Ebe Dancel And Toto Sorioso: 1st Runner-up At 1st Ever PhilPop

Ebe Dancel and Toto Sorioso

Ebe Dancel, former frontman of Sugarfree and now traversing the music world going solo under Warner Music Philippines, is a winner. We‟ve always known that fact with his hit-making days with Sugarfree with smash singles as “Hari ng Sablay”, “Telepono”, “Mariposa” and “Kwarto”.

His vocals and sensitive, relevant lyrics always resonated with the common Filipino. And it should come as no surprise that his interpretation of Filipino composer Toto Sorioso‟s Tayo-tayo Lang bagged 2nd place at the first ever Philippine Popular Music Festival, an event which is a project of Overall Chairman Manny V. Pangilinan and Organizing Committee Chairman Ricky Vargas, and their collective will to help the Philippine music industry. The top prize went to Karl Villuga‟s Bawat Hakbang which was interpreted by Mark Bautista and Akafellas.

This event aims to promote the talent of Filipino songwriting, and that is an arena which Ebe Dancel is no stranger to, with hits and compositions as a solo artist such as “Paalam Kahapon” and other hits “Hanggang sa Dulo” and “Muli”. “I‟m all for Philpop and finding the best songwriters out there. Toto is a great guy. We‟re thinking about working together on a song soon. The song „Tayo-tayo Lang’ speaks about struggling musician. I can relate because I‟ve been there.” shares Ebe.

Ebe Dancel, World-class Filipino talent.

Check out the complete list of winners of the 2012 Philpop here: http://noypistuff.blogspot.com/2012/07/karl-villuga-of-akafellas-wins-philpop.html

Karl Villuga Of The Akafellas Wins Philpop Music Festival 2012

Karl Villuga with his group mates

Karl Villuga of the acapella group The Akafellas was named winner of the 2012 Philippine Popular Music Festival (Philpop) Saturday night, July 14, 2012.

Villuga's composition "Bawat Hakbang" beat out several other entries of  the prestigious songwriting competition including Toto Sorio's "Tayo Tayo Lang" (interpreted by former Sugarfree lead vocalist Ebe Dancel) and Soc Villanueva’s "Kontrabida" (interpreted by teen heartthrob Sam Concepcion), which took 2nd and 3rd place, respectively.

Meanwhile, amateur songwriter James Leyte's "Brown," which was performed in the Finals by Leyte and reggae group ensemble Brownian Revival, bagged the Smart People's Choice award, winning a cash prize of P200,000.

"Bawat Hakbang" was interpreted by crooner Mark Bautista and The Akafellas during final performance and competition night held at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) on Saturday.

The roster of performers who brought life to the competing songs in this year's competition also included Youtube sensation Marié Digby ("3:00 AM"), popstar tandem Jay R and Deejay Poblete ("Dulo ng Dila"), former South Border front men Duncan Ramos and Luke Mijares and hip hop artists Loonie and Yumi ("Himig ng Panahon"), modern-ethnic pop icon Joey Ayala ("Piso"), Nyoy Volante ("Slowdancing"), alternative rock band Rocksteddy ("Takusa"), new singer Daniel Grospe "Kesa" former Metropop finalist Mike Villegas and up and coming artist Cathy Go ("Negastar"), OPM icon Gary Granada ("Minsa’y Isang Bansa"), all-girl trio Baihana ("Big Time"),

As winner of the 1st ever Philpop Music Festival, Villuga took home P1 million while the two runners-up received P500,000 and P250,000, respectively.