First, let me ask this question. Where in the world is Gretchen Espina? I don’t watch GMA 7 much but the last time I saw her on TV was during the Pinoy Idol Finale. I did hear that she’s currently finishing her studies in UP Diliman. She’s in Fourth Year College now taking up European Languages. So, maybe I can stalk her in the campus? Kidding. I’ve heard about her concert with Ogie Alcasid, Ramiele Malubay and the other Idols last year too. Is her debut album under Sony BMG out already?

Anyway, let me answer the numerous comments asking for the audition schedule of Pinoy Idol Season II. Honestly, I don’t know. I don’t think there’s an audition schedule already. It seems that GMA 7 has no plans of producing the second season of the show. When the first season ended, it was so clear to me that there would be no second season of the show at least in the early future. The first season received so many negative comments and Idol finalists weren’t given enough exposure.

Philippine Daily Inquirer published an article last January 22, 2009 entitled, “Wherefore, Pinoy Idol?” The article reported:

“Wilma Galvante, GMA 7 senior vice president for Entertainment, had no news about a new edition of “Pinoy Idol” when asked during a press conference last week for the network’s show fare this year…. TV5 (formerly ABC 5) is reportedly prepared to snap up the franchise, should GMA 7 decide to pass up this year.”

Let’s see what happens next.

Anyway, congratulations to Gretchen Espina! She would be receiving a recording contract from Sony BMG, a talent contract from GMA Artist Center, a brand new car worth 1 million pesos, 1 million pesos cash from SM Supermalls, and a condominium unit from Avida amounting to 2.2 million pesos.

The second season of Celebrity Duets will replace Pinoy Idol.

Tonight, two of Pinoy Idol’s Top Five Finalists are sent home. Despite giving the best performances last night, the voting public decided to send Daryl Celis and Kid Camaya home. The Top Three finalists are Jayann Bautista, Gretchen Espina and Ram Chaves who will battle it out to be the very first Pinoy Idol.

Disappointed with tonight’s result? Post your comments below! Next week, we would be witnessing a star-studded finale show at the SMX Convention Center. I just don’t know if this would be a live show or a delayed broadcast.

I want Jayann Bautista to win!

The fans of Pinoy Idol expected that two of the remaining finalists would be eliminated tonight. In fact, an article came out on a newspaper stating that two of the finalists would be sent home tonight.

“Tomorrow night, there’ll be a huge shock that will change the competition forever,” said Pinoy Idol host, Raymond Gutierrez during the Basil Valdez Gala Night. However, all were disappointed that only one was eliminated a while ago.

Warren Antig

Nevertheless, the voting public of Pinoy Idol made the right decision tonight. Tonight, Warren Antig ended his Idol journey after giving a not so good performance. During last night’s gala performance, he received a very negative comment from judge Wyngard Tracy. The elimination of Warren came out as a relief because many people think that he should have left the competition long ago.

Next week, two of the remaining finalists would be eliminated from the competition. Come August 17, we will have our first Pinoy Idol.

The remaining finalists are Kid Camaya, Jay-ann Bautista, Ram Chaves, Gretchen Espina and Daryl Celis. In the end, three finalists would be competing for the Pinoy Idol title. The Pinoy Idol Finale would commence on August 17, 2008 at the SMX Convention Center, SM Mall of Asia.

The first Pinoy Idol would be receiving a recording contract from Sony BMG, a talent contract from GMA Artist Center, a brand new car worth 1 million pesos, 1 million pesos cash from SM Supermalls, and a condominium unit from Avida amounting to 2.2 million pesos.

Post edited as per waah’s comment.

I believe that Warren Antig should have left the competition earlier. Warren’s supporters are not that visible in the Internet anymore. During the early stage of the competition, a lot of Warren’s supporters are visible in forums talking about Pinoy Idol.

I’m sorry but I really don’t have a thing for rock and rockers. I just can’t appreciate those kind of music. You can agree and disagree with me. But I think, Penelope deserves to stay in the competition longer. Sadly, she didn’t have enough number of votes to make her stay in the competition

If I heard it right, Basil Valdez would be the finalist’s mentor next week. The Top Six Finalists are Jay-Ann Bautista, Warren Antig, Daryl Celis, Kid Camaya, Ram Chaves and Gretchen Espina.

And yes, my prediction was right! Toffer Rei one of the rockers in the group ended his journey tonight. Daryl and Ram joined him in the bottom three. Are you satisfied with the results?

I’m fine with tonight’s result but it would be better if Warren or Ram got booted tonight. Toffer Rei was just okay throughout the competition. I’m sorry. I can’t come up with a more substantial post because I wasn’t paying attention to the show. I just waited for Raymond to announce the results.

So now, we’re left with seven finalists – Penelope, Jay Ann Bautista, Gretchen Espina, Warren Antig, Daryl Celis, Ram Chaves and Kid Camaya, . What’s the theme for next week? I hope that Penelope will choose the perfect song that would really showcase her talent.

I believe that the voters of Pinoy Idol are now awake from a horrible nightmare and chose to vote out Sue Ellen Cubing from the competition. Last week’s results show was a relief for me. If you’ve read my posts about Pinoy Idol, I have been consistent with my statement that I really don’t appreciate Sue Ellen’s talent.

What can I say about the “Regine Velasquez Week”? It was boring. In fact, I didn’t pay much attention to the show.

I wasn’t even impressed with Penelope’s performance. The song choices were bad, if not worse. They all sounded like singing inside a KTV bar except for Warren Antig who sang Urong Sulong. What to I mean by KTV Bar? The singing was too ordinary and of course, the audio quality is bad. Maybe, I could have appreciated their performance if I watched it live instead of watching it in TV. I’m still hoping that tonight’s show would be better.

By the way, I saw the Pinoy Idol Mall Show at SM The Block but wasn’t able to catch the real show because I have a class. If I’m not mistaken, the Top 8 was there.

This week, ONE ROCKER SHOULD GO HOME!

You can also hear your Idols on the following radio stations throughout the country:

Barangay LS 97.1 Ayos! – Manila
99.5 RT – Cebu
103.5 Wow – Davao
93.5 Campus Radio – Dagupan
93.5 Campus Radio – Iloilo
107.1 Campus Radio – Bacolod
92.7 Campus Radio – Baguio
100.7 Campus Radio – Cagayan De Oro
102.3 Campus Radio – General Santos
90.1 Wow – Iligan
92.9 RU – Kalibo
96.3 Campus Radio – Legazpi
91.1 Campus Radio – Lucena
101.5 Campus Radio – Naga
97.5 Campus Radio – Palawan
89.3 Campus Radio – Tuguegarao

Gala performance nights are shown every Saturday after Pinoy Records while results shows are shown every Sunday after Kap’s Amazing Stories.

Last night, one of the strongest contenders of Pinoy Idol was sent home – Robby Navarro. Daryl and Sue joined him in the bottom three. It’s just sad that he was the one to be sent home. Although he’s just fine for me, I still firmly believe that Robby is better than Daryl and Sue. As I’ve said on my previous Pinoy Idol post, I don’t appreciate Sue’s talent at all. In fact, I’ve been praying to the high heavens that at least Sue or one of the rockers, with great emphasis on Ram would be eliminated last night. Unfortunately, that was the case last night and a lot of fans are disappointed.

Viewers of the show think that Robby Navarro got negative publicity on the recent Pinoy Idol Extra episode wherein the hopefuls were put into a “test”. Hence, he got the lowest number of votes this week. I guess the footages were shown on Pinoy Idol Extra to be able to generate some buzz for Pinoy Idol. Unfortunately, I didn’t generate some buzz. Instead, it caused the ouster of one of the best and strongest contenders of Pinoy Idol.

I think we can’t do anything about this because this is how the contest goes. You get the highest number of votes; you’re going to the next round. If not, sorry but say goodbye to your Idol journey now. We can’t force the viewers to vote for the best. Each of us has our own Idols whom we support. If one contestant has a good number of supporters who can vote him/her a million times, even if he/she has a mediocre performance, that performance will still continue to the next round. People, this is the Idol format for us. I guess this is one of the things I’ve learned from the first Philippine franchise of the Idol series. Reymond Sajor got eliminated in the early stages of the Final 12 despite performing well consistently, if not the best. Some of his co-finalists have the resources to generate thousands of votes while he, on the other side benefits only from the support of his family, friends and fans.

I know how hard is it to accept that your Idol is now out of the competition. I’ve been there before. But at least let’s look at the bright side; Penelope and Kid are still in the competition.

Moving on, the high heavens must have heard my plea for better Pinoy Idol themes. Next week, the remaining nine Pinoy Idol hopefuls will be working with the Asia’s Songbird, Regine Velasquez. I believe that this week would be very tough especially for the girls. Actually, it would be very hard for them to avoid but render a “karaoke” performance. I wish each one of them good luck.

The nine remaining Pinoy Idol finalists are Penelope, Jayann Bautista, Gretchen Espina, Sue Ellen, Ram Chaves, Kid Camaya, Daryl Celis, Warren Antig, and Toffer Rei. Performance nights are every Saturday after Pinoy Records while results are delivered Sunday nights after Kap’s Amazing Stories.

Of the bottom two, I think, Mae Flores got a good number of fans. Actually, she’s popular especially during the beginning of the semi-finals (the Top 24 stage). I think her fans were too confident that they failed to “power vote” their Idol.

I believe that one rocker should go next week. It’s among Ram, Toffer or Warren. But a part of me is also saying that Sue Ellen should go too. Sorry, but I just don’t appreciate her talent as a singer. Yes, she’s cute on stage but I believe that it’s not enough.

I actually like Gretchen Espina and Penelope. Among the boys, Robby is okay for me but there are times that I don’t like his performance because he seems struggling or straining. I don’t know how to call it. Just watch the past two performances of Robby and you’ll understand what I mean. Take note, Robby is okay for me. Meaning, I don’t hate him whatsoever. So fans, don’t kill me, okay? I also like Kid Camaya though his performances are usually plain and boring. Yes, he got the vocals but I think there are still some inhibitions while he’s performing. It seems like a part of him is still shy.

In the end, the fate of these Idol Hopefuls is still on our hands. Vote for the best! Next week, we will get to see the remaining 10 finalists of Pinoy Idol – Sue Ellen, Penelope, Jay-ann, Warren, Gretchen, Mae, Kid, Toffer, Robby, Daryl and Ram.

If you’re wondering how it is like to watch Pinoy Idol live, check out this post by Noemi, a fellow Pinoy Idol blogger.