Philippine Idol Scraps

When Philippine Idol came to the Philippines, I was really excited. I am a big fan of American Idol - I scrapped (OK - organized my photos) to American Idol Season 5. I really looked forward to scrapping while watching Philippine Idol in the next 12 weeks.

Alas! It is not to be. My bet, Ira Marasigan was not included in the top four females. Neither did she make the last two slots in the wild card episode.

My connection to Ira? Nothing much really. I first heard Ira perform when she sang the national anthem at an awards program at the CCP. I always get goosebumps when I hear Lupang Hinirang sang beautifully a capella. Her soulful rendition moved me to tears. No kidding! (In college, Lupang Hinirang was the choice audition song to join the likes of the UP Concert Chorus or the Singing Ambassadors. If you can't sing "Bayang Magiliw", then you can't sing. Period.) And then at the dinner that followed the ceremony I got a chance to get to know her, albeit briefly. She is a vibrantly young and pretty woman, smart as a whip and full of self-confidence. And she has a beautiful voice, to quote Maestro Ryan Cayabyab.

I campaigned for her to relatives, friends, even e-mail groups. And testament to friendships, kinships and Ira's talent, they voted for her. Even before the voting officially started! (Thank you so much for your support, you know who you are.) But we were not enough to overturn the votes received by the other finalists.

I am not sure I will continue to watch Philippine Idol. It will not be an interesting competition for me because not all the remaining finalists represent the best of Filipino talent.

I am also disappointed at the judges. Only Ryan Cayabyab does his job well. Francis Magallona should say what he really means and not retract his comments because on second thought, he thinks he's being too mean. Hello! That's what you are there for. Comments like "I do not like the song choice, but while she was singing it, she was becoming the song." Duh. Remarks like those should end up on the cutting room floor. Pilita Corrales simply follows Francis' lead. She's being too nice. And what about that May-December repartee with host Ryan Agoncillo? Oh, please. Enough already!

Enough also of the regional calls for votes. This is PHILIPPINE Idol, not Zamboanga or some province idol. Enough also of the gimmicky "I am doing this for my mom, so she will be proud of me..." "I want to help my family." Please... Do it for yourself because you want to prove to everyone that you have talent. That you can make it on your own. Like Ira!

Oh (s)crap...Now I have to look for some other show to scrap to. This is one case where I don't want to put up with scraps or to put it bluntly, watch the tira-tira. Re-runs of House sound really good for my Sabado nights at this point.