Cebuana's "American Idol" Quest Ends

MANILA, Philippines - Cebuana Monique delos Santos was taken out in the last day of the Hollywood week rounds. Her portion was not shown. She sang “I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing” by Aerosmith, with its frontman, and also AI judge, Steven Tyler, saying, “That was very nice Monique,” according to a post by Monique herself in her Facebook account.

But apparently, it was not enough to carry her through the next level of the Hollywood auditions.

She wrote: “Later that night, when I entered the room for the elimination part, I looked around, and right there I felt that I’d be taken out. I looked around and saw a lot of people in the room, who did not do well earlier in their performances. Yet, one of them approached me and said ‘dang girl, you got the goods! I think we are a YES!.’ Another one said, ‘You’re giving us hope here.’ I honestly felt I did not belong there. I wanted to cry, but I just held it in and tried to keep my composure. That was hard! I didn’t get any negative comment from the judges during the whole Hollywood week rounds.”

Monique said that after the verdict, she approached Steven Tyler and asked him if she did something wrong, and “he told me, ‘You didn’t do anything wrong Monique.’ But I also asked him, ‘did I give justice to your song?’, and he said, ‘you did great! Just keep on singing and don’t stop holding that microphone’. I also talked to J.Lo. She told me, ‘This is just a contest. Keep doing what you are doing’.”

Despite being eliminated from the show, Monique describes the experience as priceless. “I am very proud to say that I am the first person who travelled straight from the Philippines all the way to the U.S. and made it this far in the competition. It has been very challenging and emotional and extremely difficult, yet I can honestly say it has made me a better artist. We all had to go through so much in each elimination round, stuff that is not shown on TV. I will always appreciate the show and the people who made it through.”

“I will never give up doing what I do best. Just like what Steven Tyler said to me, and that is exactly what I’m doing and will be doing,” she ended.

Monique is the daughter of Cebuana singer Eva Santos (formerly vocalist of Zee band). She starred in ABS-CBN Cebu shows before pursuing a singing career in Manila. She went on to record one album under PolyEast Records, using the name Monique Rae.