Music Review : VISPOP 2.0

VISPOP 2.0 just concluded last Tuesday June 24, 2014. With “Labyu Langga” by Jerika Teodorico winning first prize while the 2nd prize went to the song, “ Kasikas” by Johnever Canlom. Third prize went to “Dili Pa Panahon” by Kenneth Corvera.

VISPOP 2.0 1st Prize Winner Jerika Teodorika

If I wanted to go personal and stick to my genre which is rock music, I would have wanted “ Habak” by Gasser Perez to win. The song presented a new sound to the Vispop scene and also is a good rocking song. But I also knew that it would not win.

Just getting the clue from the criteria that the Vispop winner should be radio friendly and from the title .Vis – “Pop” itself, it only meant that the winner had to be commercially appealing than the other songs.

So if I would shift my perspectives and start thinking pop, I would also not want “Labyu Langga” by Jerica Teodorico to win. I would have gone for “Dili Pa Panahon” by Kenneth Corvera or “Intergalactic Gugma” by Keith Dinauto and Kaye Dinauto.

For me, “Labyu Langga” sounds close to last year’s “Balay ni Mayang”, while “Dili Pa Panahon’s ” R & B vibes and “Intergalactic Gugma’s “ spacey modern style brought something new to the table. Even though they sounded like some foreign western song, which most “Pinoy” songs do.

I was even wondering why all the 6 songs had different genres. As was mentioned by VISPOP organizer Jude Gitamondoc, it kind of felt like a battle of the genres out there. And as we all know, in a pop contest. The Pop songs always win.

VISPOP organizer Insoy Ninal

If I would go all critical about it, I could even go to the details on why on his speech, Insoy Ninal was speaking in English, not In Bisaya, but to be frank about it, if you are thinking like me right now about the VISPOP 2.0 results and the finals night, it really does not matter because in the end, we have to look at the big picture on this one this time.

VISPOP 2.0 was not made to be just a normal songwriting contest, it is a songwriting campaign, and that definition should change our expectations.

VISPOP 2.0 judge Budoy Marabiles

It does not matter who wins, because what matters is that all the songs winner or not from this year and last year to the next should get radio airplay and generate a following. And it should not just be one radio station playing the songs, the other radio stations should start supporting and playing them too.

This was the point all along. The contest was to raise the quality of Bisaya music. Make it more professional and competitive. To add more songs to the radio playlist, so we will always have new music with Bisaya lyrics yearly.

So it becomes useless for us to argue on who should have won or not, because as long as all the songs get embraced by the public, gets all the radio airplay it deserves. Then VISPOP has already accomplished their goals.

It does not even matter if the songs are in different genres because again these songs are templates to the Cebuano music scene, getting the audience a look into the future that this is what a rock , R & B, Brit, Folk song etc. sounds like with Cebuano lyrics. By having different genres, it also covers a lot of audiences who prefer different kinds of genres.

Vispop organizer Ian Zafra with Filscap’s Noel Cabangon and Jim Paredes.

It also does not matter if Insoy Ninal speaks English or Bisaya on his speech, because VISPOP is not about speeches, it is about songs with Bisaya lyrics getting played in the radio.

If one of the organizers speak English for the purpose of letting everyone understand then so be it. VISPOP is not about isolating anyone. It is again, to propagate Bisaya music.

Then let us also be clear about it. We are not dreaming of a world where we no longer speak in English and go Bisaya all throughout. We use English because it is the international language not because of our colonial mentality. That is just it; if Japanese was the international language then we would have been using it right now.

Then we are also not dreaming of a province where we no longer speak Filipino because again this is our national language. We cannot be all out regionalist on this because if we want cooperation or peace, we need to have a one national language. It just so happens that the national language is composed of a lot of Tagalog words.

So it is just normal for us to speak mixing Bisaya, Filipino and English on an event.

I don’t even see a city where all the bands play all out Bisaya songs, because again we are a city who uses 3 languages. And if the Cebu art scene (music, visual arts, film, theatre, dance, architecture, sculpture) wishes to represent its city, then it also has to use the 3 languages. So the city I do see is a city where Bisaya and English lyrics songs get played side by side on the stage or the radio being supported all out by the Cebu community.

Lastly, because VISPOP is a songwriting campaign not a contest. Its true victory is not for songwriters to start writing Bisaya songs and join the contest. Its true victory is for songwriters, bands and musicians to start writing songs in Bisaya and don’t need to join a contest for it.

This is the point of all this. This is the VISPOP challenge. Again, Cebuano musicians don’t need to write in all out Bisaya. They can mix the different languages; it is really up to them. The bottom line is that musicians start writing Bisaya songs and raise the quality. Don’t make it Bastos, Baduy or Kinaraan.

If you want to know how to write a Bisaya song that is not Bastos, Baduy or Kinaraan then start supporting VISPOP. So far, this is the only way you will learn what raising the quality of Cebuano music sounds like.

About the author: N.M. CABANGBANG graduated Bachelor of Fine Arts Major in Painting at University of the Philippines Cebu. He is currently teaching grade 6 – 10 Art at B.R.I.G.H.T.  Academy, Cebu City. He also plays the bass and sings for the band – PALTIK.