By Danilo P. Padua, PhD
Incredible, amazing, fantastic, wonderful, impressive, incomparable, epic, angelic, shocking, breathtaking, astonishing, perfect, magician, fascinating, gorgeous, intense, beautiful, mind-blowing, superhuman, unique, powerful, awesome, appealing, surprising, touching, unbelievable, impossible, terrible, wowowow…
The description is almost endless. Some words may apply to different World Heritage sites such the Eiffel Tower of Paris completed in 1889 as a centerpiece of that year’s World Fair, the Taz Mahal in India fully completed in 1653, Great Wall of China finished in the 7th century B.C., and the Pyramids of Egypt built even earlier.
But the descriptions are not meant for any old, priceless structures built by anybody. They are accolades for an outstanding Filipino singer, Marcelito Pomoy, who won one edition of the Pinoy Got talent search. The same singer who swept the judges of America Got Talent-champions edition, off their feet but fell short of winning the search.
Years earlier, I was searching YouTube for Christian hymns to use as my music before sleeping. Along the way, Vlog on Pomoy pop up. That was Feb 2017 yet. I was more than pleasantly surprised to hear Pomoy sing The Prayer, a two-some by the Italian great singer Andrea Bocelli and the famous Canadian singer, Celine Dion who won the Eurovision song contest which I had the opportunity to listen to live, sometime in 1988.
From the first Vlog where there were reactors, I had heard numerous following Vlogs involving thousands of reactors from around the world such as Americans, Canadians, Englishmen, Germans, Italians, Koreans, Indians, Thais, Dutch, South Americans, and many more.
I consider it a good opportunity for me to share some of them. I may not be a musician but I do love music.
Music Vloggers around the world are so fund of featuring Filipino singers, be it in singing contests-local and international, in local malls, in private houses, on roadsides, in barangay fiestas, etc. They are amazed on the great abundance of very good, talented singers in the Philippines. They are even jokingly asking, what we Filipinos eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner, so they could emulate us and may become good singers, too?
The Prayer was sung as separate solo versions (English by C.Dion, and Italian by A. Bocelli) that was featured in a film in 1998. The two singers sung the two versions together in 2011, and it was released as CD version shortly. In 2015 alone the version of the two singers garnered 191.4 million views. And the rest is history.
Now comes Marcelito Pomoy, the Filipino wonder boy. When he recorded The Prayer in the Philippines, then his versin was uploaded in YouTube, many were surprised, amazed and thrilled by it such that many Vloggers around the world featured it in their own Volgs complete with their reactions. The reactions came from voice coaches, singers themselves, and music enthusiasts among others.
Many of their reactions are summarized or given some space here.
How is it humanly possible for one person to sing beautifully a song with male and female portions with ease? That was one of the commonly-asked questions. They tried to explain but many said it can not be explained. Here are some funny answers
“Am confused. I don’t know if this man is man or a woman. Can you blame me if am confused?”
“Two people in one came from Mars”. And, “He ate two people, one male, one female”
A voice coach said, “I understand voice control, but that man is doing it in a different level, amazing”
Those who hear it for the first time are immediately blown away by Pomoy’s singing at the beginning. It’s their belief that it is beyond talent. “No words to describe the performance – the softness, power, elegance, its simply overpowering. It’s the most angelic voice I’ve heard”.
Some are really memerized saying, “I have never, never seen a performance like that. The best singing performance I ever heard in my life. The way he sings, according to them is so clear, so smooth, so skilled. The deep voice of a man; soft voice of a woman – unimaginable and very impressive. Pomoy is perfectly singing those voices in one song. It’s like watching a 4-minute opera. Who needs Bocelli and Dion? He is singing the rich tenor of Bocelli, and doing the vibrato that Celine Dion is doing. If you close your eyes as you listen, you will believe that there are two different people singing”
The vloggers/reactors are so enthused about Pomoy’s ability to glide smoothly and quickly from one female voice to the male voice without flinching, or any pause, or taking a breather. Also from changing from high frequency to low-frequency, with face very calm, almost seamlessly, like a machine.
They are even more impressed with Marcelito’s ability not only to sing the male-female voices but also two languages-English and Italian with efficiency in the same song although they are not his own tongues. That’s why they call him a magician, like Efren Bata Reyes of Billiards.
Am sure many have seen the Vlogs that I am referring to but am pretty sure many others have not seen them.
I am not tiring to hear the rendition of Pomoy of the The Prayer, just like others who have sworn the same. As many say, “I’m breathless listening to this marvelous guy, I really love listening to him”. Because of this, many reactors are one in saying that he will become famous in America.
Actually, Marcelito’s Power of Love, Beauty and the Beast renditions, among others are also favorites of vloggers around the globe. If you have not heard yet the subject renditions and the reactions, why not try to see them in YouTube. You will feel proud of being a Filipino.
Marcelito Pomoy shocked the world. **
