First Audition

I had my very first audition for a singing competition last 23 February for The Voice of the Philippines. I never joined any singing competition prior that date mainly because I am not the competing kind and I do my own music. I do not like being judged by it.

The few strong reasons I auditioned were: I am a huge fan of The Voice since the beginning, Bamboo Mañalac will be one of the judges/coaches (I'd also say Miss Lea Salonga but every Filipino is already her fan), and a number of my friends and other supporters encouraged me to audition. Well, they always do. I just don't try. I also had the time so why not give it a shot.

Whenever I perform in front of people, the nerves never fail to kick in and they always hold me back for the first few minutes of my performances. After a short while, they leave and I'd be comfortable with my stage presence. That's the time I execute the best of what I got. Otherwise, everything is half-baked.

I knew even before that I will never pass an audition because of my nerves. I'd probably pass if they'd let me perform for a good 30 minutes. It's like I need to warm up as to doing an arduous activity. There are also times that my voice is really good compared to my regular one. Whenever I feel like that, I myself am impressed with my vocal ability. Like, "WTF did I just do?" or "I can't believe I can actually do that."

The auditions went smooth. I expected thousands of auditionees but only hundreds came. There were a few signs that led me to think that I'd actually get in but judging from the first few people who have been told to stay, I don't think I'll make an effort anymore.

Almost everyone sang ballad and pop. I was like, WTF. So I sang a chill one - Sunday Morning by Maroon 5. Luckily, I was told to stay a bit longer. I guess the judges liked the break of trend. The few of us who stayed were interviewed shortly after. I guess it gets a bit bumpy at that point because they were obviously looking for a dramatic life story. My life is okay - a bit interesting but not "Oh God, what a life" kind of life. In all honesty, I didn't really want to get in for the blind auditions anymore because the feel wasn't what I was expecting.

I am a fan of The Voice because of the cool people it had in the US and the UK. I realized that the Philippines was hugely different. I was never a fan of singing competitions in the Philippines because of how poor the versatility they possessed. To me, everyone sang ballad or Filipino alternative. They make everything ballad. I hate that. Filipinos are great singers but I want to hear all other good genres like what the other The Voice editions had - country, hip-hop, reggae, ska, world, new age, alternative. Filipinos do not like that. We only want ballad/soul, tunog kalye and pop.

After the interviews, they let us go but only about 4 people passed the interview. I wasn't one of them. I guess my life isn't inspiring yet. Hehe. It was totally fine. Winning a talent competition wasn't a dream in the first place, more so being a part of it. I do music for myself, my friends and my supporters. That's just about enough for me.