Denise is YFSF 2 grand champion

MANILA, Philippines - The second season of Your Face Sounds Familiar (YFSF) ended on a high note with Denise Laurel as grand champion. It was a big win for Denise, who bested favorites like Sam Concepcion (third) and Kean Cipriano (fifth). Michael Pangilinan came a strong second, while KZ Tandingan was fourth.

Denise did not come out a winner in the weekly show. Throughout the season, she did challenging impersonations of foreign and local celebrities — Jennifer Lopez, Christina Aguilera, Alicia Keys, Ne-Yo, Lea Salonga, Thalia, Jed Madela, Toni Braxton, Gloria Estefan, Imelda Papin and Jinky Vidal of Freestyle.

Yet, Denise won in the phase where it mattered the most. Impersonating Beyoncé Knowles with Crazy in Love, Denise bagged the P2M grand prize, with P1M going to her chosen charity.

Hosted by Billy Crawford, Your Face Sounds Familiar provided a double treat to viewers week after week. You don’t just see celebrities performing. You witness celebrities copying, imitating and close to cloning fellow celebrities.

Guys can even come out as girls. And celebrities can perform two different persons at a time, the “magic” of cameras. No wonder, the ABS-CBN show is much awaited and widely watched.

A week before the finals, five contestants, instead of four, were announced to compete in Your Face Sounds Familiar, since Denise and Michael tied for the fourth place. Sam, Kean and KZ completed the roster. Those who didn’t make it to the finals were Eric Nicolas, Cacai Bautista and Myrtle Sarroza. The eight participating celebrities this season were all singers.

Last Saturday and Sunday, Your Face Sounds Familiar aired live from the Newport Performing Arts Theater of Resorts World Manila. The finalists gave their best performances individually. Only, the jurors — Sharon Cuneta, Gary Valenciano and Jed Madela — did not need to vote. Instead, the winner was decided through text votes.

Sam was sexy when he donned leather pants and went shirtless and sang Justin Bieber’s Boyfriend. It was the second time Sam performed topless, the first time was when he did Dong Abay of Yano with Banal na Aso, Santong Kabayo and emerged winner in the weekly race.

Kean gyrated a la Ricky Martin in Livin’ La Vida Loca.

KZ was a riot when she impersonated Lady Gaga with Born This Way. Meanwhile, Michael Pangilinan also brought the house down when he went shirtless to sing Sugar a la Maroon 5 vocalist, Adam Levine.

Two weeks before the finals, the contestants performed a duet with Season 1 participants. Winners were Sam and Jolina Magdangal, who did a powerful duet of The Prayer, impersonating Andrea Bocceli and Celine Dion.

First season’s champion, Melai Cantiveros, joined the second season as a regular talent impersonating different celebrities every week, although not in competition. From Madonna and Mommy Dionisia Pacquiao, Melai also amusingly came in as Doris Bigornia, Kuya Kim Atienza, Vilma Santos and even Chucky the evil Doll.

Throughout the season, guest judges were invited to pinch hit for the resident jurors who had prior commitments — Boy Abunda, Randy Santiago, Rico Puno, Karla Estrada, Teacher Gorcelle Dapat-Sy of G-Force and Annie Quintos of The CompanY.

Teachers Annie and Georcelle were also seen in the show every week, helping the contestants in the voice and choreography, respectively. Annie is a member of the award-winning vocal sextet The CompanY, while Georcelle is the founder of G-Force, who provides choreography to the contestants.