Face & sound combined

A competition titled Your Face Sounds Familiar premiered over ABS-CBN last March 14 with Billy Crawford as host, and Sharon Cuneta, Gary Valenciano and Jed Madela as jurors. A singing and impersonation competition for celebrities, it is based on the Spanish version of the same name.

The Philippine version was first announced at a trade show for advertisers. In the show, eight celebrities will compete in a song-and-dance number while impersonating iconic performers. Each week, an “Iconator” will assign the artists the person they will impersonate. For 13 weeks, all contestants will compete for a cash prize, half of which will go to their chosen charity. The contestant with the highest points per week will become the weekly winner. The Top 4 contestants will compete for the public’s votes, and the one with the highest votes will be declared the winner.

The following are the celebrities who performed during the first week of the competition: Edgar Allan Guzman, Karla Estrada, Melai Cantiveros-Francisco, Maxene Magalona, Tutti Caringal, Jolina Magdangal, Nyoy Volante and Jay-R.

First to perform was Karla (mother of Daniel Padilla) who imitated Sharon, admitting to the audience that the Megastar had always been her idol. Next was Tutti of the band 6Cycle mind, who was assigned to copy Freddie Aguilar. Next was Nyoy’s turn, who did a Michael Jackson imitation while performing Thriller. To begin with, Nyoy’s choice of the King of Pop to imitate was exceedingly brave of him, since Michael was a singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer and actor rolled into one. The audience then called out to Gary V. to come down from the jury box and share his comments. Gary V. said Nyoy’s choice of Michael Jackson would be one of the most difficult to copy, since “you are copying both movements and singing.” Next was Maxene doing a Taylor Swift imitation, then Jay-R — called the King of R&B — imitating rock star Pepe Smith.

The following day, we were introduced to Melai, Jolina and Edgar Allan. Melai is from GenSan, an actress, comedian, host and the fifth Pinoy Big Brother big winner. On TV, Melai has done guestings from 2010 to the present, appearing in Maalaala Mo Kaya (MMK), It’s Showtime, ASAP, Banana Split, Honesto, Be Careful with My Heart and Two Wives, among many others. Melai had been assigned to copy Nora Aunor and she had the entire audience in stitches.

Next in line was Edgar Allan, an actor-comedian who gained popularity after becoming Mr. Pogi  2006 in Eat, Bulaga! on GMA 7. After transferring to ABS-CBN, he has appeared in MMK, Enchanted Garden, Habang May Buhay and won Best Lead Actor at the Golden Screen Awards and the Balanghai trophy for his appearance in Ligo Na U, Lapit Na Me. Edgar Allan was assigned to copy Usher that wowed both Gary V. and Sharon who said, “Tonight, my favorite interpreter is Edgar Allan.” Jolina, on the other hand, started her career on ABS-CBN’s Ang TV. She had her own brand of dolls and released several OPM song albums. Jolina was given Lady Gaga to copy.

It looks like Your Face Sounds Familiar will be another blockbuster based on the requests for more of this kind, and positive comments on the social media.

(E-mail your comments to [email protected] or text me at 0917-8991835.)