THE Grand Finals of one of the longest running top notch singing and songwriting competitions in the country, now in its fourth season, “Your Song of Excellence: Duo Legacy,” was recently held at Market! Market! in Taguig City. It was hosted by Nicole Asensio, herself a multi- awarded singer-songwriter, and an accomplished host and theater actress.
Unlike the previous seasons of “Your Song of Excellence,” this year’s format involved singing-songwriting duos battling it out with other pairs from all over the country.
Each duo was tasked to perform two full songs–a Taiwan Excellence Jingle and a Taiwan Excellence Core Value Song, with a maximum length of 3 minutes and 30 seconds.
The Taiwan Excellence Jingle should make use of the words “Taiwan Excellence” and the “The Best Made in Taiwan.” For the second song, the mentor-judges and their Duo Grand Finalist must choose one of the core values of Taiwan Excellence–innovation, sustainability, global quality–and make that core value as the theme for their song.
The Top 3 singing duos duked it out for one last time on August 31 to determine the winner. The judge-mentors included celebrity judges Yeng Constantino, the country’s pop rock royalty, multi-awarded singer-songwriter; Ice Seguerra, multi-awarded singer-songwriter, actor, TV host and producer; Paulo Zarate, multi-awarded music producer and songwriter; and Kean Cipriano, multi-awarded singer-songwriter, music producer, and the newest member of the judging and mentoring panel.
Mandarhyme Duo, composed of Rusty Loayon and Janine Loayon, won a whopping P300,000 as the Grand Winner.
First Runner Up was Haranajeeb Duo, composed of Khen Aldovino and Nephtali Fajardo, who took home P200,000, while The Unexpected Duo, composed of Vench Larenas and Renz Salazar went home with P100,000 as the Second Runner Up.
Gracing the “Your Song of Excellence: Duo Legacy” were officials from event organizer Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) Brian Lee, executive director of Strategic Marketing Department of TAITRA; Alex Lai, director of Taiwan Trade Center Manila; and officials from the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in the Philippines, led by Wallace Chow, Ambassador of TECO in the Philippines, and Josephine Shun, director of the Economic Division, TECO Philippines.
“Your Song of Excellence: Duo Legacy” is presented by premier partner Derma Angel, together with major partners Acer, Aorus, AOpen, Asus, DLink, Gigabyte, Kymco, MSI Gaming, PC Express, Republic of Gamers, Tatung, and Xyzel.
