MANILA, Philippines—“The viewers chose me as their idol. I hope everyone would respect their decision,” declared Gretchen Espina, a 20-year-old Biliran native and winner of “Pinoy Idol,” the talent search co-produced by GMA 7 and FreeMantle, which is behind the hit reality show “American Idol.”

The Philippine Daily Inquirer sought the reaction of Espina because of comments she bagged the title with her father’s “political connections” and not because she deserved to win. She is the daughter of Governor Rogelio Espina of Biliran, one of the smallest provinces in eastern Visayas.

“I have the talent,” said the former member of the UP Singing Ambassadors. “I probably would not have lasted long in the competition if people were not impressed with how I performed. I knew this issue would come up before I joined the contest, but I assure everyone that I fought fairly. Anyway, I was able to prove that I deserved to be here.” ….

“Show biz can be really nasty. I’m ready for it. It’s not any different from politics,” Espina told the Inquirer on Sunday shortly after the final results show at SMX Convention Center at the Mall of Asia in Pasay City. She admitted that her parents were against her joining the contest. “They wanted me to finish my studies first,” said the European language student at the University of the Philippines…

Espina added: “I will share a portion of my winnings with the two other finalists. Napagkasunduan na namin ito (We agreed on this).” Bautista and Chaves will each receive P100,000 from her.

There you heard it from her. She won the Pinoy Idol because of talent!

Please answer the Poll to the right navigation bar if you agree or disagree that Gretchen Espina deserves to be called the Pinoy Idol. It also means if Gretchen Espina deserves the 5.7 million worth of prizes. Note that registered uses can only vote to prevent double voting.

Watch some of the videos during Results Night so you can vote wisely

Songs from the final performance

- Jolina magdangal’s (idol judge) song pick “for your eyes only”
- Jaya’s (idol mentor) song pick “stand up for love”
- Gretchen espina’s own song pick “ngayon” with the up chorale

songs from Jayann’s final performances:
- Wyngard tracy’s (idol judge) song pick “I’ll never love this way again”
- Regine velasquez’s (idol mentor) song pick “You’ll never walk alone”
- Jayann bautista’s own song pick “Proud Mary” with the speed dancers

As of this writing, the last entry Gretchen Espina wins Pinoy Idol Title garnered 225 comments. Most of the comments show that the blog readers were disappointed that Gretchen Espina won. In her interview at GMA-7, Gretchen admits that she feels more pressure that she won the Pinoy Idol title. Is it because she knows that she doesn’t really have that many fans? or that she is underserving of the Pinoy Idol Title.

Tell me if you agree or not in the comments below after voting in the poll. (The poll is to the right of navigation bar. To the 200 plus email subsrcribers, please log on to http://pinoyidolblog.com to answer the poll)

What can you suggest now that the contest is over? What message do you want to convey to Gretchen and GMA-7? Please refrain from cursing.

Note

Incidentally, this poll was inspired after starmometer.com. They also started a poll on Do you agree with the results? You should check out the poll results after you vote here.

The winner of the Pinoy Idol is Gretchen Espina

Do you think Gretchen deserves to be called a Pinoy Idol? As you can see in the polls I held for this blog since the start, Jayann deserves to be the winner. I wish they gave her prizes too.

I don’t think Gretchen deserves to be a Pinoy idol. But thanks to lots of text votes, she made it.

Let’s see when it comes to CD sales and again, she could improve. I won’t be surprised.

Here is Inquirer.net report:

MANILA, Philippines—Gretchen Espina, a 20-year-old Biliran native, bested two other hopefuls and was declared winner of GMA-7 and Fremantle Media’s “Pinoy Idol” Sunday at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City.”

Espina, who gave impressive renditions of “For Your Eyes Only,” “Stand Up for Love” and “Ngayon” during the Final Performance Night Saturday, won P5.7 million in prizes, including P1 million in cash, a condominium unit, a GMA-7 talent management contract, a Sony BMG recording contract and a brand new car.

Her closest competitor was Jayann Bautista, 24, a Pampanga native and a former Viva recording artist. Rounding up the top three was Ram Chaves, 26. With Gerry Plaza, INQUIRER.net

Watch these videos:
Gretchen Espina - To You:

(Video courtesy of Kapuso Overload)

Gretchen Espina of Biliran is the winner of Pinoy Idol.

The judges’ choices for Pinoy Idol are

Wyngard- Jayann
Jolina- Ram
Ogie - Kid

My polls showed that Jayann, Ram and Daryl should be the Top 3 finalists.

1. Jayann Bautista ( 313 Votes)
2. Ram Chaves ( 219 Votes)
3. Daryl Celis (161 Votes)

4. Kid Camaya (148 Votes)
5. Gretchen Espina (110 Votes)

Reality is that the top 3 finalists are

1. Jayann
2. Gretchen
3. Ram

If Gretchen did not get in the top 3, your poll answers would have been so close to the reality but of course, your guess is as good as mine. One needs to have text votes to win this game and Gretchen had the votes to make it to the top 3.

My choice is Jayann. Who is your Pinoy Idol?

You really need to vote with every ounce of energy to make your Pinoy Idol win.

1. Jayann Bautista (255 Votes)
2. Ram Chaves (176 Votes)
3. Daryl Celis ( 137 Votes)
4. Kid Camaya (119 Votes)
5. Gretchen Espina 91 Votes)

Clearly, Pinoy Idol blog readers like Jayann, Ram and Daryl to win. Gretchen Espina is in the bottom at number 5. But Gretchen has never been in the bottom 3 for a long time now.

I have my theories why Gretchen is in the bottom in this blog.

1. Her supporters do not read this blog.
2. She is just not good enough to be in the Top 3. Look at some of the comments about Gretchen in the past entries which reached over 120 comments. Let’s start…

1. idol_adik_in_UAE Says:

Observe guys, GRETCHEN has never been on the bottom group…
That means her dad is really campaigning for her that much… with such a predictable winner, the show is not interesting at all… aside from the fact that the deserving Pinoy Idol has been booted out already…

2. BENG Says:

gretchen wala kang karapatan sa title ng pinoy idol mag quit ka na lang at sabihin mo sa tatay wag nya ubusin ang pera ng taung bayan para sayo mahiya naman kayo nag hihrap na nga ang taong bayan inuubos pa ng tatay sa pag text para sayo
That means her dad is really campaigning for her that much… with such a predictable winner, the show is not interesting at all… aside from the fact that the deserving Pinoy Idol has been booted out already…

3. Halconic Says:

pag si Gretchen ang nanalo jan! HALA! magiging Kapamilya ako! Isipin niyo para rin akong nag-suicide nun! Sige kayo GMA! Kinukunsensya ko kayo! Mag-ayos kayo!

4. Cristine Ramos Says:

To answer all the posts here regarding Gretchen Espina it is very much true that her dad (the governor)bought loads of cell cards and gave it to all the employees of the capitol to be used in a massive voting campaign for her. This has become a widely known topic in the province since the Espina family has been accused of plotting murder against their political opponents and graft and corruption. Gretchen Espina was not born in Biliran as she claimed and certainly did not grow up in the province. Most of the people in Biliran are well below poverty level so it makes you question why she has been doing well in the votes. The people of Biliran would rather buy food for their family than pay for the text votes. It is a sad reality that someone like her has a chance of winning becuase of the political connections of the family. The Espina family will not stop until they can make her win and that is the truth. And that is coming also from a Biliranon who witnessed first hand how manipulative this family is.

But you know what? Reality is that Gretchen could be in the Top 3 Pinoy Idol finalists. If you really want the deserving finalists to win, you just have to vote for them. Assuming text votes from Gretchen continue to remain strong, this will be the Top 3 Pinoy Idol Finalists

1. Gretchen
2. Jayann Bautista
3. Ram Chaves

My question is to you all:
Who do you want to be in the Top 3 and what will you do to make sure your choice is in the Top 3?

The first announcement is about the finale. The final bout is going to be held on August 17, 2008 at the SMX of SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City.

The second big announcement is also about the finale. The title is going to be contested not by two but three idol aspirants. It’s going to be a three-way bout to be the first Pinoy Idol.

Next week, two finalists will be going home.

Here are the results:

Kid Camaya - safe.
Gretchen Espina - safe.
Daryl Celis - safe.
Warren Antig - eliminated.
Jay Ann Bautista - safe.
Ram Chaves - safe.

Goodbye Warren

Bye Penelope. Just know that you didn’t get the much needed votes but it doesn’t mean you won’t make it.

Now only 6 finalists are left with 2 female and 4 male finalists.

Jayann Bautista
Warren Antig
Gretchen Espina
Kid Camaya
Daryl Celis
Ram Chaves

I lost my enthusiasm to watch the Pinoy Idol Live. Maybe when it’s down to the final 6, I will watch it live again.

Now only 7 finalists are left.

Penelope
Jayann Bautista
Warren Antig
Gretchen Espina
Kid Camaya
Daryl Celis
Ram Chaves

Who do you think should be out?

Goodbye Sue Ellen

Top 8 Finalists are:

Penelope
Jayann Bautista
Warren Antig
Gretchen Espina
Mae Flores
Kid Camaya
Toffer Rei
Daryl Celis
Ram Chaves

This is unexpected again. The talented 28-year-old Robby Navarro from Pampanga got booted out. I mean comparing Daryl and Robby, I find Robby the better singer. If you see the polls on the right sidebar, Pinoy Idol Blog readers think Robby should be the Pinoy Idol. But oh well, it’s not the talent that makes one stay in Pinoy Idol. It’s text votes. That’s the sad reality of this show!

For once Wyngard Tracy is making sense when he appealed to the voters to be objective. How can our voters be objective? Each finalist have their own text brigade. Pinoy Idol is really a popularity contest and here in the Philippines, it’s who has the most money to spend on text votes.

It’s pathetic to see mediocre singers like Gretchen or Warren never being in the bottom 3. For what reason? Your guess is as good as mine.

Robby

Top 9 Finalists are:

Sue Ellen
Penelope
Jayann Bautista
Warren Antig
Gretchen Espina
Mae Flores
Kid Camaya
Toffer Rei
Daryl Celis
Ram Chaves

1. There is Karylle who brings in warmth to the otherwise robotic hosting of Raymond Gutierrez.

2. The Production staff is more at ease with their duties and the taping seemed almost seamless except for one technical difficulty when it was Jayann’s turn and the camera failed to tape.

3. And there is more camera panning towards the energetic fans which was missing in the last performance.

So who did you think brought in the best performance?

Ram

Gretchen

Sue

Toffer

Jayann

Robby

Penelope

Kid

Warren

Daryl

For me, I liked the performances of Jayann and Ram.

Even if they are the best but if you don’t vote, then your idols won’t win.

So vote:
Text IDOL < Contestant Name > to 367 for Smart and Talk and Text subscribers, 2344 for other telcos.

and more photos

Maybe it’s time for GMA 7 to go live. They seem to be doing a better job this time around. However, they should be more adventurous with their blockings. The camera is seems to be fixed on the left side of the stage. Let’s see variations in blocking next time around.

Here are more photos of the Taping of Pinoy Idol top 10 Performance