MANILA, Philippines - Christian band Iktus—originally Ichtus or “fish†in Greek—was declared winner of the Sun Broadband Quest inter-school band competition held recently at the Music Museum in Greenhills.
Representing Christian International School, the band is composed of Carizza Panaligan (vocals), Augusto Mendoza (guitar), Andrei Panaligan (Bass) and Andrew Panaligan (Drums). Iktus, which finds inspiration from Rivermaya, Silent Sanctuary, Sugarfree, Itchyworms, Urbandub, Paramore, Flyleaf, Switchfoot, and Run Kid Run, covered Yeng Constantino’s “Pag-Ibig†and then sang an original “Wag Na†to the delight of their fans and the crowd.
The band went home with P150,000 and a P20,000 gift certificate from JB Music but more importantly, they received a record deal with MCA Universal and guaranteed gigs.
Meanwhile, all-girl band Bad Hair Day from the Far Eastern University was judged 1st runner up. Performing Paramore’s “Still Into You†and their original “FriendZonedâ€, the band composed of Avie Maria (vocals), Jeysa Trasportes (guitar), Van Bulan (guitar), Nicole Saludar (bass), and Xiao Disi (drums) received P50,000.
Second runner-up went to all-male group Baby Boomers, a band that has members from the Philippine Women’s College of Davao, Brokenshire College, Holy Cross College, and Ateneo de Manila University. Jake Nuere (vocals), Carlo Cabase (drums), Mark Abella (lead guitar), and Carlo Dureza (bass) brought home P25,000.
A special award went to Jack N Poy, which consists of Meio (vocals), Neil Lorena (guitar), TJ Meneses (bass), Don Uy (keyboards) and Johann Kwan (drums), for having the most supporters.
Launched in 2012 through the partnership between Sun Broadband and MCA Music, Inc., the search for talented amateur and unsigned bands culminated with the top 10 performing two songs each during the grand finals. Judges for the finals were Francis Reyes, Sammy Samaniego, Neph Denosta, and Francis Guevarra. The night also saw performances from Tanya Markova, The Oktaves, Sabrina, and Chicosci.