A 24-year old supply chain coordinator from Makati is declared the grand champion of Wishcovery, the online singing competition of radio station, Wish 107.5.
Princess Sevillana who made it to the grand finals as a “wild card” winner bested fellow finalists Carmela Ariola, Kimberly Baluzo, Hacel Bartolome, and Louie Anne Culala during the grand finale of the contest held on Tuesday, March 27 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Princess has been singing since the age of 3 but her musical talents also include songwriting, guitar-playing and beatboxing. Asked who she considers her ultimate musical hero, she points to Asia’s Songbird Regine Velasquez who she someday hopes to collaborate with along with Mr. Pure Energy, Gary Valenciano.
For winning the competition, Princess took home P2 million worth of cash and contract, a house and lot courtesy of Bria Homes, and a brand-new car. She will be flying to New York to receive a makeover package from acclaimed stylist Richie Rich, as well as undergo a two-week training with award-winning stage director-writer Joe Barros.
Launched in September 2017, Wishcovery began its talent search with on-ground and online auditions. From the thousands of aspirants who auditioned, another pre-qualifying round was held before arriving at the top 20 singing hopefuls.
From the original Wishful 20, the first four grand finalists were determined after four rounds of vocal clashes staged on board the Wish 107.5 Bus.
The scores for these rounds were determined through the cumulative scores of the competition’s resident reactors — namely Jay R, Jungee Marcelo, and The Company’s Annie Quintos — and through the YouTube views their Wish Bus performances have garnered.
All performances and episodes were uploaded on the Wish 107.5 YouTube channel, which has surpassed the 2 million subscriber-mark.
The eliminated Wishfuls, which included Princess were given another shot at the competition through Wishcovery’s Wild Card edition. In this round, the scores were solely based from the judge-reactors.
During the grand finale, the finalists dubbed as the Wishful 5 had to hurdle five “Wish rounds” designed to showcase several facets of their singing abilities. One highlight was a medley of OPM songs they have previously sung in the show. They were judged by a New York-situated panel of foreign reactors composed of acclaimed American fashion designer Richie Rich and Cicero Oca, CEO of OnQ Talent Agency.
Another highlight was the Wishful 5’s live collaborative performance that focused on their vocal flexibility and harmonizing skills. In this round, the finalists were judged by Wishcovery’s resident reactors: Jungee Marcelo, Annie Quintos and Jay R, who also judged them in two earlier rounds — the Wishfuls’ live solo number on stage, and their final Wish Bus performances.
There was also a separate round for a power-viewing battle that began over a week before the finals night.
Although Princess was declared as the grand champion, all of the Wishful 5 are considered winners as each of them are awarded talent contracts with Breakthrough and Milestones Productions International (BMPI) and Star Music. BMPI president and CEO Daniel Razon said each will also receive P100,000 for their chosen beneficiaries
In addition, Kimberly Baluzon who won 1st-runner up took home Php 500,000, while 2nd runner-up Louie Anne Culala received Php 300,000.
Carmela Ariola and Hacel Bartolome, were adjudged third and fourth runners-up respectively and received P100,000 each.
(With a report by Yummie Dingding)
