The New Vispop: Remixed, remastered and reimagined

CEBU, Philippines — Got a melody stuck in your head for a while now? Or words that made your heart throb so much these turned themselves into a song? It just might be your time to shine as songwriting competition Vispop opens its doors once more.

A songwriting campaign that calls on Visayan-speaking composers and music lovers to write top tier Visayan songs that speak of the current generation, Vispop by ArtistKo Multipurpose Cooperative continues to wave the banner for homegrown music and talent.

This time, Vispop is marching alongside the Sacred Heart School for Boys Batch 1985 Foundation, Inc. (the organization behind Binibining Cebu) whose projects are targeted to promote local arts, entertainment, talent, tourism and a sense of community – much like ArtistKo’s support for creative skills and talents of musicians and artists in Cebu.

“This time we are recognizing the role of music in shaping our community,” project chairperson Barney Borja began in a press conference at Oakridge Horizons for the brand new staging of Vispop.

“We don’t only want to raise funds but also be part of this historic step in promoting Bisaya music to a wide audience, inspire the songwriting community to further improve their craft,” added Borja, “and influence the greater Bisaya speaking audience to be proud of their mother tongue through the power of music.”

Creative director Kenneth Cobonpue admitted that Vispop will be a challenge since music is so much bigger than say, a beauty pageant.

“Behind every challenge is an opportunity. I’m sure we can do something very, very creative. Ang nakanindot aning Vispop, it allows us to really target Cebuano culture and raise it up for all to see and enjoy,” Cobonpue said.

The renowned furniture designer commended Vispop for their accomplishments and the “valuable and incredible” work that ArtistKo has put in. The collaboration between ArtistKo and Batch ‘85, with

Cebuano artistry and talent in the forefront of both their advocacies, opens a number of possibilities. Among their main goals is making Visayan music available to every Filipino.

“They have created these beautiful songs which are very relevant in the music culture today. Through this synergy, we can take this to the next level,” Cobonpue quipped.

Vispop has come a long way and is instrumental in the massive shift of appreciation for local music, transforming what once was thought of as “baduy” into a vibrant representation of the Bisaya identity.

Conceptualized in 2009 and first staged in 2013, Vispop has churned out hits like “Balay ni Mayang,” “Labyu Langga,” “Duyog” and “Buwag Balik,” among many others, not to mention breakthrough talents like Jewel Villaflores, Jerika Teodorico and Lourdes Maglinte.

In their last staging in 2017, Vispop’s music evolved into a spectrum boasting catchy, easy, friendly tunes as well as profound, intricate pieces of longing, frustration, joy and other complex themes that entered the Filipino music scene’s consciousness.

Already past craving the acknowledgement of its own people, it was Vispop’s 2017 goal to align themselves with OPM itself, almost becoming a genre altogether.

This 2019, Vispop eyes an even bigger stage after a year of rest.

The hiatus, says Vispop screening committee head Lorenzo “Insoy” Niñal, has allowed them to address certain concerns. The competition returns and pushes the envelope further with a staging they now call “The New Vispop.”

But Niñal reassures that Vispop has never left at all. Remixed, remastered and reimagined, the sixth staging of the competition enters a new era.

“We are back after a year of rest. Nakakita ta og mga tao nga willing to upgrade the competition. There’s a lot of promise with this partnership we have right now. Wala mi nawala, nipahuway lang siya kadiyot but we are back with people nga makapadako og makapalambo pa gyud sa Vispop,” Niñal said.

The Missing Filemon frontman explained that it is important to keep the wave going. And Vispop is a big wave, if not a current itself. The contest, he said, is an avenue for self-expression in its sincerest form, since participants are encouraged to use their native dialect.

While Bisaya is mainly used for conversation, and also in literature, ironically only a number of these speakers use the currency of their native tongue in the form Filipinos love very much – music. While appreciating the music of old is good, it’s also important for songwriters to make music that speak to their generation, and hence spark a certain identity.

“Mamatay ang language if nobody uses it. It’s a new generation, we need to give them a venue nga makapagawas sila sa ilang sentiments, experiences, longings and pain. Here’s a songwriting competition, using our own language,” Niñal said.

No stranger to changes – since Vispop is a change-maker itself – the contest opens itself to submissions from practically anywhere around the globe. Even previous Vispop entries that didn’t make the cut (so long as they haven’t been published anywhere) are welcome. Pieces are also not limited to Cebuano-Bisaya as it very much welcomes songs penned in variations of the Bisaya language so long as it can be understood by most.

Borja said that this is to encourage more songwriters to write more pieces and for them to grow unafraid of writing in Bisaya.

“Naa man ‘tay lain languages sa Visayas. We accept that. We are sensitive to nuances, that’s why it is Bisaya, not Cebuano pop,” Niñal explained.

As for content, he gives 80 percent Bisaya as a ballpark figure. In a way, songs with English words may apply, as long as the “spirit, concept, theme and language is prominently or majority of the lyrics is Bisaya.”

As Niñal puts it, you can’t limit music to language. Ultimately, it is in the discretion of the screening committee.

“Just be yourself. You are a Cebuano. You are Bisaya. Express yourself,” Vispop screening committee member Jojo Lopez advised interested songwriters.

Borja said that writers must keep on making songs since the craft requires mastery and constant exercise. He added that it wouldn’t hurt to send a more polished demo.

Niñal reminded hopefuls to follow contest rules and guidelines, noting that while taking creative liberties and being true to your work and thus yourself is good, contests require a certain mindfulness for guidelines.

Call for submissions began yesterday and will end on May 7. Only six finalists will be given the chance to get their music recorded.

Apart from producing the track, Vispop will also be creating music and lyric videos for the finalists.

This year’s finals night will unfold on July 27 at the Oakridge Pavilion where the new Vispop champion will take home P50,000, while the second and third placers will receive P30,000 and P20,000, respectively.

With the evolution, Niñal stressed that at the end of the day, Vispop is overall essentially a campaign rooted in maintaining and improving Bisaya artistry and music, pushing it ever forward and making sure there are people who write and sing in Bisaya.

“Vispop is a campaign, let’s not forget that. We have workshops and seminars to teach and help songwriters in their craft especially to write in Cebuano,” he said. “Campus tours, if we can have that. Post-finals, we also have activities. We want to make this a yearlong activity, with the finals night as highlight.”