Paolo Onesa


Paolo Giovanni Plaza Onesa is a Filipino singer and songwriter. He began his career as a contestant in first season of The Voice of the Philippines with a live performance of the James Bond film song "Skyfall" that went viral on youtube and earned him a record deal with MCA Music, a Universal Music label. Onesa advanced to the semi-finals under Bamboo Mañalac's team.
Onesa received two Awit Awards for his performance of the song "Lucky in Love": Best Performance by a Male Recording Artist and Best Performance by a New Male Recording Artist. "Lucky in Love" is included in Onesa's debut album Pop Goes Standards and as a bonus track on The Voice of the Philippines The Final 4 album released by MCA Music. Onesa received an AWIT nomination for his performance of the song "Which Way, Robert Frost?" for Best Performance by a Male Recording Artist.
After his first album with MCA Music, Onesa signed with HomeWorkz under Jay R Sillona. He has been part of Star Magic.

Early life and education

Paolo Onesa is from Zamboanga City on the island of Mindanao, The Philippines. The eldest son of Mr. Ariel Onesa and Mrs. Arlene Onesa his younger brother is Marco Onesa. Onesa was encouraged by his grandmother, who taught him music, to pursue a career as a singer. After attending a summer music workshop, he formed a band. The band entered a local contest and won. Onesa was a BS Mass Communication student of Ateneo de Zamboanga University.

Musical career

On 6 July 2013, airing of Episode 7 of The Blind auditions on the first season of The Voice of the Philippines Onesa performed the song "Yakap Sa Dilim", a song that was originally recorded by APO Hiking Society and later, covered by Orange and Lemons. Coach Bamboo Mañalac chose Onesa to be on his team.
Onesa's live performance of the James Bond film song "Skyfall" went viral on youtube. Onesa's "Skyfall" charted the Top 1 spot in iTunes 24 hours after the performance.
During Week 5 Semi-finals, Onesa performed "Elesi" in a battle against Myk Perez's "Baby, I Love Your Way". The public vote was 51.92 points for Onesa vs. 48.08 for Perez, while the Coach vote was 45 points for Onesa vs. 55 points for Perez. The result of the total points was 103.03 for Perez vs. 96.92 for Onesa, and Onesa was eliminated.
On 14 February 2014, MCA Universal released Onesa's debut album "Pop Goes Standards". The album contains 11 tracks including two original songs, his single "Lucky in Love" and "Which Way, Robert Frost?", both written by Roxanne Seeman.
After The Voice of the Philippines, Onesa signed as a Star Magic artist and joined ASAP 20 a Sunday variety show of ABS-CBN.
He appears in the segment "ASAP Covers" joining Sam Milby, Nyoy Volante, KZ Tandingan, Gab Valenciano, and Princess. Onesa also appeared in a Mid-Morning Daily Show The Singing Bee as a Regular Performer from September 2014 to February 2015.
On 25 February 2015, "Paolo Onesa Homecoming concert", Onesa's first solo concert, was held in his Hometown at WMSU Zamboanga City.
In 2016 with the release of his single Find You, Onesa changed his genre from crooner to EDM pop artist.

Personal life

On 21 December 2017, Onesa became in a relationship with his long time friend, model, medical technologist and food blogger Pearl Mariam A. de Castro.

Fan club

A fan club called Paollowers has more than 15,000 supporters. The fan club is handled by Loui Pestano Urbano who is now a vlogger at LOUI TV PANGASINAN
PAOLLOWERS came from Paolo Onesa's first name which is "PAOLO" and "FOLLOWERS" which means supporters.
PAOLLOWERS was one of the contender from the recent WISH FM 1075 Fandom Challenge which was joined by other famous fandom.

Appearances

Discography

Single

  • "Lucky in Love" from The Voice of the Philippines
  • "You Are So Beautiful"
  • "Find you|Find You"

Compilations

Studio albums

Music videos

  • Lucky in Love video released in 2014. It first aired in MYX PH and topped the charts for both the MYX Hit Chart and Pinoy MYX Countdown.
  • You Are So Beautiful video released on 18 July 2015. It first aired in MYX PH.
RankTitle of the songDateWeek
No. 13You Are So Beautiful23 August 20154th week
No. 15You Are So Beautiful16 August 20153rd week
No. 15You Are So BeautifulAugust 9.20152nd week
No. 17You Are So Beautiful2 August 20151st week

Magazine Featured article

  • "Scene Zone"
  • Pinoy Magazine
  • Pinoy Magazine
  • Pinoy Magazine
  • Pinoy Magazine
  • "Chalk Magazine"

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryNotable workResult
201427th Awit AwardsBest Performance by A Male Recording ArtistLucky in LoveWon
201427th Awit AwardsBest Performance by A New Male Recording ArtistLucky in LoveWon
201528th Awit AwardsBest Performance by A Male Recording ArtistWhich Way, Robert Frost?
2016Wish FM AwardsBest WISHclusive Performance – Male ArtistYou Are So Beautiful?

The AWIT Awards, equivalent of the Grammy Award in The Philippines, occurred on 12 December 2014.