Sam Mangubat
Samuel Marbella Mangubat, better known as Sam Mangubat, is a Filipino singer and songwriter. He gained significant popularity when he participated in the first season of Tawag ng Tanghalan of the noontime television show It's Showtime, a singing competition broadcast on ABS-CBN, and becoming its first runner-up.
Early life
Mangubat was born on December 21, 1990, and raised in Calamba, Laguna, Philippines. His father, Wilfredo Mangubat, is a pastor of a Christian church in Santo Tomas, Batangas, whereas his mother, Crisanta Marbella-Mangubat, is a housewife and a former City Municipal Administrative Officer. He is the eldest of five siblings—the other four are Jedidiah, Jonathan, Divine Faith, and Anne Catherine. Mangubat claimed in his social media account that even at an early age of two, he had already been showing a penchant for singing. He attended secondary school at Jesus Is Lord Colleges Foundation, Inc., where he graduated valedictorian. He finished Digital Arts and Design in Malayan Colleges Laguna.Career
Mangubat started out as a freelance photographer and videographer. During this period, he started to create and upload cover songs on YouTube, ReverbNation, and SoundCloud. Right after college, he worked as a call center agent but he left after four months because the nature of the work tends to burn him up. Sometime during this period, he also became an English tutor to children. As he continued being a freelance photographer and videographer, he did some stints on directing and editing music videos for David DiMuzio. These videos have collectively accumulated millions of views on YouTube. As he kept uploading more cover performances, he gradually gained followers and eventually got discovered by several companies such as a Karaoke company which offered him singing job in Karaoke training.Some of Mangubat's other notable activities include the following: co-writing original songs for albums of XLR8 and myPhone; directing several commercial music videos such as Kris Angelica's debut single "Nasaan Ka Na" ; recording jingles and directing several television advertisements; participating in Elements ''Music Camp, an annual national singing and songwriting camp; performing on Evolution of Music, a birthday concert of his colleague; co-writing, performing, and directing the music video of the song "Apoy" ; joining a roster of performers for promotions of commercial products and benefit concerts such as the myPhone-sponsored One Heart. One Beat. One Voice. in Smart Araneta Coliseum; and establishing his own independent video production house Dreamzone Productions''. Mangubat also auditioned on The Voice of the Philippines, but he was rejected at the initial stages of the screening process.
In early 2015, Mangubat became one of the regular performers in Club Se7en in Dubai, U.A.E. He continued uploading new covers to his YouTube channel featuring his fellow club singers and musicians. After one and a half-year, he left the job and decided to return to the Philippines to try some new ventures.
YouTube artist
Mangubat created his YouTube channel on June 28, 2006. His uploaded performances on YouTube consist of both covers and original songs. They are performed either solo or in collaboration with other artists and are recorded through portable devices. Due in part to the popularity of some of his covers in his YouTube channel, he was featured on several television programs such as CgeTV In da Loop and ASAP, both broadcast on ABS-CBN. This growing online visibility also prompted him to self-produce a demo album titled Strong Inside, which includes original compositions such as "Liwanag Para Sakin", "I Hope You're Proud of Me", "Strong Inside", and "Love Alone". The album was introduced on shows like Rise and Shine broadcast on UNTV and Tambalan sa DZRH News Television.Some of Mangubat's YouTube covers were also used by television programs: his cover of Ed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud" was shown on an episode of the GMA Network show Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho; and his cover of Yeng Constantino's "Ikaw" was used on another GMA show AlDub:Tamang Panahon of Eat Bulaga.
As of November 15, 2017, Mangubat's YouTube channel has already gained a total of over 19 million number of views and over 100 thousand subscribers.
''Tawag ng Tanghalan''
Daily Rounds (First Attempt)
On August 16, 2016, Mangubat participated in the third Quarter of Tawag ng Tanghalan sa Showtime, a singing competition broadcast on ABS-CBN. He was introduced as a YouTube cover artist and was dubbed the "Uploaded sa Galing ng Laguna". On his first performance, he delivered his rendition of "Secrets" by OneRepublic. Rey Valera, one of the judges, commented that Mangubat's voice seemed to fit better on the rock ballad genre and that it sounded "imported". Garnering an average score of 94.4% from the judges, Mangubat won against the two other contenders vying to challenge the current defending winner. On his second performance, he sang "Flying Without Wings" by Westlife for which he garnered an average score of 95.6% eventually beating the defending champion. His winning streak continued until the fifth day when he lost to the daily winner missing his slot in the semi-finals of the quarter.| Performance Date | Song Performed | Original Artist | Score | Result |
| 16 August 2016 | Secrets | OneRepublic | 94.4 | Won |
| 16 August 2016 | Flying Without Wings | Westlife | 95.6 | Won |
| 17 August 2016 | Just The Way You Are | Bruno Mars | 94.8 | Won |
| 18 August 2016 | Desperado | Eagles | 94.8 | Won |
| 19 August 2016 | Thinking Out Loud | Ed Sheeran | 92.6 | Won |
| 20 August 2016 | World Of Our Own | Westlife | 93.0 |
Daily Rounds (Second Attempt)
On November 19, 2016, Mangubat returned to the competition, already in its fourth Quarter, for another chance of being one of the semi-finalists. On his first performance, he sang "Love Runs Out" by OneRepublic. Valera commented that Mangubat got the right image, moves, energy, intelligence, and talent, but cast some doubt on whether he has grown wiser and luckier on his second attempt. Garnering an average score of 95.4%, Mangubat won the first round and became the daily winner. On his second performance, he sang "When We Were Young" by Adele where he got an average score of 96.6% eventually beating the defending champion. He won again on his second day with "Incomplete" by Backstreet Boys. On his third day, however, he made an apparent mistake with the abridged lyrics of the song "All Or Nothing" by O-Town which disappointed the judges prompting Valera to call the performance "palpak". Despite this, after looking into all considerations, the judges still ruled in favor of Mangubat. His wins continued up to the fifth day making him the third semi-finalist of the quarter. He remained the defending champion until his eighth day when he lost to the daily winner.| Performance Date | Song Performed | Original Artist | Score | Result |
| 19 November 2016 | Love Runs Out | OneRepublic | 95.4 | Won |
| 19 November 2016 | When We Were Young | Adele | 96.6 | Won |
| 21 November 2016 | Incomplete | Backstreet Boys | 93.4 | Won |
| 22 November 2016 | All Or Nothing | O-Town | 92.0 | Won |
| 23 November 2016 | Invisible | Hunter Hayes | 94.0 | Won |
| 24 November 2016 | Angels | Robbie Williams | 93.4 | Won |
| 25 November 2016 | My Love | Westlife | 92.6 | Won |
| 26 November 2016 | Breakeven | The Script | 93.6 | Won |
| 28 November 2016 | This I Promise You | *NSYNC | 93.0 |
Semi-finals
During the weeklong semi-finals running from February 20, 2017, to February 25, 2017, Mangubat performed songs corresponding to the theme of the day. On the fifth day, his performance of Renz Verano's "Remember Me" earned the first standing ovation of the semi-finals and much praises from the judges. On the sixth day, Mangubat, who got the highest final combined average score of 95.35% from the judges and text votes, became one of the two finalists from the fourth Quarter of the competition to enter the Grand Finals.| Performance Date | Theme | Song Performed | Original Artist |
| 20 February 2017 | Audition Song | Secrets | OneRepublic |
| 21 February 2017 | Fight Song | I Do It for You | Bryan Adams |
| 22 February 2017 | Awit sa Pamilya | Do I Make You Proud | Taylor Hicks |
| 23 February 2017 | Musical Influence | You Give Love A Bad Name | Bon Jovi |
| 24 February 2017 | Hurados' Choice | Remember Me | Renz Verano |
| 25 February 2017 | Awit ng Buhay | Jesus, Take the Wheel | Carrie Underwood |
Grand Finals
The ten Grand Finalists were set to perform on the first five days of the competition to earn a spot on the Top 5 who would then be competing for the title of Grand Winner at the "Huling Tapatan" at the Resorts World Manila. Mangubat performed "Ikaw" by Yeng Constantino on the second day for his first attempt to enter the Top 5, but he lost to Froilan Canlas after garnering only 75.35% combined average score from the judges and text votes. On his second attempt, he performed "Kilometro" by Sarah Geronimo and got a combined average score of 98.70% eventually becoming part of the Top 5.On March 11, 2017, Mangubat competed with the five other Grand Finalists who were able to get their slots to perform at the "Huling Tapatan" at the Resorts World Manila. On the first round, he performed "Fall for You" by Secondhand Serenade. After garnering one of the three highest final combined score from text votes and judges' scores, he advanced to the second and final round where he performed a Bruno Mars' medley of "Nothin' on You", "Locked Out of Heaven", and "Treasure". He finished 2nd place garnering a combined score of 49.09%.
| Performance Date | Song Performed | Original Artist | Combined Score |
| 7 March 2017 | Ikaw | Yeng Constantino | 75.35 |
| 9 March 2017 | Kilometro | Sarah Geronimo | 98.70 |
| 11 March 2017 | Fall For You | Secondhand Serenade | – |
| 11 March 2017 | Nothin' on You, Locked Out of Heaven, Treasure | Bruno Mars | 49.09 |