THE Cebuano, whose YouTube video that was posted in 2014 showed him singing Michael Bolton's "To Love Somebody," has joined ABS-CBN It's Showtime's "Tawag ng Tanghalan" on Monday, February 6.
Roland "Bunot" Abante from Cebu was declared the day's winner, after he got a final score of 93.8 percent. He defeated the defending champion, Adelene Rabulan, with his rendition of Bolton's "Said I Love You...But I Lied."
In a video presentation shown during the show, Abante said that he joined the competition because he wants to continue his singing career.
"Sumali ako sa Tawag ng Tanghalan dahil naniniwala ako na hindi nagtatapos sa pagiging viral ang pangarap ko. Gusto ko pang ipagpatuloy ang pag-unlad ng career ko sa pag-awit," he said.
Abante was first discovered in 2014 when a video of him singing Bolton's "To Love Somebody" went viral online. As of 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, February 6, the video already has 4,199,110 views.
Abante returned to the show Tuesday to defend his title.
Under Tawag ng Tanghalan's rules, a contestant has to win five times to be able to advance to the semifinals. (LMY/SunStar Philippines)