Pinoy Dream Academy 9th gala night is all about counterpointing. Judges were Louie Ocampo, Lani Misalucha and Gerard Salonga. So first things first, what is counterpointing? Base on what I understand; this is singing two songs with almost the same notes. It would be hard for the two singers, since there is a big possibility that either one would end up singing the note of the other one. Bunny opened up with an Ogie Alcasid, Huwag Kang Mawawala. You can notice two points, one is that she really is sick, and the other one is that she is a good singer. She managed to sing even thought you can feel that the pain is there. At least this time, the voice is okay that it she didn’t sing out of tune. I pity her because she really is a good singer and I’m sure she can give the top 3 girls, Zel, Laarni and Poy a run for their money. But that cyst has to go for her to move on. Sen’s opening was really bad and it was very much evident. He has a good material, Martin’s Say that you love me, but that opening was such a bother. Bunny and Sen had a good combination, it was hard for Sen, but hey he managed to do the counterpointing and it was good. Though it was not a very strong performance but you can feel the chemistry between them and that they don’t seem like they are trying to outdo each other. I had fun listening and watching them. Not unlike the performance of Miguel and Zel. Miguel did Stay Awake, but hey I nearly fall asleep with his performance, and I managed to stay awake during their counterpointing because it’s like listening to two different radio stations at the same time. Though Miguel lessen the strong facial features, I can’t seem to connect with him while watching him. Liezel did Sometimes a Love goes wrong. And boy, it was a disaster. I feel that the chipmunks with their high notes shouting at me. Her voice didn’t fit the song. It seems that she was tired because she can’t offer something new. Every week she just gave the same performance. Their counterpointing was worst, I thought that they had perfected their combination earlier that the other teams. But it seems that they lack practice. I know for sure that Liezel would not get to Top 3 if the other scholars would perform better. Miguel was even better than Liezel during their counterpointing, but I know that she is a favorite among the judges, they would find it in their heart to just give her a low score, being a top scholar for several times before. Poy sang next with Forever’s not enough of Sarah Geronimo. Her voice was really good; I just don’t like her outfit and her hair. She seems to be singing like a cabaret song. Moreso, the outfit emphasizes that she doesn’t have waist and that she was just straight. But she should know and study more on how she would hit the high notes without sounding like she was shouting, because it comes as if she can’t hit the notes. Van sang Maybe, and he really shows big improvement on the way he sings. Though there are some parts which he cannot hit, he is still getting better. Also, he should try to make his singing a little louder. During his counterpointing with Poy, he was easily shadowed by her big voice. But then again, the way their voices blend together was good. A Roselle Nava song, Dahil Mahal na Mahal kita was sang by Cris, though her rendition was not as powerful as the original singer. It was good because her voice now shows the power it can give, though she still needs to be confident on high notes. It sounded so raw and as if she might be out of tune on that high note. Inaki was really worst at ballads, doing Kunin mo na ang lahat sa akin. His voice is really not as powerful as Bugoys so he really should be careful with his song choice. He can’t sing ballads, but his voice is really for those non-conventional songs. Pumiyak pa nga siya in one of his lines. The counterpointing with Cris was a disaster, it seem like a circus. Good thing, the next number was Laarni and Bugoy so it is something to look forward to. I didn’t like the way Laarni played with the notes of On the Wings of Love. It seems she is still thinking how she would sing the next lines. Though it really sounded good, there was something lacking on her opening. Bugoy sang Back at One, and of course, what else is new. A good performance, he looks like he is in his elements that night. The duet with Laarni was very good! Fantastic! What I only noticed during their counterpointing is sometimes, I cannot hear his voice because it seems like fading while Laarni is singing with great gusto! I really enjoyed their number; you can see and hear that the audience liked it. Laarni was really a good singer, and this night I like her performance, even the makeup, the hairdo and the gown she wore.
Liezel was the one that Poy had to sing a duet for. Too bad, they both gave a mediocre number. A very boring and disaster number from the two scholars who have always been at the top. Pumiyok pa si Liezel and they don’t have the chemistry. Their notes do not jive, a very forgettable performance. After that they announced the top 3: Poy (what else is new!), Laarni (who was very excited to belong at top 3!) and Bugoy (expected by many!) And finally! Laarni was the top scholar for the week, even though her grade didn’t make it to 9, still the 8.97 score she had make her the top scholar for the week. And she was excited! Good thing that the judges finally take a look at her. Hehe, it was fun seeing Laarni belonging to Top 3 and not seeing Liezel to be one of them because she really didn’t gave a fine performance.
Bunny was the latest scholar who was expelled. She got 39.65% of text votes while Sen got 60.35%. She can’t sing on her farewell performance, but at least she can now get to rest and have her cyst be taken care of. I really like her sing pa naman, because I like the way she projects during her performance and the quality of her voice. Chivas, her husband was in the audience along with Biatch Bea.
The next one that was announced was the Bottom four. Sen got 6.30, Inaki got 7.27, Cris having 7.43 while Miguel 7.50. The dream mentors choose to save Sen and that was a good choice. I wanted to see Liezel’s reaction when her name would be called on the Bottom four, good thing there are 4 scholars who sang bad. I just hope that Sen would perform really better next time.
