Philippine Idol


Philippine Idol is a Philippine television interactive reality competition show broadcast by ABC. Created and developed by FremantleMedia and 19 Entertainment, the program is a franchise of Pop Idol created by British entertainment executive Simon Fuller. Hosted Ryan Agoncillo, Ryan Cayabyab, Pilita Corrales and Francis Magalona were also judges of the show, it aired from July 30 to December 10, 2006. Meanwhile, actress Heart Evangelista hosted the daily updates program I ♥ Philippine Idol: Exclusive. Composer Mel Villena was the show's musical director.
Mau Marcelo, an aspiring singer from Lucena City, defeated two other contenders on the show's finale to become the first Philippine Idol. FremantleMedia subsequently awarded the franchise to GMA Network and their version of the program was named Pinoy Idol, which does not recognize the results of ABC's franchise.

Production

ABC started negotiating with FremantleMedia in order to acquire a Philippine franchise of Idol in 2004, when Filipino-American Jasmine Trias placed third in American Idol's third season. It reportedly cost millions of dollars. During the program's development stage, notable personalities in music and recording industries tried out to become Idol judges, including former Eraserheads vocalist Ely Buendia, singer-actress Pinky Marquez, and talent manager Wyngard Tracy. The chosen judges were addressed according to their agreed-upon nicknames: Cayabyab was called "Mr. C", Corrales called "Mamita", and Magalona, "Kiko".
Before it was launched, there was skepticism among the local entertainment press about Philippine Idol as singing contests are common in local television, with recent ones branded as Idol knockoffs. The Filipino culture of "westernized conservatism" was also noted, as Pinoys tend to shy away from direct criticism especially in front of cameras. Promotion began during the Finale of American Idol season 5. One of its taglines reads, "Hindi lang STAR, hindi lang SUPERSTAR, kundi PHILIPPINE IDOL". This was in reference to two singing contests being held during that time—Search for the Star in a Million on ABS-CBN and Pinoy Pop Superstar on GMA Network. Initially, the program was scheduled to begin on July 29, 2006, but ABC moved it to July 30, 2006. On its premiere, Philippine Idol registered a 7.7% rating according to an independent survey, in contrast to GMA Network's Mel and Joey at 21% and ABS-CBN's Rated K at 26.7%. ABC officials, however, were overwhelmed at the results, considering they were up against "giant networks". They also noted that ratings for Philippine Idol increased to as much as 12% towards the final 30 minutes of first episode.
Early reviews compared the show with American Idol, which was shown locally on ABC. Entertainment writers said that the local Idol franchise was not as glossy as its American counterpart, but it was able to succeed because of promising elements such as human interest, talent, and proper casting of judges and host. Meanwhile, reviews during the Finale were mixed, with Nestor Torre of the Philippine Daily Inquirer commenting that the Performance Show was phlegmatic and anticlimactic as the Final Three failed to rise up to the challenge and instead played safe, while Results Show was stretched out with one unspectacular number after another. He also noticed sound glitches, which he blamed on faulty equipment and lax personnel. In contrast, Billy Balbastro of Abante Tonite wrote that he was impressed with the show's "flow", song choices, pacing, and camera shots. He also noted that the Finale did not have melodrama and lingering shots for the sake of effects.

Auditions

The main auditions were held in three cities, each representing a major island group: Pasay for Luzon, on June 3, 2006, in Philippine International Convention Center; Davao for Mindanao, on June 23, 2006, in Waterfront Insular Hotel; and Cebu for Visayas, on July 4, 2006, in Bigfoot Entertainment's International Academy of Film and Television. Meanwhile, Fast-Track Screenings were also held in SM Supermalls located in Baguio, Lucena, Batangas, Iloilo, and Cagayan de Oro between May and June 2006. Screenings were also held in cities without an SM Mall such as Dagupan, Ilagan in Isabela, Tacloban, and Zamboanga. Applicants were asked to fill out necessary forms and perform two songs before a set of judges, usually from local radio and music industries. Successful applicants were given a pass for the Main Auditions. ABC and its media partners Radio Mindanao Network and Manila Broadcasting Company provided free transportation, food and lodging to those who were eligible for Theater Eliminations.
The Luzon Main Auditions and Fast-Tracks yielded over 10,000 registrants, with Contestant no. 0001 arriving at the audition venue at 1:00 a.m., auditions starting at 9:00 a.m. The Main Auditions were composed of three stages—passing the first two stages gave the participant a blue form, allowing them to face the Idol judges about a week later. The Idol judges were so overwhelmed with the amount of talent presented to them that it was difficult for them to say "no" to hopefuls who did not pass their standards. Cayabyab exasperatedly stated during the Luzon Main Auditions,
He admitted becoming angry at times and felt like he was the anti-hero because of intense reactions from rejects who viewed the competition as a ticket out of poverty. The judges even allowed candidates to sing up to five "redemption songs" after saying "no" for the first time. After seeing the auditions, FremantleMedia supervising producer Sheldon Bailey said that she was amazed at the abundance of musical talent in the Philippines as well as the amount of touching human stories.

Theater round

The Theater Round was held between August 1 and 3, 2006, at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. A total of 169 competitors received the Gold Pass from the three main judges, 119 from Luzon and Metro Manila, 17 from Davao, and 33 from Cebu. However, only 157 showed up for the Theater Round as other Gold Passers either backed out or were allegedly "pirated" to join rival talent search Pinoy Dream Academy. They were billeted at the Bayview Park Hotel, where Gold Passers from outside Luzon arrived after a first-class trip in Super Ferry, while the Luzon contenders were picked up in selected SM Malls. The contestants were divided into 11 groups with 15 members. Each contestant performed an a cappella, after which the judges selected who would go home and advance to the next round. From 157 contestants, 84 were chosen to proceed to the group performance, with each group having three members. The list was trimmed down further to 40 contestants, each of which sang solo with a piano accompaniment. Eventually the judges selected the 24 contestants who would compete in the Semi-Final Round. The Top 24 was officially announced on August 27, 2006.

Semifinal round

The Semi-Finalists were then divided by gender, with the two groups performing alternately at SM Megamall Cinema 3 on a stage built specifically for the live shows. The viewers voted for their favorites by dialing a toll-free telephone number or sending an SMS as often as possible from the end of the show until 8:30 p.m. the following day. The four contestants of each group who received the highest number of votes entered the Finals. Ten of the remaining 16 semi-finalists then performed in a Wildcard round, with four contestants with the highest number of votes completing the Top 12 Finalists. Candidates for the Wildcard were announced after the second Semi-Finals Results Show, although it was shown on television a day later in Philippine Idol: Exclusive.

Final round

The Final Round started on September 30, 2006, in which each finalist sang one to three songs within a specified theme and received comments from each of the judges. The viewers continued to vote for their favorites until 8:30 p.m. the following day, which was shortened to two hours from the Fifth Finals Week. The finalist with the lowest number of votes was eliminated during the Results Show every week. However, there were special circumstances that did not result in eliminations during the Results Show, but then the votes were carried over the week after and eventually eliminated two finalists. The 12 Finalists also recorded a compilation album entitled Philippine Idol: The Final 12, consisting of Original Pilipino Music songs they have performed during the first Finals Week. The remaining three contenders, namely Gian Magdangal, Jan Nieto, and Mau Marcelo, competed in the Finale, instead of the usual two contestants in most Idol shows, held on December 9 and 10, 2006, at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

Weekly themes

A guest judge was enlisted each week for five weeks beginning on October 14 while resident judge Magalona was away on a tour in Europe. Additionally, a sixth guest judge supplemented the panel on the week of Magalona's return. Each guest judge generally had expertise relating to that week's theme.