GET them. They’re ready. Knock ‘em dead!
Those were the strong, blunt words of encouragement coming from Rovilson Fernandez and Marc Nelson, the hosts of Asia’s Got Talent on cable TV’s AXN channel. They were addressed to this young woman in a red sweater, black pants and red pumps. Predictable fashion taste. What would come next was the most unpredictable performance this side of the world. The words were rough as the girl was sweet.
The young woman stood tentatively at the center of the stage. She looked like she was thinking whether to stand straight or to do a contraposto, that position made famous by ancient statues where one leg of the figure seemed ready to go forward. This prompted David Foster, one of the judges, to remark how she looked a little nervous. To this comment, the woman admitted that indeed she was—because one of her favorite artists was in the audience and in fact was one of the judges. The Taiwanese-American judge and pop star Vanness Wu stood up with his arms spread and acknowledged what the woman just said. The woman smiled and pointed to Foster and said, “And that’s you.” The crowd roared in laughter. A connection was made.
This woman introduced herself as Gerphil Geraldine Flores, from the Philippines, in that liquid accent young Filipinos learn to cultivate to show high education. Where did this woman come from?
The tentative gestures were only that, tentative. “The stage is yours”—that command from Foster were all this woman needed to own the stage. It was all hers.
The somber tone of the orchestral music was dirge-like. No one expected what the song was because the intro didn’t give any hint what the song would be all about. The voice came out, floated was more like it. Molasses and marshmallow, a bit of amber and a surfeit of aroma. The voice had a scent, redolent of chamber halls and dark castles and blue mountains and horizons that spoke of hope and love. It was a voice that could not be ignored. Classical is the safest description for such a voice but that would be a simplistic reckoning of this voice and body performing a song that was otherwise all cliché and cloying. But the young woman was enunciating the words as if summoning everyone’s understanding of the song. After negotiating the text, the singer carried the words through that voice, which climbed high and plummeted to the shadows, and glided over meadows of emotions.
The story had a narrative and this woman was telling and retelling the story. Each plot and feeling were gathered in a family of notes that were remarkably different from each other. The face, initially too cute for comfort, was getting all the light. Purity was not anymore overrated. It was a cause for saints and sinners and all those in between who believe that music can heal, save and bring one person to fame.
Flores scaled the range of the arrangement. Melanie C of the once wildly famous Spice Girls, and one of the judges, was caught by the camera with her eyes wide open in sincere admiration. Then Anggun, another judge, had her hands frozen in mid-air as she stopped an applause in order to hear more. The notes went higher once more and as the woman added passion to a pure reading of the theme song to a film about the mafia, the crowd roared. Foster pointed a finger at the singer as if saying, “You are good and you are killing us with the song.” Then the song was finished.
The best part was yet to come. The judges voted and when Melanie C said yes, the crowd erupted in a cheer. Also giving their approval were Vanness Wu and Anggun. Finally, David Foster was the only judge left to render his verdict. The crowd wanted more. The crowd, going for this unknown from the Philippines, wanted Foster to push the gold button that would make Flores go straight to semifinals. Foster kept looking at the crowd, then quickly moved his hand. The button got pushed, the stage went gold, and brilliant confetti came pouring down on the singer. The camera panned toward the singer’s mother whose hands covered her face as she wept. On cue, the song “One Moment in Time” played. It was all schmaltz and sensation, carnival and circus. This was an audition but the ending was more that of a boxing bout, the invisible enemy of false artistry and lack of openness to all kinds of musical forms as well as ignorance were all TKOd. Foster satisfies the metaphor by climbing up the ring and hugging the winner. Foster raised the arm of Flores.
A story was told. A great artist was born. The obsession that Filipinos can be world-class is validated in good taste and not through a paranoia of nationalism and ethnic pride.
There is a back story to the victory of Gerphil Geraldine Flores. She was in the first season of Pilipinas Got Talent on ABS-CBN, the one won by Jovit Baldovino. From the start, the talent and persona of Flores was not really taken seriously by the hosts, Luis Manzano and Billy Joe Crawford. Part of the problem, with due respect to the Philippine edition, was her packaging. She carried the name “Fame,” which became the butt of the limited humor of the two hosts. Then again, “Fame” as a name should not have been a problem in our culture, where people could be called “Lucky” and “Billy Joe.”
The first time Flores sang, Manzano at the wing turned to the mother of the singer and asked if Flores was undergoing a crisis (“May pinagdadaanan ba siya?”). The judges, Kris Aquino and Ai-ai de las Alas, except Freddie Garcia, could not seem to accept the presence of a classical singer in their midst. The audience, however, appeared to like the “unusual” style of Flores. With due respect to the Philippine edition, the repertoire decided upon by the then-19-year-old singer called for dramatizations that looked out of place in an otherwise accessible field of acrobats and copycats.
There is another problem though that needs to be addressed by this kind of reality show—a set of judges that has a wide range of tastes and knowledge not only of musical forms but of other artistic modes, be these of the so-called high or popular culture.
One cannot stop by talking of a lack of accessibility. The duty of the judges, given their onerous responsibility to give not assessment but judgment, is to enable the audience as well to learn new things. To bring them to a level where their spirit can be buoyed by the power of art. There is a word for this that can work for all of us: level up. One cannot go wrong when one levels up, so why opt for a leveling down.
Then, there was a concept bandied about by the Pilipinas Got Talent judges regarding songs that are age-appropriate. This concept was not applicable to Flores and her choice of spiritual songs, in the same way we can’t question the bristling imitation done with aplomb by Jovit Baldovino of Queen’s “Too Much Love Will Kill You.” The concept is too 1970s. With six-year old girls—and boys—belting “Let It Go” as if Frozen were an ice-cream brand, this age-appropriate concept is a dud. Reality shows are for extreme realities. Take it or leave it.
But all that is gone—a bad dream, a certified nightmare. Witness the scenes via YouTube postings and be part of a parochial attitude common to our TV presentations.
What matters now—packaging or not—is that Gerphil Geraldie Flores is on top of the world, insofar as Asia having talent is concerned. There are other lessons to be learned as well—and one is that one can only go global if the judges are only, truly global.
7 comments
This article is a wonderful read. Thank you.
Pilipinas got talent was a joke!! Ai Ai and Kris as judges?? Pfftt!
Thank you for writing this article. I got so disappointed at the PGT judges for not having been open-minded enough to accept Fame and her amazing talent. She has always amazed me ever since I saw her perform when she was a lot younger.
I’m glad she auditioned for Asia’s Got Talent because that show and its audience are the ones who can really appreciate her talent. I do hope an international manager signs her up, builds her and hone her into a singing masterpiece because that is the only way she can grow. Unfortunately, her amazing talent is a talent that most people in the Philippine cannot appreciate. So, go for the gold! Stretch your wings outside! The Philippines will learn to appreciate your talent but for now, you got the world in your hands 🙂
I so love that last sentence!
“one can only go global if the judges are only, truly global”….you nailed it, Mr. Valiente.
Very well said! Gerphil is an inspiration that we should never give up on our dreams.