The participants had a photo-op after the event. Photo by Mark Louie Balladares
Screams and laughter filled the Arrupe Hall as seven students bravely took the stage for this year’s Karaoke Challenge yesterday.
Erle Sabrine Seares, a fourth year AB English student, was named as the champion of Karaoke Challenge: Your Face Sounds Familiar Edition after belting out the hit songs of Celine Dion. Nathalie Marcelino as Beyoncé and Debbie Shane Getingan as Katy Perry on the other hand emerged the first and second runners-up, respectively.
The theme for this year’s event, which was organized by the General Assembly of Class Presidents (GACP), was a take on Your Face Sounds Familiar, a popular television show, with Ash Castillo, Neka Bernardino, and Errol Venecario as the hosts.
The judges were Cresilda Calero, Physical Education Department chairperson, Patrick Cavan, Sub-Dominant 7 moderator, and Atty. Edmund Galvez, AdDU Glee Club moderator and the Office of Student Affairs (OSA) asst. director.
Before the program, each contestant was already assigned with a specific international artist to impersonate. Ingrid Barcelona started off the event as she performed Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” while trying to eat as many spicy hotdogs as she can.
Nathalie Marcelino was second to perform with Beyoncé’s huge hit, “Love on Top”. Her challenge was to eat an entire cake until the end of the song. The crowd cheered for Marcelino as she tried to hit the high notes while she stuffed her mouth with cake.
Next up was Debbie Getingan’s performance of Katy Perry’s “Thinking of You”. The name of the challenge was “May asim ka pa ba?” wherein Getingan had to consume green mangoes dipped in shrimp paste and spicy vinegar until the end of the song.
Meanwhile, Erle Seares’ performance of Celine Dion’s “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now” had the crowd cheering and laughing as she gobbled up bananas and still belted out the high notes.
Sabina Tungpalan followed as she performed Nicki Minaj’s famous pop-rap song, “Super Bass”.
Her challenge was to hula-hoop despite being tickled. “Dapat nikaon nalang ko,” said Tungpalan jokingly after accomplishing her challenge.
The crowd also cheered for MJ Heje III as he sang Maroon 5’s hit, “Misery”, and imitated the band’s heartthrob lead vocalist Adam Levine. His challenge was to transfer grapes to another bowl using only his mouth.
The final contestant was Joselle Geralde as Ariana Grande. Geralde sang the artist’s popular tune, “Break Free”, while eating as many polvoron as she can.
The top three contestants who qualified for the last round were Getingan, Seares, and Marcelino. Getingan kicked off the last round with Katy Perry’s “Firework”. Her challenge was to transfer balloons from one box to another.
Next up was Seares’ performance of Celine Dion’s “All By Myself” in which she had to locate a one-peso coin inside each different boxes with various contents.
The last presentation was from Marcelino with her take on Beyoncé’s powerful pop ballad, “Listen”. Her task was to locate the grapes in a bowl filled with flour and transfer it to another bowl.
In the end, it was Erle Seares who took home the championship title for this year’s Karaoke Challenge: Your Face Sounds Familiar Edition.
“Lingaw siya kay last year naman gud nako diri sa school kaya gusto nako na maging meaningful ang akong experience, that’s why I joined the Karaoke Challenge,” said Seares after she was asked about her experience in the contest.