Tumada hurdles first round of singing tilt

When you catch the next elimination round of Saipan Grand Hotel’s Saipan Singing Superstar and enter the contest venue, Club V, prepare to be warped into a broadcast studio of one of the most popular reality competition show in the United State, “American Idol.”

Last Wednesday’s first elimination round of the islandwide singing competition saw the audience transported to a TV broadcast studio as eventologist Oscar Yema made the singing contest a grand TV production.

Yema used two video cameras to capture the show’s various angles. Called “Saipan Singing Superstar,” the stage for the show also mimicked the setup of the top-rating competition program, “American Idol,” where competition host, Brad Ruszala, interviewed the contestants. After each performance, Ruszala would ask the judges for their comments before going into a commercial break.

The competition also mimicked how the contestants were judged, with actual commentaries by the three judges: Keynotes’ Rynnette Polistico, Jonathan Grayson, and Angelo Villagomez.

Grayson and Villagomez, in particular, sounded like Simon Cowell in their comments about the candidates’ performance.

“I don’t speak Tagalog, but I based my points on your singing,” said Grayson to one of the contestants last Wednesday after a handful of them rendered Filipino songs.

Yema said at least one the judges would be a mainstay in the roster of judges every competition night. He added that the competition would be aired on TV soon, “So watch out for it,” he said.

First elimination round results

Fourteen-year-old Kagman High School student Angel Tumada reigned supreme in last Wednesday’s first elimination round, while 31-year-old Paul Medina came second, followed by 20-year-old Cherry San Gabriel.

Tumada also garnered the most number of texters during contest night as she was also named PTI’s Text Star of the Night. Contestant Ronnie De Belen was Urban Outlet Star of the Night.

Other contestants last Wednesday were Rachelle B. Rivera, Aderwyn Jade Gomez, Carlane T. Castro, Victoria Brown, Jenalin Sunga, Miriam Buatis, Ronnie De Belen, Arvin Bacani, Edgardo Santos, and Roy A. De Guzman.

Tonight will be the first elimination round for the kids’ category to be held at the Saipan Grand Hotel Lobby at 6pm.