When In Manila, CONGRATULATIONS to the winners of the Sun Broadband Quest 2013 and all finalists as well!

Sun Broadband Quest 2013 Grand Champion – IKTUS

Sun Broadband Quest 2013 1st Runner Up – BAD HAIR DAY

Sun Broadband Quest 2013 2nd Runner Up – BABY BOOMERS

 

Sun Broadband Quest 2013

Launched last December 2012, Sun Broadband, in partnership with MCA Universal, Inc., launched Sun Broadband Quest 2013–an inter-school band competition that will give  amateur college bands a chance to show their talents, share their love for music and be noticed in the music scene. This is an opportunity for the youth to discover their undiscovered talents and improve what they already have.

From more than a hundred bands who registered and sent their online video music demos nationwide, 10 bands were chosen based on their Song Composition, Voice Quality, Musicality and Showmanship. These 10 bands–Baby Boomers, Bad Hair Day, Crowd 7, Dagsin, Iktus, J Squad, Jack n Poy, Low Grad Repeat, Mariae and Soul Page, will perform on the Sun Broadband Quest Grand Finals night and will have the chance to sing and jam their way to P150,000.00 and a contract with MCA Universal. 

The 10 bands also underwent a mandatory 1-day extensive workshop with top OPM artists and bands signed under MCA Universal. This is to shape each member of the band for the finale and music scene beyond the competition. Also, one week after the announcement of finalists, an online voting from June 22 to July 11, 2013, was opened for the original composition of each band. This will constitute 20% of the overall Grand Finals Sun Broadband Quest Scores.

 

Sun Broadband Quest Grand Finals

Held at Music Museum, Greenhills last July 12, 2013, 10 bands battle for P150,000.00, a contract with MCA Universal and the title to be Sun Broadband Quest 2013 Champion.

Hosted by Mellow 94.7’s Chris and Chloe, Sun Broadband Quest Grand Finals is the culmination of the talents of the top 10 bands of the Sun Broadband Quest. Based on the following criteria–Online Personality (20%), Originality (20%), Musicality (30%) and Performance (30%), each band was given the chance to perform one original song composition and one cover song for the judges’ final viewing. 

Sun Broadband Quest Judges:

1. Francis Guevarra – Original member of True Faith, 2003 MMFF Best Musical Scorer, Current artist and repertoire manager of MCA Music Inc

2. Sammy Samaniego – Current artists manager of MCA Music Inc

3. Francis Reyes – Former guitarist of After Image, former guitarist of The Dawn, former program manager and DJ of NU 107 and host of Rock Myx

4. Neph V. Denosta – Assistant  VP for Postpaid Marketing for Sun Broadband 

As mentioned earlier, Sun Broadband Quest Champion will win 150,000.00 cash prize courtesy of Sun Cellular. Aside from that, they will have their own album produced and released by MCA Universal Records plus gigs and music videos too. The first runner up will win P50,000.00 cash and P25,000.oo cash for the second runner up.

Exciting as the prizes, I was more excited to hear these bands play. So, here are the 10 bands who competed for the Sun Broadband Quest 2013! 

First band to perform for the night was Low Grad Repeat whose name was inspired by the band member’s grades in school. Members include Jeff, Justine, Lucky, Marc and Norman rocked the stage with their original song “Maria Hellen” and cover of Culture Club’s “Karma Chameleon”.

Sun Broadband Quest 2013 Finalist – Low Grad Repeat

Straight from Davao, Baby Boomers Jake, Mark, Carlo C. and Carlo D. have their parents to thank for their love for music. Performing the Beatles’ “Twist and Shout” and their original song “Kungkai”, these guys sure caught the girls attention in the audience! Well, even the judges, I suppose for they won as 2nd runner ups!

Sun Broadband Quest 2013 Finalist – Baby Boomers

Sun Broadband Quest 2013 2nd Runner up

From 3 members, they are now 5. Mariae composed of Ruth, Dennis, Jan Megumi and Jason sings the cover of “Valerie” and their original composition “Midnight” straight from their hearts to the audience. 

Sun Broadband Quest 2013 Finalist – Mariae

Marching on from Dumaguete is the J-Squad. Principal players of Foundation University of Dumaguete Louise, Jay, BJ, Jefrey and Miguel serenaded the Music Museum with their original song “See” and Bruno Mars’ “Locked Out of Heaven”. 

Sun Broadband Quest 2013 Finalist – J-Squad

The only all girls group for the night, Bad Hair Day girls Avie, Jeysa, Van, Nicole and Xiao Disi sang their way to the finish! Bagging the 1st runner up spot, these girls have proven that their passion for music and uniqueness can take them anywhere. These girls just rocked the stage with their original song “FriendZoned” and cover of Paramore’s “Still Into You” .

Sun Broadband Quest 2013 Finalist – Bad Hair Day

Sun Broadband Quest 2013 First Runner Up

Fish, a symbol of Christianity–the meaning behind their band name Iktus. Members Carizza, Augusto, Andrei and Andrew believe that this name suits them well since it is catchy and “tunog-Pinoy”. All from Christian International School, surely this all Christian band has proven their talents and love for music as they are awarded to be Sun Broadband Quest 2013’s Grand Champion! They sang a cover of Yeng Constantino’s “Pag-ibig” and performed one of their original songs, “Wag Na”.

Sun Broadband Quest 2013 Finalist – Iktus

Sun Broadband Quest 2013 Grand Champion

Jack N Poy, LaSallian Boys Meio, Neil, TJ, Don and Johann came from different backgrounds united into one by music. Rocking the stage with their original composition “The Flying Dutchman” and a cover of “My Generation”.

Sun Broadband Quest 2013 Finalist – Jack N Poy

Catchy and soulful music of Soul Page got the audience grooving. Representatives of the UP College of Music, Cate, Jordan, Micah, Valerie and Raven sang their own song “Got Love” and a cover of “Come Together” with funk and soul.

Sun Broadband Quest 2013 Finalist – Soul Page

Singing their original composition “Tukso”, and cover of Maroon 5’s “Sunday Morning” Dagsin members Zeus, Carlos, Kevin and Kris to raises the OPM banner to a higher level.

Sun Broadband Quest 2013 Finalist – Dagsin

Final performer, but definitely not the least is Crowd 7. Bandmates Theo, Dan, Psalm, Andrie and Mario sings their own “Pagbabago” and covers Rivermaya’s “Elesi”.

Sun Broadband Quest 2013 Finalist – Crowd 7

Performances of Chicosci, Sabrina, Tanya Markova and The Octaves also rocked the walls of Music Museum. Indeed, Sun Broadband Quest 2013 inspires musicians to continue their passion and keep reaching their dreams.

Sun Broadband Quest 2013 Performer – Sabrina

Sun Broadband Quest 2013 Performer – The Octaves

Sun Broadband Quest 2013 Performer – Tanya Markova

Sun Broadband Quest 2013  Performer Chicosci

Before the announcement of winners, Sun Cellular was also generous enough to raffle one laptop to one lucky voter of the band that has the highest votes. The winner was randomly picked from the winning band’s box, which was Jack N Poy. Well, I was hoping to win, but I didn’t! Congratulations to the winner who is a member of JB Music Company.

  

The audience cheered as the announcement of winners got near, but we had to hold our excitement since the judges had a hard time deciding on which band deserves to win. According to one of the judges, Francis Reyes, all the bands were really good. The scores computed even had several ties in the end, but a decision has to be made.

And so the second place was awarded to the Baby Boomers, first place to the Bad Hair Day and the grand champion of Sun Broadband Quest 2013 was Iktus.

* * *

I should say the Sun Broadband Quest was indeed a successful event, not only for Sun Broadband and MCA ‘Universal, but of course to the participants. Music Museum was filled with young musicians overflowing with talent and passion for music, and because of them, the music industry continues to live. Much thanks to Sun Broadband and MCA Universal for organizing the event and giving the youth a chance to reach their dreams and share their talents to others.

To listen to the original compositions of the top 10 finalists, you may go to https://sunbroadband.ph/bandquest/#

 

Sun Broadband Quest 2013 Grand Finals Night