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| Cebu's reon (Noah Alejandre and Reanne Borela), grand winners of PhilPop 2020 Songwriting Festival with the theme #MusicBreakingBorders (Image Source: Rappler/Warner Music Philippines) |
Conveying the intricacies of romantic relationships amidst language and cultural differences, "Suyo" bested fourteen entries from Metro Manila, North Luzon, South Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao clusters to be hailed as the Best Song of the 2020 PhilPop Music Festival wherein its Finals Night was held virtually online last December 20, 2020 (Sunday). Cebu's Noah Alejandre and Reanne Barela, who composed and interpreted the winning song under the monicker reon, was eventually able to win home Php1 million in cash.
Aikee's "Bestiny", interpreted by Kevin Yadao and Junior Crown, and Sherwin Fugoso's "Pahuway", sung by Ferdinand Aragon who composed the PhilPop 2018 runner-up song "Di Ko Man", emerged as second and third place winning Php500,000 and Php200,000, respectively. On the other hand, a special award called the Smart People's Choice Award was handed out to the standouts in each of the five clusters based on the cumulative number of streams and views on Spotify and YouTube. These include "Kasadya", composed and interpreted by XT On Sax with Jay-Ar Vaño for Mindanao; "Suyo", composed and interpreted by reon for Visayas; "Para Kay Catriona", composed by Kulas Basilonia and interpreted by I Belong To The Zoo for South Luzon; "Balikan", composed by Lolito Go and interpreted by Benj Manalo for North Luzon; and "Huling Sayaw", composed by Kian Dionisio and interpreted by Nyoy Volante for Metro Manila.
With #MusicBreakingBarriers as its latest tagline, PhilPop is committed to champion the diversity and global appeal of Filipino music across the country. All entries participated in this year's songwriting competition were chosen for their outstanding contribution to the contemporary Filipino pop canon and its potential of bringing the unique value of Filipino culture and experience to the international music arena. Despite the challenges of the new normal, the country's premier songwriting competition managed to step up its game by mounting a virtual Finals Night that honors this year's finest in homegrown pop songwriting.
PhilPop 2020 kicked off with a week-long series of online events featuring the fifteen finalists. Connect, a digital media agency based in the Philippines, produced a five-episode digital documentary series entitled "PhilPop 2020 Podcast" which puts the spotlight on the finalists per cluster and the stories behind every song. During the week-long promo spot, the finalists were also guested at Wish 107.5 FM's Connect to talk about their respective entries in the competition. A day before the Finals Night, PhilPop 2020 has also debuted the music videos of its finalists which are available at Warner Music Philippines' official YouTube channel.
An initiative of the PhilPop Music Foundation with Manny V. Pangilinan (MVP) as Chairman, the PhilPop 2020 Songwriting Festival is co-presented by Smart Communications, MERALCO, MAYNILAD, Warner Music Philippines, MultiSys and Connect Productions.
