Kay ganda ng ating musika hajji alejandro
The Metro Manila Popular Music Festival (also known as Metropop) was launched by the Popular Music Foundation of the Philippines in 1977 and held annually from 1978 to 1985. It was "the country’s pioneering and once foremost songwriting competition," according to The Philippine Star. Its objective was to promote the advancement of Filipino music, and its chief proponents were journalist Teodoro Valencia and Imee Marcos. These festivals launched many the careers of songwriters and singers (who interpreted the songs), and gave original Filipino music more than a few memorable and modern-day song classics. Among them is Freddie Aguilar.
Contents
- Kay ganda ng ating musika hajji alejandro
- Minsan pa janet basco
- The 1st Metro Manila Popular Music Festival
- The 2nd Metro Manila Popular Music Festival
- The 3rd Metro Manila Popular Music Festival
- The 4th Metro Manila Popular Music Festival
- 1982
- 1983
- 1984
- Metropop Song Festival
- Winner List
- 1996
- 1997
- 1998
- 1999
- 2000
- 2001
- 2003
- References
This songwriting competition was originally open to all music composers. From the fourth festival onwards, the competition was divided into professional and amateur divisions, to give new songwriters a level playing field without competing with more well-known composers. After 1985, the festival was discontinued due to a decline in public interest towards the song entries. It was later revived as the Metropop Song Festival which aired in GMA-7 from 1996 to 2003.
Minsan pa janet basco
The 1st Metro Manila Popular Music Festival
"Anak" failed to win any of the prizes, but went on to become one of the most popular Philippine pop songs ever and to launch the career of Freddie Aguilar. This period in time was right at the beginning of the Original Pilipino Music (OPM) boom, and after this first festival, the singing careers of Hajji Alejandro, Celeste Legaspi, Maricris Bermont, and Anthony Castelo went to full gear. Ryan Cayabyab is now a well-respected composer and musician; so with Joel Navarro. Imelda Papin and Janet Basco went on to big careers as well after they had other hit songs. Heber Bartolome's "Tayo'y Mga Pinoy" became a protest anthem, and Ryan Cayabyab's "Kay Ganda ng Ating Musika" became the anthem of sorts of Original Pilipino Music.Emil Mijares was the musical director for this festival.
The 2nd Metro Manila Popular Music Festival
This time, Freddie Aguilar's interpretation of Snaffu Rigor's composition won the Grand Prize. However, the biggest pop hit to come out of the 2nd Metropop was "Ewan". This song launched the career of Louie Ocampo, now a well-respected composer, and added to the numerous hits of The Apo Hiking Society. The Apo is one of the biggest musical acts ever in the Philippines, and their songs have been covered through the years. Rico J. Puno, already a big star at this time, interpreted the third place song, which also became a hit song for him. Composer George Canseco failed to win any of the top prizes, but with his songs before and after the competition, he became one of the most prolific and successful composers in the music scene. "Umagang Kay Ganda" also failed to place, but has since become a classic pop hit and it has now also been used as the theme song of ABS-CBN's weekday morning show of the same title.
The 3rd Metro Manila Popular Music Festival
Leah Navarro and "Isang Mundo Isang Awit" represented the Philippines and won the bronze prize at that year's Seoul Popular Music Festival. "Ikaw, Ako, Tayo (Magkakapatid)" turned out to be the biggest hit from the Third Metropop.
The 4th Metro Manila Popular Music Festival
Established singers like Florante, Eugene Villaluz, Leo Valdez, and Marco Sison interpreted their first Metropop entries. Something Special was an offshoot of The New Minstrels, and Joseph Olfindo also came from the latter singing group. There was no big hit from the festival songs, although "KAHIT KONTI" and "MAGSIMULA KA" were relative successes. It is interesting to note that Emil Sanglay (pioneer of the Neo-Ethnic Rock or the world music of today in the Philippines) and Sonny Nicolas also known as Philippine's "Jose Feliciano" (both singers,composers and guitarists) were the only individuals who interpreted their own songs. The one aside from the women in Something Special (there were male members as well), all the interpreters in this festival were men.
1982
AMATEUR DIVISION
PROFESSIONAL DIVISION
1983
AMATEUR DIVISION:
PROFESSIONAL DIVISION
1984
AMATEUR DIVISION
PROFESSIONAL DIVISION
Metropop Song Festival
The Metropop Song Festival (also known as Metropop) is an annual Philippine music festival that served as a relaunch of the songwriting competition, which began on 1996 and ran until 2003. The festival's relaunch was broadcast on the GMA Network. It has recognized non-mainstream musicians such as Gary Granada and Angelo Villegas, and boosted the singing careers of Jaya and Carol Banawa upon participating as interpreters.
Another associated event called the Metropop Young Singers (later renamed Metropop Star Search) ran at the same time. Unlike the actual festival, this event served as a talent competition for young aspiring singers. The contestants were judged based on their interpretation or cover of an already released music material. The most notable participant was Melanie Calumpad who came third in 1997 and later returned as an interpreter for the actual song festival in 2003 under her stage name Kyla. She went on to have a successful career in music and competed as an interpreter for the winning songs at the Himig Handog and Philippine Popular Music Festival song contests.
Winner List
The winners of the Song Festival since its relaunch were: