A SONG about a brokenhearted yet hopeful romantic topped the Visayas Music Awards (VizMA), besting other nine finalists in the music competition that was held at the Oakridge Pavilion in Mandaue City on Saturday night, July 27, 2019.
Freelance graphic and visual artist Ferdinand Aragon, 24, brought home the bacon as VizMA’s first-ever grand champion with his song “Matag Piraso (Each Piece),” which was not based on his personal heartache, saying he wrote it with a concept in his mind just like some fiction writers.
The songwriter, who sang his winning piece live, said he was not just happy about his triumph, he was also proud to be part of an event that showcased Bisaya music in the country and in the world.
Promoting Bisaya music is an “advocacy in our region,” said Aragon.
Other winning songs included “Balitaw,” which got the second prize and was composed by Yan Durado with lyrics provided by his poet-father Adonis and performed by Georg Laurente and Dane Smith; and “Lingi-a,” which took the third prize and was written by Melay Libres.
VizMA received 483 entries for its first foray in promoting Bisaya music and homegrown talents. It was organized by the Sacred Heart School for Boys Batch 1985 Foundation Inc. and endorsed by the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas.
Max Surban and Msgr. Rudy Villanueva, represented by Father Benedict Tao, were given the Bahandi Lifetime Achievement Award for their contributions to Visayan music.
Aside from accepting the award, Surban also entertained the crowd with his jokes and performed his popular song, “Baleleng.”
Talking about his winning piece, Aragon experimented for the first time with ballad when he wrote “Matag Paraiso,” saying he often writes songs in the vein of indie folk.
“I specifically wrote ‘Matag Piraso’ for VizMa. I really challenged myself to write something new for this event. With God’s help, it won VizMa,” he said.
Aragon will be joining this year’s Himig Handog, a national music competition by ABS-CBN and Star Music. He will also be guesting on ABS-CBN’s Sunday noontime show ASAP for its Linggo Ng Musikang Pilipino (Filipino Music Week), representing Visayas on July 28.
Before the 10 VizMA finalists performed their songs, Cebuana singer-songwriter Karencitta warmed up the stage with her hit songs “Cebuana” and “BamBamBam”.
The finals night was hosted by comedienne-singer Giselle Sanchez and Jonathan Cimafranca.
Each song performance from the finalists garnered different emotions and reactions from members of the audience. Videos of how Visayan music came to life were shown on a big screen.
Special awards were given to outstanding finalists in different categories. The VizMA 2019 Sun Texters’ Choice award went to “Hit and Run,” which was composed by Neil Sarada with lyrics provided by John Peterson Villarin. The song was interpreted by Chingkie Maylon, Jake Batiencela and Markee.
Gail Blanco received the best interpreter award for providing the vocal chops for “Sama Lang Kanimo,” which was composed by Fr. Reymund Quito. (MICHAEL REY M. CORTES, CONTRIBUTOR)