The Filipino music scene is huge and it is great to finally see Filipino representation in the contest. In celebration of Philippines Independence Day today we take a look at the recent Filipino artists that have sung at Eurovision and also focus on three female Filipino artists we would love to see make it to the Eurovision stage.
Philippines Independence Day is an annual national holiday in the Philippines observed on June 12, commemorating the declaration of Philippine independence from Spain in 1898.
This years Eurovision Song Contest was great for Filipino representation with two artists with Filipino ancestry representing their respective countries. Vincent Bueno represented Austria with the song ‘Amen’ and Australia’s own Montaigne represented Australia with ‘Technicolour’.
Vincent Bueno’s parents are of llocano origin with that group mostly residing on the northwestern section of Luzon. Bueno set up a music career in the Philippines and in Austria, and has previously been a support act for Sarah Geronimo when she performed in Vienna (more about her later). Before Eurovision he competed in the Austrian Eurovision national final in 2016 with 'All We Need is Love’ but it wasn’t his year being beaten by ZOË and her song 'Loin d'ici'.
Montaigne was born Jessica Alyssa Cerro, in Sydney, Australia. Her family background is an ethnic mix, her mother is half Spanish and half Filipino and was raised in the Phillipines. Her father was raised in Argentina and is Spanish. Montaigne grew up in Australia strongly aligned with her Filipino culture, which you can read more about here in an amazing in-depth SBS article.
Last year we interviewed several very passionate Filipino Eurovision stans, you can check out the interviews here. Back then they shared with us their favourite Eurovision songs, various views on the contest and who they would love to see perform on the Eurovision stage from the Philippines. They suggested an amazing array of artists from OPM (Original Pinoy Music) and the indie genre to one day grace the stage at Eurovision.
Today we explore three female Filipino artists we would love to potentially see perform on the Eurovision stage.
Bella Santiago
Bella Santiago is a familiar name especially with the Eurovision fans that have been following the Eurovision national finals over the last few years.
She began sining at 12 years old. At a young age she participated in the Filipino televised singing competitions Pinoy Pop Superstar and Tawag ng Tanghalan. In 2016 Santiago relocated to Bucharest to live with her Romanian boyfriend Nicolae Ionuț Grigorie.
She made the most in her new country competing in season six of ‘Românii au talent’, a Romanian TV show version of 'Got Talent', and then competed in season eight of the Romanian version of 'X Factor' winning the whole contest in 2018.
The Dasmariñas born artist has competed in the Romanian Eurovision national selection show ‘Selecția Națională’ for two years. Firstly in 2018 when she featured in a song with the Romanian group Jukebox. They performed ‘Auzi cum bate’ and got through the audition semi’s and final and ended up in a respectable 4th place.
Santiago would return the following year as a solo artist with her epic song ‘Army of Love’. The punchy song and performance, which was very reminiscent of Ruslana’s ‘Wild Dances’ and did rather well. ‘Army of Love’ came second with the juries and third with the televote to finish in third place at ‘Selecția Națională 2019’.
We hope she persists at her dream to go to Eurovision as it is only a matter of time now that she gets the opportunity to represent Romania and the Philippines at Eurovision!
Beabadoobee
Another Filipino artist that would be amazing at Eurovision would be Filipino born British singer-songwriter Beabadoobee. She is mostly well known for her song ‘Coffee’. Her track was sampled by Canadian rappers Powfu in ‘death bed (coffee for your head)’ which became a huge hit, and reached No.5 on the Australian ARIA singles chart.
Beabadoobee was born in Iloilo City, Philippines on 3 June 2000. At just 3 years old she moved to London with her parents. She grew up in West London listening to all sorts of music including original pinoy music and 80’s pop and rock.
Under an independent label Beabadoobee went on to release four EP’s between 2018 and 2019. In 2020 she got her break when Powfu sampled her song ‘Coffee’. Near the end of 2020 she released her critically acclaimed debut studio album, ‘Fake It Flowers’. The album peaked at No. 8 in the UK album chart. The album also charted in the United States leading to Billboard ranking Beabadoobee as one of the Top New Rock Artists of 2020.
She was nominated for the Rising Star Award at the 2020 Brit Awards, and was presented with the Radar Award at the 2020 NME Awards. Beabadoobee was also predicted as a breakthrough act for 2020 in an annual BBC poll of music critics, Sound of 2020. She is set to embark on her ‘Fake It Flowers Tour’ in the UK in September this year.
This rising star might just be the kind of artist the BBC needs to represent the United Kingdom.
Sarah Geronimo
The most popular suggested artist to go to Eurovision from our Filipino friends was Sarah Geronimo, with a desired song for Eurovision on par with the epic ‘Tala’, which is the most liked and watched OPM music video on YouTube ever!
Now Geronimo also known as Sarah G is a HUGE name, the likelihood of seeing Sarah go to Eurovision is slim, it is like expecting Kylie Minogue or Delta Goodrem go to Eurovision and represent Australia. But the benefit of having an artist like Sarah at Eurovision would be huge for the Eurovision brand expanding within the Philippines and Asia.
She has the experience, the voice and superstar qualities to have a massive impact if she were to go to Eurovision.
Geronimo was born on July 25, 1988, in Santa Cruz, Manila. She started singing from a young age. Her fame began in 2002 when she won the TV singing contest ‘Star for a Night’ and the following year released her debut album ‘Popstar: A Dream Come True’. Ever since her list of achievements are endless. She kept rising to prominence reaching superstar status with a huge allegiance of fans.
Her breakthrough 2016 single ‘Tala’ has gone viral multiple times with the #TalaDanceChallange becoming a huge craze on YouTube and TikTok in the Philippines and throughout the world.
More recently in December 2020 Geronimo was included in the Forbes Asia's 100 Digital Stars, a list of the most influential names in the Asia-Pacific region.
This year she released her online concert film ‘Tala: The Film Concert’. It became the Philippine's top-selling digital concert of all time! It was originally streamed on March 27 and had its global repeat last May 1 and again on May 2 on ktx.ph, iWantTFC, and TFC IPTV.
She would definitely be a huge drawcard for Eurovision in Asia to get a star like Geronimo to perform in the world's most watched song contest.
Other notable Filipino artists
Other Filipino artists that would be great to see at Eurovision include:
Ben&Ben, who are a indie folk, pop folk band, they have many hits under their belt including the popular ‘Kathang Isip’. In 2020 they landed on the Billboard’s Top 50 Social chart. In the Philippines they are ranked as the number one most streamed Filipino artist on Spotify in 2020.
Morissette Amon known as Morissette who is a Filipina singer songwriter and television star. She is known for her pop, R&B, OPM style music. ‘Akin Ka Na Lang’ was recommended as a stand out release.
One Click Straight who are an alternative rock band consisting of three brothers and a close friend, their touching song ‘Paraiso’ was suggested as a stand out track, check it out.
These artists above were suggested only by a handful of Filipino Eurofans. There are many more great artists from the Philippines who could easily make a huge impact at Eurovision.
Are there any other Filipino artists that you would like to see make it to Eurovision? Let us know on our socials.
“Marcelito Pomoy” and Morisette Amon
Morissette would be really great especially with her newly released song "PHEONIX" and "LOVE YOU STILL" I think the eurofans will love her and her music especially her insane vocals!!