It's My Life

Warren Antig - Balong Malalim

Pinoy Idol Stage Pics

I finally decided to post some pictures of the Pinoy Idol stage at the Mall of Asia. I did not take these pictures myself; these are part of a series taken by a felow blogger. You may find the blog here.

The stage looks so much better in pictures than on TV.

Well, at least the production staff listened to the comments of Pinoy Idol bloggers and made the show better. The LCD screen looks so much better now that the three LCD panels show one video only. And there are already Pinoy Idol logos at the top of the two pillars; I had hoped for neon lights, but the logos there are better than none at all. There is also now more exposure for the singers and the band.

Pinoy Idol Says Thank You to Mae

The second gala night ended the hope of another Pinoy Idol finalist to be proclaimed as the first winner in the top-rating reality contest. Mae Flores bid farewell to Pinoy Idol Sunday night.

Mae sang a Tina Arena song, If I Didn't Love You, Saturday night. While she got mixed reviews from the judges, it seemed as if the viewers agreed with judge Wyngard Tracy who didn't like her performance that night.

She was joined by Toffer Rei and Warren Antig in the bottom three. Toffer Rei did a cover of the song, Changes In My Life, while Warren Antig sang You Give Love A Bad Name.

Downloads (Live version):

Warren Antig - You Give Love A Bad Name

Penelope - So Sick

Daryl Celis - Basta't Kasama Kita

Jay Ann Bautista - Whine Up

Mae Flores - If I Didn't Love You

Toffer Rei - Changes In My Life

Gretchen Espina - A House Is Not A Home

Robby Navarro - Someone That I Used To Love

Kid Camaya - I'll Never Love This Way Again

Ram Chaves - Banal Na Aso

Sue Ellen - In The End

A Critique on Pinoy Idol's First Gala Performance

STAGE AND SET DESIGN

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

In fairness, the stage is way bigger than the previous stage used during the eliminations. At least the contestant now has more room to perform on the stage. I also agree with others who claim that the stage is way better than the Philippine Idol stage. This is also way better than the stage used by ABS-CBN’s Pinoy Dream Academy. The LCD background has finer pixels than the LCD used at the Filmex Studios so the LCD background does not look pixilated when the camera is focused on the contestant. While there are a lot of good points about the stage, there are things that need to be improved on during the week in preparation for Saturday’s second gala performance.

• First, I believe the LCD screen used should have been bigger, big enough to cover the entire backdrop, instead of using three separate screens that mirror the center LCD.
• There should also be stairs to allow the contestants to go down to the audience and perform from there.
• Smoothen the flooring. When the camera looks down on the floor, lines are very, very obvious, especially if your television set has a very clear reception of GMA 7. Instead of the black flooring, overlay some piece of translucent fiberglass material to enhance the overall look of the stage. See Figure 5.
• The lighted pillar to the left and to the right of the stage should be covered with some sort of transparent or translucent material so that the lights still glow, but the bulbs won’t be that visible anymore. See Figures 1 and 6.
• I hope there would be smaller LCD screens around the stage and a dedicated camera on the performing contestant to allow the audience to see the Pinoy Idol finalist perform on stage.
• And please will someone hide extraneous stuff from view? What was that black piece of cloth lying around cluttered in last Saturday’s performance show? It was just horrible.
• The twin staircases look good, but I think some smooth, transparent, translucent or glassy material should be used as an overlay on the stairs to make the entire stage a little more striking and “clean.”
• Since we’re on the subject of set design, I think the floor on where the Idol judges sit don’t look clean on the camera. Give the floor a nice shape. I noticed that the platform used in Filmex was used as flooring for the judges’ table. Remove the extra black material around it to make the judges’ are look more attractive.

LIGHTING

Inconsistent. For me that best describes the lighting used in last Saturday’s performance show. In some parts the lights flooded the contestants too much they appeared so bright on TV. Sometimes the lights gave different tonal values, clipping the colors on camera. There should be a very experienced lighting director exclusively for this show.

CAMERA SHOTS AND ANGLES

I had thought there would be better shots since the CenterStage is a much bigger venue than the Filmex Studios in Makati. I was wrong. The shots were, sad to say, very amateurish. The stage looked small because of the wrong shots. I had hoped for that signature Idol shot where the camera would zoom out from the contestant towards the end of his performance and bring to view the contestant and the audience cheering. I hope the director of photography would avoid too many close-up shots, and use camera cranes so that the videographers wouldn’t be captured on TV too often. Zooms are OK, but too much use of them would tire the viewer. Also, a seven-to-ten-second interval between camera views should be implemented so that TV viewers wouldn’t get dizzy with the sudden change of camera angles.

THE BAND, BACKUP SINGERS AND THE MUSICAL DIRECTOR

Danny Tan is one of my favorite musical directors. However, I think the stage should allocate some space to accommodate them and give them a good exposure. Do not hide them because there is a tendency for them to look alienated from the stage and worse, distracting to the viewers. They are part of the show. They must have a decent place on the stage. Putting them in a conspicuous location makes the audience want to see them onstage and makes them an added decoration.

EDITING AND CREDITS

The Idol franchise has two signature fonts: Kaufmann and Copperplate Gothic Light. Kaufmann is used with the Idol logo, while for all other text used throughout the show, Copperplate Gothic Light is employed. It is quite understandable that the editors employ Arial or Helvetica for the footer text, where the SMS syntax for voting the Idol contestant is displayed. What is so disappointing is that the end credits do not use the Copperplate Gothic Light font, which is a free font, by the way which comes with every Windows and Macintosh system. Compare Figures 2 and 4 with Figure 3 (American Idol)

Please Pinoy Idol editors, do not make use of rolling credits because they tend to cover the participants onscreen. Instead use fading credits and limit the names to the bottom of the screen. Granted that your sponsors demand their logos displayed large at the ending credits, it is not an excuse to cover the participants because of the large logos used.

The quality of the images used in the ending credits is also not very good. Isn’t it possible to look for really smooth versions of the Fremantle, 19TV and your sponsors’ logos?

Also, where was the recap of last Saturday’s performance at the end of the show?

What's the use of pre-taping the show if all of these concerns can't be dealt with?

JUDGES

I admire the judges for being so frank and honest about the contestants’ performances. However, please have a system in providing feedback. Start with Ogie, then Jolina and end with Wyngard. Do not change this sequence. For the longest time, the judges have alternated in providing their comments, not following a definite chronology. On TV, it looks very disorganized.

HOST

Raymond is doing better and I believe he is wearing better clothes these past few days. But why isn’t he anywhere near the performer after the judges have made their comments? He definitely needs to slim down.

AIRTIME

A longer airtime for Pinoy Idol will do you guys good and provide more exposure for the Idol hopefuls.

Pinoy Idol: The Best Performance of My Life

The first Pinoy Idol gala performance last Saturday proved to be a major success. Despite the torrential downpour of rains caused by typhoon Frank, fans gathered at the SM Mall of Asia's CenterStage to witness the top 12 perform their best performances ever.

Downloads (Live version):

Daryl Celis - Superstar

Gretchen Espina - Respect

Jay Ann Bautista - Natural Woman

Jeni Rawolle - Inseparable

Kid Camaya - Ordinary People

Mae Flores - You Oughta Know

Penelope - Alone

Ram Chaves - With Arms Wide Open

Robby Navarro - One Last Cry

Sue Ellen - Survivor

Toffer Rei - Honestly

Warren Antig - Shout

Lea Salonga, Jose Mari Chan and Regine Velasquez as Pinoy Idol Mentors

If American Idol had Dolly Parton, Neil Diamond, Bon Jovi, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Mariah Carey as mentors to the Idol hopefuls, the Pinoy Idol top 12 will have no less than the best Pinoy singers known internationally to serve as mentors in the number one singing competition.

Broadway star and Tony awardee Lea Salonga, OPM hit balladeer and composer Jose Mari Chan and Asia's Songbird and international diva Regine Velasquez will be mentors to the remaining Pinoy Idol contestants in the coming weeks, revealed Pinoy Idol production manager Hazel Abonita.

Abonita exclaimed that the three are perfect mentors because they are not only internationally known, but they are also approved by FremantleMedia.

The Idol contestants will certainly learn a lot from these mentors including the correct song to sing and the right style to use when singing a song.

Pinoy Idol Bids Goodbye to Jeni

Jeni Rawolle did not get the Pinoy viewers' nod as she got booted out first in the Pinoy Idol top 12 round.

Jeni, who did a rendition of the song Inseparable, did not also get a good review from judge Wyngard Tracy who said she was just a lounge singer.

Kid Camaya and Sue Ellen joined her in the bottom group.

Although Jeni was the first to bid goodbye to her Idol dream, she was very thankful for the experience. “Dito ko lang nalaman na mahal ko ginagawa ko,” she mentioned. “Na-realize ko [na] mahal ko pala [ang] singing. Gusto kong maalala nila ako na itong bata na ito, nabibigyan ng hustisya ang mga kanta noong araw. [To sum up my experience], it’s [been] fantastic, I can’t say anything else.”

Pinoy Idol Top 12

Sunday's results night revealed this season's Pinoy Idol Top 12.

From left to right then top to bottom:

1. Penelope
2. Ram Chaves
3. Daryl Celis
4. Robby Navarro
5. Kid Camaya
6. Mae Flores
7. Warren Antig
   
8. Sue Ellen
9. Toffer Rei
10. Gretchen Espina
11. Jayann Bautista
12. Jeni Rawolle
    

To vote, type IDOL [space] NAME and send to 367 for Smart and Talk 'N' Text and 2344 for Globe, TM and Sun subscribers.

Good luck on their first gala performance on Saturday at the Centerstage, SM Mall of Asia!

Pinoy Idol Reactions from Staff

Pinoy Idol judge Jolina Magdangal has been overly expressive to Idol fans that she has relayed all of their comments to Idol staff. Here are their comments:

Ms. Darling De Jesus, Assistant Vice President for Musicals and Specials



Ms. Hazel Abonita, Program Manager



Perry Lansigan, Executive Producer



Paolo Luciano, Associate Producer



Louie Ignacio, Director



Rommel Gacho, Head Writer and Director of Pinoy Idol Extra



Ogie Alcasid, Judge



Wyngard Tracy, Judge



Raymond Gutierrez, Host



Donna Cuna Pita, Mervin Lazaro, Charmaine Palermo, Kat Cruz, Anne Bella (stylists for the contestants)



I hope this means well for succeeding Pinoy Idol episodes.

Mixed Comments on Pinoy Idol

Pinoy Idol's run has been marked by a string of varied and mixed reactions. On the whole however, Idol fans admit that this show is not living up to the reputation of other Idol shows worldwide. Here are some of the outstanding comments to the show, taken from multiple online resources:

so disappointed with pinoy idol ! gusto ko pa rin yong philippine idol.
- shannenstef, Tsinoy

I can only compare it to american idol and philippine idol. Sad to say they still need to improve. I know they started out with the small stage but they should have done a better job in making it look like they were not cramped in one small studio. Anyone noticed the band and back up singers like that there was not enough space? I also noticed that during the recap of performances, they no longer placed the name of the contestants. Considering, there would be only 200 txt/phone and 2 hours of texting, wouldn't it be better if they posted the name of the contestant showed on the screen during the recap? Counted pa man din ang mga maling txt. I don't know if that was deliberate or just a mistake by the production. I still don't feel raymond as the host. Maybe its because I don't really watch star struck or its probably my bias towards ryan seacrest and agoncillo.
- reviewer, Pinoy Idol forum

mas gusto ko design ng SITE ng PINOY IDOL kaysa site ng INDONESIAN and SINGAPOREAN IDOL
- icedude, Pinoy Idol forum

natuwa ako kasi alam ko mas matindi at exciting when it comes to the venue at talagang aabangan mo. But sad to say GMA 7 you failed us televiewer. It's the worst and most boring idol i ever watched. Not unlike ABC5 coverage last year kahit malabo sa Pangasinan talagang pinagtiyagaan ko. Nakakahiya naman and you let it to be air in GMA Pinoy TV. Akala ko pang world class hehehehe. To the management of Pinoy Idol , do something or miracle para naman makuha nio ang mga televiewer's interest. Alisin ang dapat alisin na di nagbibigay buhay sa show. Raymund please make the result night more exciting. We're giving you another chance kong ayaw mong mapalitan hehehe.Grabe naman ang ginawa mong pag announce hehehe di ko nafeel.
- kapusoako, Pinoy Idol forum

para sa akin ok lang ung stage ng PI. ang hindi maganda ay ung arrangement ng songs, hindi rin maganda ung audio, at ung pagkaka-edit halatang minadali! ung mga judges naman parang naglalaro lang except si Joilina, ang galing nya! sana naman makita ko ang improvement ng show na ito sa susunod na episodes!
- Eduard, Tsinoy

1) I still feel that Raymond G is not the right host for a show as big as this. A second host will do wonders in the hosting dept of Pinoy Idol.
2) Mr. Editor is one incorrigible member of the PI team. Mali ang performance recaps. Masyadong mabilis at ang last performance of the night hindi kinuha ang dulo which should be the case. 3) Hindi pa rin consistent ang audio. From my end, halos max na ang volume ko pero hindi pa rin audible ang ibang sinasabi.
4) Walang improvement from the last performance night ang quality ng presentation. now i am really worried sa kalalabasan ng Top12.
5) Hindi pa rin maganda ang arrangements ni Danny Tan. At ang band....hay naku.
6) Again, i'll never get tired of saying this....REPLACE IGNACIO. Judges comments nga pala nag-improve.
- iamatvfan, Pinoyexchange

Sana C Drew Arellano Na Lang Ang Host Ng Pinoy Idol, Or Pwede Rin Syang Co-host Ni Raymond.
- cecil_d_pooh, Pinoyexchange

pde bang paltan si r. gutierrez?! isa siyang malaking aparador sa TV. Kapag tumabi pa siya sa contestants parang lalamunin niya ung contestant. Buti sana kung sing laki ng AI set ung set nila. All else ok naman sakin.
- centaurus_uno, Pinoyexchange

American Idol versus Pinoy Idol

In this post, I attempt to present the differences and similarities of the American Idol and Pinoy Idol franchises.

1. LCD Background



Here, both Ryan Seacrest and Raymond Gutierrez stand in front of the main Idol LCD background on the stage for the semifinals (Top 24). The American Idol LCD is brighter and the colors more alive than the local counterpart.

2. Stage size, height and platform



Notice that the although the local version retains the circular platform, as well as the layout of the stage, the American version is larger and higher. There are also more lights in the Pinoy Idol stage.



In this view, the second-storey waiting area can be seen. Notice that the lights have been turned off, or probably darkened in the foreign counterpart, while the local stage is too bright.




Here's a view of the pillars on the sides of the main LCD on the stage. Since the American Idol stage is bigger, the pillars are similarly larger. Despite the size though, the American Idol stage uses light efficiently, and lighting is focused on the performer, not on the entire set.



Two views of the design of the upper waiting room. Both have TV monitors (not evident in the second picture), a couch and a regular tiled pattern on the wall. Instead of using a white couch, the American Idol Top 24 stage opted for a red couch (obviously sponsored by Coke). The pattern on the Pinoy Idol wall is the logo of Pantene.

3. Judge area background



The three judges are situated in the same area in both shows. One major difference is the fact that the wall behind the judges is not simply a tarpaulin in the American version.

4. Use of text effects



The official typeface for the Idol franchise is Copperplate Gothic Light. Observe the upper picture, the size is just right, not too big or irregularly sized. There should only be one size for the typeface for all names. Another size for the hotline numbers. And maybe another size for the subtitles.

5. Judges' comments

After the contestants have sung their piece, in American Idol, the camera is shifted immediately to the judges. There is no need for the introduction of the judges. That dramatically cuts down the time for comments by 5-10 seconds which adds to the time the judges speak, allowing all three judges to say their comments in succession--first Randy Jackson, then Paula Abdul and finally Simon Cowell. After all of them have spoken, only then will Ryan Seacrest invite the viewers to vote after the show.

Pinoy Idol Top 24

The Top 24 leg of the local Idol franchise, Pinoy Idol begins this Friday, May 23, 2008. According to some sources, the following are the songs to be sung by the Top 24.

Bev Ejercito - Crazy (Norah Jones)
Meryl David - You Mean The World To Me (Toni Braxton)
Gretchen Espina - Neither One Of Us (Lani Misalucha)
Carol Anne Leus - I Believe In You and Me (Whitney Houston)
Penelope - Wild Horses (Natasha Bedingfield)
Jennifer Rawolle- For Once In My Life (Vonda Shephard)
Regene Ong - Fever (Elvis Presley)
Mae Flores - Love Will Show You Everything (Jennifer Love Hewitt)
Sue Ellen Cubing - Love Thang (Michelle Williams)
Vren Villaflor - Fame (Irene Cara)
Drizzle Muniz - My Immortal (Evanescence)
Jayann Bautista - Secret (Heart)

Dio Paolo - Angels Brought Me Here (Guy Sebastian)
JJ Jr. - You To Me Are Everything (The Real Thing)
Warren Antig - Ulitin (P.O.T.)
Daryl Celis - Still With You (Eric Benet)
Toffer Rei - Stigmatized (The Calling)
Elliot Andal - Sana Ay Ikaw Na Nga (Basil Valdez)
Sherwin Marquez - How Do You Heal A Broken Heart (Chris Walker)
Rye Estrada - Your Love (Alamid)
Ram Chaves III - My Hero (Foo Fighters)
Robby Navarro - Whenever, Wherever, Whatever (Maxwell)
Walton Zerrudo - She's Out Of My Life (Josh Groban)
Kid Camaya - A Song For You (Elliott Yamin)

The Top 24 performances will be held at Filmex, Makati.

The performances will be aired on Friday after Babangon Ako't Dudurugin Kita (top 12 guys), Saturday after Pinoy Records, around 6:30pm (top 12 girls) and Sunday after Kap's Amazing Stories (results).

More Pinoy Idol

Two of my blog friends have put up sites for the local Idol franchise. There are a lot of great information and resources available on their blogs, and the forums are great as well.

Check out:

IdolFlux

All About Idol Shows

Pinoy Idol

Pinoy Idol officially started yesterday, April 5, 2008. And based on the overwhelming support from advertisers, this early the show has got a lot of promise.

I rushed home yesterday from a band rehearsal to be able to catch up on the premiere telecast of Pinoy Idol. I watched every bit of it--didn't even put my finger on the remote to switch channels. I wasn't disappointed.



The production was actually quite good. Raymond Gutierrez worked as a good host. I felt he delivered his lines very well, and he was also great at being a shoulder to cry on for some of the Idol contestants who didn't make the cut. I can say GMA 7 actually studied the Idol rulebook quite well, even as to create local versions of Paula Abdul (in Jolina Magdangal), Randy Jackson (in Ogie Alcasid) and the ruthless Simon Cowell (who has probably met his match in Wyngard Tracy). Of course, there are still areas of improvement. One thing Raymond needs to work on is his body. He has to trim down and shed off some pounds.

I didn't like the idea that GMA 7 was not able to use the correct font and style for the text. For the local version of the Idol franchise, they could have at least used Copperplate Gothic Light for the text.

Still, the power and appeal of Idol is in its ability to make a nobody into a superstar. With 21 weeks of competition, that definitely wouldn't be impossible to accomplish.