Robbery At The PPS Grand Showdown Last Sunday…

…and it didn’t happen at the Araneta Coliseum’s parking lot. It took place right on stage, in front of a TV audience of millions, when host Regine Velasquez’s announced that Gerald Santos is the winner of Pinoy Pop Superstar Season 2.

What really ticks me off is that he won over Aicelle Santos, who’s probably, from a musical standpoint, one of the most versatile finalists ever in any Pinoy singing contest, past or present.

I’ve heard from friends that they switched their TVs off as soon as the first round ended, believing that Aicelle will win hands down; the other finalists were simply just no competition for her. Imagine their eyes almost popping out of their sockets as soon as I broke the news to them yesterday morning.

During the Final Two showdown, Gerald and Aicelle both sang a Danny Tan composition entitled “Close To Where You Are”. Throughout Gerald’s performance, I kept on wondering how someone who’s so weak vocally ever reached the finals. In a performance that was so devoid of life, you could barely hear him sing over the band. As a matter of fact, I think he flubbed one whole stanza, drowned by all the instruments accompanying his song.

Aicelle’s turn was accompanied by the same decibel level, but her lovely alto just soared above the rather loud band, and made the song sound like an already established hit. Despite being an alto in a country whose general idea of a great singer is someone who can out-scream everybody else (watch all those Sunday variety shows and you’ll see what I mean), Aicelle hit the highest notes of the rather complexly-arranged contest piece with the greatest of ease, without resorting to the screaming and shrieking tactics Regine et.al. are known for.

Yet she lost. Why?

It just boggles the mind that despite Regine’s repetitive declarations that any special awards and rankings Gerald and Aicelle got before the Final Two showdown don’t count, that the decision who wins would be based solely on their rendition of the final song, Gerald still came out ahead, pathetic performance notwithstanding. Going into the finals, Gerald had always been a crowd favorite, simply because he is a likeable, down-to-earth kid, that his singing is as simple as can be, and that he has the benefit of a sob story, just like almost everyone who joins any talent search nowadays.

The judges succumbed to the classic “rooting for the underdog” mentality. That’s what did Aicelle in. Aicelle was clearly a cut apart from the rest, and that has proven to be her undoing. Being extremely talented in this part of the world has become a liability. Lea Salonga would know a thing or two about that, since she had to prove herself in a much bigger stage before she could win any sort of following here.

Gerald’s win just inspired me to audition for the upcoming Philippine Idol on ABC-5. I can carry a tune, just like Gerald. And I’ll have a sob story, just like Gerald. However, that sob story would be of the most pitiable sort, something along the lines of “my father put out his cigarette butts on my butt” or “my uncle made me do the “Body Language” dance while his drinking buddies watched”. With that, becoming the very first “Philippine Idol” would be a cinch. After all, winners will be decided solely by the Pinoy popular vote, the same Pinoy popular vote that put Erap in power and drove GMA to conspire with Garci and steal the presidency from Fernando Poe Jr.

There’s just no justice in the world.