Michelle Villaraza: Saipan Singing Superstar champ

It was a night of glitz and glamour—a shining moment for 25-year-old Michele Villaraza, who bested 15 other grand finalists to become the new Saipan Singing Superstar.

As the champion of the singing contest’s second edition, Villaraza won for herself $1,000 cash, $475 worth of facial care from Macatangay DermeHealth and a bottle of Alize. She also won a brand new cell phone from PTI for being the PTI Text Star. She garnered a total of 16,279 text votes from her supporters.

Villaraza, lead vocalist for the Soulful Acoustic band and an employee of Villaroyal Pawnshop and RNV Construction, was crowned the champion last night at the Club V of Saipan Grand Hotel. Her victory came after a grueling elimination process, during which 40 percent of the criteria were the text vote results, while 60 percent were from a series of performances.

Villaraza’s winning piece was a Lea Salonga original titled Journey, complete with a multi-media inspired production number featuring a video presentation of her performances during the eliminations and the Week 1 to 3 of the grand finals series. Before that, she came onstage singing an acoustic version of Aerosmith’s I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing.

Oscar Yema, the director of the show, said, he is very happy with the outcome. “All 16 contestants did a great job in showing that they are truly deserving to be stars,” he added.

Marvin Espeleta garnered the second spot with a hip-hop number, complete with backup dancers occupying the whole stage of Club V and even on the dance floor. Espeleta brought down the house with loud cheers from his fans and supporter. He placed third in the PTI Text Star Category, garnering a total of 11,101 text votes. He was also given a special award as the Most Promising Male Star.

Charie Ramos got the 3rd place trophy and the Female Concert Star. Although she didn’t have elaborate sets and props, her simple black gown was enough ornament, her golden voice captivating the crowd who fell silent as she sang.

It was the same case with the fourth placer, Janee Babauta. The youngest among the top six contestant performed solo on stage, boasting of a voice and the looks of a superstar. She also has the fans, winning 2nd place in the PTI Text Star category with 14, 325 votes.

Gigi Hernandez, the recipient of the Production Number Hall of Fame, surprised the audience with a mini-concert performance—a mellow song with children as backup dancers followed by an upbeat song and backup dancers to complete the routine.

The production number that got the most applause was the Greased Lighting-inspired performance of Ricky Custodio, recipient of the Mr. Heartthrob award and 6th placer. Custodio rode a Harley Davidson on stage for a dramatic entrance. He also got the PTI Text Star Hall of Fame award for topping the text votes for three weeks.

The entire production featured a live camera backstage, with the show’s host Brad Ruszala doing one-on-one interviews with each contestant. A split screen was on the projector, courtesy of Digital Motion Video Production.

Ruszala also did an impromptu song number with a live band. Other productions numbers featured a dramatic entrance on a carousel and high-energy dance numbers from the backup dancers and the contestants.

The Saipan Singing Superstar Awards night was a culminating event, but is also the start of future variety shows featuring the champions of the singing contest.[B][I] (PR)[/I][/B]