"Davao Is Not The Place To Look For Idol" -- Pilita Corrales

What happened in Davao?!

Only a dismal 17 out of over 1,300 registrants got the much-coveted Gold Pass in the recent Mindanao Main Auditions of Philippine Idol. (The Davao Auditions was expected to yield at least 20 Gold Pass holders.) Seventy-five (75) aspirants faced the judges Francis Magalona, Pilita Corrales, and Ryan Cayabyab, at the Waterfront Insular Hotel. Apparently, the judges were not much pleased with what they saw.

"Maraming hindi magaling dito," Ryan Cayabyab was quoted in an interview with Philippine Daily Inquirer. "I really did not expect much from Davao."

Pilita Corrales seemed to agree. "Davao is not the place to look for an Idol," she said in the article. "All the good ones are in Cebu."

But Pilita had an explanation as to why she made that comment. She said, "People here are shy. I know because I used to handle a singing contest here. But there are a lot of interesting people."

Francis, meanwhile, had a different interpretation about the outcome of the Mindanao Auditions. "Hindi nila gaanong kina-career tulad ng sa Luzon Auditions (The auditioneers did not put much effort, unlike in the Luzon Auditions)," he wrote in his online journal. "The (contestants) were very polite and have a cavalier attitude," the Master Rapper added.

The Mindanao Gold Pass holders will join their Luzon counterparts in Manila by late July to slug it out in the much-feared Theater Eliminations, which will be held in Cultural Center of the Philippines. All transportation and hotel accomodation expenses will be shouldered by the Philippine Idol producers.

This Idol experience seemed like a douse of cold water to the Mindanaoans. We hope that Mindanao hopefuls would stand out in the next phase of auditions, and end up as part of the Top 24.

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