Charice Pempengco's Rising Star; Kris Allen beats Adam Lambert

Kris Allen won. Woo-hoo! Not that I was strongly for him, I supported Danny Gokey this season. Kris is my second choice. And though I appreciate Adam Lambert’s talent, I don’t dig his screaming. Come on. Kris Allen’s voice may be less spectacular, but it's very solid, it’s not over the top, and it’s pleasing to the ear drums. Adam Lambert should learn from the Philippine’s own Charice Pempengco – she hits the high notes well, but no, she doesn’t scream. She sings them.

I have not followed American Idol this season as I did the past 2 years. The kids have AWANA classes on Tuesday evenings, and we had Bible studies on Wednesdays. I was limited to watching video replays of the contestant’s performances. I liked Danny Gokey’s singing – but even his performances weren’t as impressive as my previous favorites – David Cook and Melinda Doolittle. When he didn’t make the finals, I rooted for Kris Allen because he was more in the same genre as Danny Gokey.

I’ve read some articles after Kris Allen beat Adam Lambert – every single one of them is saying it was an upset. I suppose that’s what reality shows are all about, you’ll never know who the viewing audience will support. There’re speculations that Kris Allen won because he picked up the votes from Danny Gokey’s supporters. Or, that Adam Lambert is perceived to be gay and that America still is not ready to make a guy who wears eyeliners win in its most successful TV show. I think there’s just too much thought and analysis being done over the outcome. To me, there were only 2 contestants left, and the American viewers found Kris Allen more appealing. I’m not really surprised with that. Note too that AMERICAN IDOL is a popularity contest, you can be the most talented but someone is more popular. C'est la vie.

On the Philippine / international music front, our fellow Pinoy Charice Pempengco recently graced Oprah for the ump-teenth time in which she sang A NOTE TO GOD. My wife and I watched with interest when she first performed for American viewers and are very heartened to know that she's building up on her success. Truth be told, the Philippines hasn’t had a star I could remember that had Charice’s talent and potential. Not that I care too much about stars anyway – it’s just that Charice looks to break into super stardom that no Filipino has ever done in the music industry. The buzz around local stars like Martin Nievera, Pops Fernandez, Regine Velasquez, my favorite Gary Valenciano, and even internationally acclaimed Tony award winner Lea Salonga, all pale in comparison to the interest that Charice is generating. In the show, Oprah has said that Charice is working on an album that will be released later this year. I'm sure a lot of kabayans will be waiting for that.

Here's the link to Charice's recent performance in Oprah's show.