12 vie for honors in Cebu Pop Musicfest

At least 12 finalists are vying for the top honors tonight in the 27th edition of the Cebu Popular Music, a song festival aimed at uplifting the local music industry.

The contest, which is held every January at the New Cebu Coliseum, coincides with the feast of Señor Sto. Niño.

Philogene Florita, Cebu Pop Music executive director, said this year's competition would be a unique one because of the variety of entries comprising pop, jazz, bossanova, Broadway-style, and love songs among others.

One song entry is entitled "Sabong" or cockfighting, which the Filipinos are particularly known for. Others include "Pobreng Ilusyonista," "Bisan Anino Lang," "Lihok Kabataan," "Pahimangno ni Nanay," "Kalandrakas," "Buhing Pangandoy," "Ikaw Unta," "Kausaban," "Puno sa Gugma," "Sugbuanon Ako" and "Bakho sa Anghel."

Florita said the festival is one way of promoting and preserving the Cebuano culture and language.

The event will also include the people's choice award, which enables the public to vote for their favorite entries through text messages. However, the award will have no bearing on the contest criteria.

Winners of the festival will get P150,000, P100,000 and P50,000 for the first, second and third, respectively. Being the finalists, the 12 entries have already received P15,000. - Garry B. Lao/LPM