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The Philippine Idol Finalists consisted of 12 aspiring singers who competed for Philippine Idol. They were selected after several stages of audition and theater eliminations, and succeeded in earning a spot in the Finals by popular votes from the viewers.
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The Final Round started on September 30, 2006, wherein each finalist sang one to three songs under a specified theme and received comments from each of the judges. The viewers voted for their favorites by dialing a toll-free telephone number or sending an SMS as many times as possible until 8:30 p.m. the following day, which was shortened to two hours on Finals Week 5. One finalist was eliminated during the Results Show every week. However, there were special circumstances wherein there were no eliminations during the a Results Show, but would eventually eliminate two finalists on the following week.
The 12 Finalists also recorded a compilation album entitled Philippine Idol: The Final 12, consisting of OPM songs they have performed during the first Finals Week.
The remaining 3 contenders—namely Gian Magdangal, Jan Nieto, and Mau Marcelo (in order of performance)--battled it out at the Finale, instead of the usual 2 contestants in most Idol shows, held on December 10, 2006, at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
Finalists
Maureen "Mau" Marcelo, from Lucena City, Quezon Province. A "veteran" in amateur singing competitions, she sang "Dahil Naroon Ka" (You Were Always There) by Jaya during the Luzon Main Auditions. She was dubbed as the "Soul Diva" during the competition, and won the title on December 10, 2006
Jan Kurt Anthony Nieto, from Antipolo City, Rizal Province. A former Customer Marketing Manager for Unilever Philippines, he sang "Limang Dipang Tao" (A Five-Dipa-Long Queue of People)--a composition of Cayabyab—during the Luzon Main Auditions. He was dubbed as the "Hunky Idol" during the competition, and was one of two runners-up as announced on December 10.
Giancarlo "Gian" Magdangal, from Parañaque City, Metro Manila. A former boy band member and musical theatre actor, he sang "The Last Time" by Eric Benét during the Visayas Main Auditions. He was dubbed as the "Livewire Idol" during the competition, and was the other runner-up as announced on December 10.
Miguel Mendoza, from Muntinlupa City, Metro Manila. A senior high school student of De La Salle-Santiago Zobel School who tried out during the Luzon Main Auditions, he was the youngest finalist in the competition and was fondly called as "Bunso" (Youngest Child) by his fellow finalists. He was eliminated on November 27. He was declared third runner up in Pinoy Dream Academy 2 on September 14, 2008.
Paula Patricia "Pow" Chavez, from Quezon City, Metro Manila. An openly-lesbian band singer, she was mistaken as a boy during the Luzon Main Auditions singing "I Want You Back" by Jackson 5. She was dubbed as the "Power Idol" during the competition, and was eliminated on November 20.
Kenneth "Ken" Dingle, from Baguio City, Benguet Province. A former boy band member and hotel receptionist in Australia, he tried out during the Luzon Main Auditions. He was eliminated on November 13.
Cherry Anne "Apple" Chiu, from Carmona, Cavite. An interior designer by profession, she rendered an unusual R&B version of the novelty song "Ispageti Song" by SexBomb Girls during the Luzon Main Auditions. She was eliminated on November 6.
Armarie Lourdes "Arms" Cruz, from Zamboanga City. A band vocalist and daughter of late character actor Mohamad Faezal, she sang "Hiram" (Borrowed Time) by Zsa Zsa Padilla during the Mindanao Main Auditions. She was the only finalist from outside of Luzon, and was eliminated on October 30.
Jellica Marie "Jelli" Mateo, from Pasig City, Metro Manila. A lounge singer/ model/ events host by profession, she wooed Idol judge Magalona with her rendition of "Someone to Watch Over Me" by Ray Charles during the Luzon Main Audition. She was eliminated on October 30, along with Cruz.
Reymond Sajor, from Lucena City, Quezon Province. A singer and theatre actor, he was the Grand Champion of Hamilton Talent Hunt in Ontario, Canada, who delivered "This is the Moment" from the musical Jekyll & Hyde during the Luzon Main Auditions. He was eliminated on October 15.
Paul Andrae Wilde "Drae" Ybañez, from Quezon City, Metro Manila. A charity volunteer by profession, he tried out during the Luzon Main Auditions. He was eliminated on October 8.
Stephanie "Stef" Lazaro Bainbridgge, from Gold Coast, Australia. A singer by profession, she tried out in Australian Idol, but only reached the Theater Eliminations. She returned to the Philippines to try out during the Visayas Main Auditions of Philippine Idol. She was eliminated on October 8, along with Ybañez.
Post-Idol
The Philippine Idol finalists reunited in a special concert that was held on March 23, 2007 in Araneta Coliseum. Reports said that major sections of the venue were not filled and the concert experienced major sound glitches from faulty microphones that shadowed their laudable performances.
Marcelo still remains as the finalist with a recording contract with Sony BMG Music Philippines with the release of her new album entitled On My Own, derived from its carrier track "Try It on My Own". Weeks after her winning (on December 20, 2006), Marcelo performed in Malacañan Palace for the Christmas party of Office of the President.
Marcelo has also released her first post-Idol full-length album entitled I Shine for You. A remixed version of "I Shine for You" is used as a theme song for local television show Shall We Dance: The Celebrity Dance Challenge, which is being shown on ABC.
On the other hand, runner-up Magdangal signed a non-exclusive contract to GMA Network a month after Philippine Idol and is a regular on Sunday noontime variety show SOP Rules, which he confirmed in his Yahoo! Group. However, it has been noticeable that he is not mentioning "Philippine Idol" in his appearances on GMA Network. He also won Best Performance by a New Male Artist at the 20th Awit Awards on August 2007 for his song "Himala" that was part of Philippine Idol: The Final 12 Album.
Meanwhile, fellow runner-up Nieto has since resigned from his high-paying job at Unilever Philippines to fully pursue his singing career. Nine months after Idol, he signed a contract with GMA Network and was introduced in SOP on October 2007 as its newest "Kapuso".
Nieto and Mendoza also appeared on the ABS-CBN variety show ASAP '07 alongside Piolo Pascual, Sam Milby, Jay-R Siaboc, and Ronnie Liang. Moreover, Nieto was also interviewed in TV Patrol World about his appearance on the show. Along with Mateo, Nieto also sang a food condiment jingle that was rearranged by Cayabyab.
Mateo is a co-host in Pilipinas Ngayon Na!, an infotainment program in state-owned National Broadcasting Network. She also briefly appeared in ABS-CBN's noontime show Wowowee as one of its co-hosts.
Meanwhile, Drae Ybañez was featured in the February 6, 2007 edition of the ABS-CBN late evening news program Bandila. Philippine Idol was not explicitly mentioned in the report; rather, it focused on his charity work. He announced during a performance in De La Salle Philippines' grand reunion that he is taking up Music Production in De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde.
Reymond Sajor won in the Senior Vocalist category in the World Championships of Performing Arts 2007, which was held in Los Angeles, United States. Sajor is also recording his debut album with musical direction by Gerard Salonga.
Armarie Cruz, Ken Dingle, and Apple Chiu formed "AKA", a singing group that performs in Metro Manila's bar and hotel circuits. It was formed by a former Idol writer, with former Mulatto band member Jun Lacanieta as the group's musical director. The group also admits that all the 12 finalists support each other even after the competition.
Pow Chavez announced in her Multiply site that she returned to her band "Joint" and continued to perform around Metro Manila bars.
Miguel Mendoza auditioned for the second season of Pinoy Dream Academy. He passed through the elimination rounds and was eventually chosen as one of its finalists. Coincidentally, Cayabyab is now that program's Headmaster.
Apple Chiu is currently one of the singers in the ABS-CBN show, The Singing Bee.
Mateo and Lazaro competed in Malaysia as a group called 3.5 in a show called Gangstarz.