Episode 200/ Aired July 19

Award winning composer Jungee Marcelo and singer/actress Rachel Alejandro returned as guest judges to another challenging night at ASOP.

First off was James Vincent Dizon’s composition “Sa’yo lang Natagpuan” that talks about turning one’s life around with God’s help. Dizon actually based his work from his own story of loss and spiritual redemption.  Growing up in a broken family Dizon contemplated suicide at one point until a friend saved him by inviting him to church where he found clarity and a new meaning in life.

JUDGES of ASOP July 20, 2015 Episode
Mon Del Rosario, Doktor Musiko, certified hitmaker
Rachel Alejandro, veteran OPM solo artist
Jungee Marcelo, veteran award-winning composer (Photoville International)

WEEKLY FINALS WINNER: SONG ENTRY: “Sa ‘Yo Lang Natagpuan”
COMPOSER: James Vincent Dizon
INTERPRETER: Maki Ricafort (Photoville International)

WEEKLY FINALS CONTESTANT: SONG ENTRY: “Our God Is Love”
COMPOSER: Francisco Trance Jr.
INTERPRETER: Remy Luntayao (Photoville International)

WEEKLY FINALS CONTESTANT: SONG ENTRY: “Ihahayag Ko”
COMPOSER: Jimmy Jurado
INTERPRETER: Rodante Boton (Photoville International)

“Sa’yo lang Natagpuan” was impeccably performed by multi-talented musician Maki Ricafort.  Judge Jungee liked how the songs’s story transitioned from very dark to very light and optimistic.  Judge Rachel thought the song was beautiful and loved the fact that Dizon injected it with words from the scripture. Resident judge “Doc” Mon del Rosario found the song commercially appealing and technically strong.  The only flaw for Doc would be some parallelism issues with certain word choices.

Next entry was “Our God is Love” from returning composer Francisco Trance Jr. and performed by Remy Luntayao.  Just like the previous entry, Trance also quoted the Bible, specifically 1Corinthians 13:4.

The song’s arrangement had a 60’s sounding vibe with an upbeat tempo. Judge Rachel found the lyrics a bit too cliché.   Jungee had a problem with how Trance shuffled the Bible quote and took it out of context.

The final song was “Ihahayag Ko” written by radiologist songwriter Jimmy Jurado Jr and performed by Rodante Boton.  All three judges were uncertain about the entry’s unusual melodic structure. Doc Mon suggested standardizing the length of melodic phrases to achieve recall.  Rachel also found the unpredictable direction of the melody confusing at first but was really pleased how everything seemed come together at the chorus.

Eventually, with a score of 91.33% the weekly title went to James Vincent Dizon for his entry “Sa’yo lang Natagpuan”.  Dizon will have to face July’s best next week for a shot at the Grand Finals.