View From the Wing – Talent Search Scene
MOSSIMO MUSIC SUMMIT FINALISTS AT TRINOMA AUGUST 21
by Pablo A. Tariman
They are all discovering music talents in all venues available and the fact is judges always have a hard time choosing the best.
The major networks of course have the upper hand and here we see kids learning how to sing in public mostly to escape grinding poverty.
The Mossimo music summit grand finalists namely Kristel Herrera, Mark Francis Reyes, Zsaris Mendioro, and OTM – Matthew, Jenz, Kaye. All set for the August 21 Trinoma grand finals.
The relatively well-off contestants have other reasons that sit well with the middle class. But popular appeal being the name of the game, they gain the jury’s nod and lose to popularity voting.
The latest to join the music talent search is Mossimo, a lifestyle fashion brand, which earlier was known for its bikini body search.
The winds of product marketing have changed and of late, the have decided they will join other companies in promoting the country’s musical talents in the popular genre.
“We at Mossimo are very thrilled to put the spotlight on some of the country’s aspiring artists,” said Adamson Bactat, Mossimo’s vice president for business development. “There is so much musical talents and we have decided to give these budding performers the opportunity to make their mark in the entertainment scene.”
In another breath, the members of the media are treated to vocal samplings from the four winners, three of them soloists and one a music trio.
Kristel Herrera — 22 and from Sampaloc, Manila — moves and sounds like a seasoned performer and it was because she had earlier stints as lounge singer. She is willowy, almost sultry, and she has a voice perfect for intimate venue.
The Mossimo grand finals at Trinoma. Talents from various music genres will compete for cash prize and recording contract.
Zsaris Mendioro, 27, from Los Banos, Laguna, calls herself a loop artist. She plays the guitar but there are other sounds coming from her other paraphernalia to which she performs with sensual rhythm. If she looked and sounded very confident, it was because she already had good exposure in entertainment bars in Metro Manila.
The winning acoustics trio is called OTM and it combines vocals and percussion, vocals and guitar and vocals and violin.
From what one could read from media eagle Isah Red’s face, they could use some stylist, they can still develop some spunk and hopefully in the coming days, they enhance their talents with good stage presence.
At the outset, one was not prepared to hear the kind of talent this 20-year old Mark Francis Reyes has.
The chubby winner is from Pampanga and had good exposure in the church choir.
Singing the opening line from David Foster’s “The Prayer” popularized by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli, what the media heard was the surprising voice of a soprano and all of a sudden, we heard a tenor sound from the same singer. To the amazement of the crowd, he did a duet all by himself using soprano and tenor voices (and at times, a baritone shift).
Another media person was too startled to say anything.
Mark Francis Reyes. A ‘duet’ all by himself with his own soprano and tenor sounds.
The boy said he learned those voices from the choir and he doesn’t mind people referring to him as a young man with doble voce and using doble kara (twin face) to interpret a song.
For now, the good news is that the winner will be signed to an exclusive recording and management contract with Curve Entertainment and will bring home P500,000 in cash and in kind courtesy of Mossimo.
Here’s hoping the winners get some kind of national exposure while promoting the lifestyle brand.
The Mossimi Music summit winners will be heard in a grand final concert at the Trinoma Activity Center on Friday, August 21, 2015 at 4 p.m.
Arts News Service 