On Wednesday night I was one of three judges for Saipan Grand Hotel's Saipan Singing Superstar. This production was put on by the famous Oscar Yema. The event was similar to American Idol, but with a Micronesian Pinoy twist.I was the Paula Abdul of Saipan Singing Superstar; I couldn't bring myself to, um, constructively criticize some of the contestants. When I really wanted to say something like, "you SUCK!," I said something like, "that was a very difficult song, thank you for your performance."
Jonathan, one of the other judges, wasn't as nice. He told one 14 year old girl that she shouldn't read the words from the karaoke screen. Ouch!
The winner of Wednesday's round, Angel Tumada, was fantastic. She was the last person to sing and really stood out as the night's star. Here she is singing her song (which was in Tagalog, so I have no idea what she was singing):
That's Brad of Saipan Tribune fame in the background. He's the Ryan Seacrest of Saipan. Now that's something to write how about!This was elimination week 1. Of the 10 contestants, 3 moved on to the next round. Along with Angel, Paul Medina and Cherry San Gabriel advanced.