Pinoy Idol

In Showbiz Inquirer, Gretchen says that Talent, not connections, got me here

MANILA, Philippines—“The viewers chose me as their idol. I hope everyone would respect their decision,” declared Gretchen Espina, a 20-year-old Biliran native and winner of “Pinoy Idol,” the talent search co-produced by GMA 7 and FreeMantle, which is behind the hit reality show “American Idol.”

The Philippine Daily Inquirer sought the reaction of Espina because of comments she bagged the title with her father’s “political connections” and not because she deserved to win. She is the daughter of Governor Rogelio Espina of Biliran, one of the smallest provinces in eastern Visayas.

“I have the talent,” said the former member of the UP Singing Ambassadors. “I probably would not have lasted long in the competition if people were not impressed with how I performed. I knew this issue would come up before I joined the contest, but I assure everyone that I fought fairly. Anyway, I was able to prove that I deserved to be here.” ….

“Show biz can be really nasty. I’m ready for it. It’s not any different from politics,” Espina told the Inquirer on Sunday shortly after the final results show at SMX Convention Center at the Mall of Asia in Pasay City. She admitted that her parents were against her joining the contest. “They wanted me to finish my studies first,” said the European language student at the University of the Philippines…

Espina added: “I will share a portion of my winnings with the two other finalists. Napagkasunduan na namin ito (We agreed on this).” Bautista and Chaves will each receive P100,000 from her.

There you heard it from her. She won the Pinoy Idol because of talent!

Please answer the Poll to the right navigation bar if you agree or disagree that Gretchen Espina deserves to be called the Pinoy Idol. It also means if Gretchen Espina deserves the 5.7 million worth of prizes. Note that registered uses can only vote to prevent double voting.

Watch some of the videos during Results Night so you can vote wisely

Songs from the final performance

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I refuse to call it the First Pinoy Idol because Mau Marcelo is the First Idol winner in the Philippines even though she is called Philippine Idol.

The winner of the Pinoy Idol is Gretchen Espina

Do you think Gretchen deserves to be called a Pinoy Idol? As you can see in the polls I held for this blog since the start, Jayann deserves to be the winner. I wish they gave her prizes too.

I don’t think Gretchen deserves to be a Pinoy idol. But thanks to lots of text votes, she made it.

Let’s see when it comes to CD sales and again, she could improve. I won’t be surprised.

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So did your top 3 choices get in?

The judges’ choices for Pinoy Idol are

Wyngard- Jayann
Jolina- Ram
Ogie - Kid

My polls showed that Jayann, Ram and Daryl should be the Top 3 finalists.

1. Jayann Bautista ( 313 Votes)
2. Ram Chaves ( 219 Votes)
3. Daryl Celis (161 Votes)

4. Kid Camaya (148 Votes)
5. Gretchen Espina (110 Votes)

Reality is that the top 3 finalists are

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I have been running a poll for the last few weeks. Based on the current poll, look at the results

1. Jayann Bautista (255 Votes)
2. Ram Chaves (176 Votes)
3. Daryl Celis ( 137 Votes)
4. Kid Camaya (119 Votes)
5. Gretchen Espina 91 Votes)

Clearly, Pinoy Idol blog readers like Jayann, Ram and Daryl to win. Gretchen Espina is in the bottom at number 5. But Gretchen has never been in the bottom 3 for a long time now.

I have my theories why Gretchen is in the bottom in this blog.

1. Her supporters do not read this blog.
2. She is just not good enough to be in the Top 3. Look at some of the comments about Gretchen in the past entries which reached over 120 comments. Let’s start…

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I was not able to watch the elimination night but here is a snippet from starmometer.com

The first announcement is about the finale. The final bout is going to be held on August 17, 2008 at the SMX of SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City.

The second big announcement is also about the finale. The title is going to be contested not by two but three idol aspirants. It’s going to be a three-way bout to be the first Pinoy Idol.

Next week, two finalists will be going home.

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What is shocking about Penelope leaving is that there are other finalists who should have left before her. Like Gretchen Espina and Warren Antig. The political forces behind Gretchen is definitely behind the consistent results. Gretchen has never been in the Bottom 3 for a long time now despite her weak performances.

Bye Penelope. Just know that you didn’t get the much needed votes but it doesn’t mean you won’t make it.

Now only 6 finalists are left with 2 female and 4 male finalists.

Jayann Bautista
Warren Antig
Gretchen Espina
Kid Camaya
Daryl Celis
Ram Chaves

Goodbye Toffer Rei! Finally a male finalist is eliminated. Still I am not satisfied with the results. Why is Gretchen Espina still there?

I lost my enthusiasm to watch the Pinoy Idol Live. Maybe when it’s down to the final 6, I will watch it live again.

Now only 7 finalists are left.

Penelope
Jayann Bautista
Warren Antig
Gretchen Espina
Kid Camaya
Daryl Celis
Ram Chaves

Who do you think should be out?

I am sure a lot of few have mixed reactions with Sue Ellen leaving tonight. Some of you want her out. Some of you think she is Pinoy Idol material. I am all praises for her good sportmanship. Maybe she knew it was coming.

Goodbye Sue Ellen

Top 8 Finalists are:

Penelope
Jayann Bautista
Warren Antig
Gretchen Espina
Mae Flores
Kid Camaya
Toffer Rei
Daryl Celis
Ram Chaves

Goodbye Robby!

This is unexpected again. The talented 28-year-old Robby Navarro from Pampanga got booted out. I mean comparing Daryl and Robby, I find Robby the better singer. If you see the polls on the right sidebar, Pinoy Idol Blog readers think Robby should be the Pinoy Idol. But oh well, it’s not the talent that makes one stay in Pinoy Idol. It’s text votes. That’s the sad reality of this show!

For once Wyngard Tracy is making sense when he appealed to the voters to be objective. How can our voters be objective? Each finalist have their own text brigade. Pinoy Idol is really a popularity contest and here in the Philippines, it’s who has the most money to spend on text votes.

It’s pathetic to see mediocre singers like Gretchen or Warren never being in the bottom 3. For what reason? Your guess is as good as mine.

Robby

Top 9 Finalists are:

Sue Ellen
Penelope
Jayann Bautista
Warren Antig
Gretchen Espina
Mae Flores
Kid Camaya
Toffer Rei
Daryl Celis
Ram Chaves

There are a lot of improvements to see in the Pinoy Idol top 10 performance.

1. There is Karylle who brings in warmth to the otherwise robotic hosting of Raymond Gutierrez.

2. The Production staff is more at ease with their duties and the taping seemed almost seamless except for one technical difficulty when it was Jayann’s turn and the camera failed to tape.

3. And there is more camera panning towards the energetic fans which was missing in the last performance.

So who did you think brought in the best performance?

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