Filipina belts way to American Idol 7 in Hollywood

Just when Filipinos thought that the coveted American Idol title had slipped past a Filipino's hand with the facetious yet memorable exit of Reynaldo Lapuz, here comes Ramiele Malubay to give it her shot at becoming the first Asian-American champion of the hit franchise. Ramiele's (pronounced REY-mee-yell) big and raspy voice allowed the Filipino-American talent to sail through to Hollywood at the Florida leg of the American Idol Season 7 auditions, finally ending a two-year drought of Filipino-less AI shows. The 20-year-old hopeful is the latest addition to a growing list of half-Filipinos who are talented enough to have snatched that golden ticket from the hit American reality show, following in the footsteps of the likes of AI Season 3's Jasmine Trias and Camille Velasco. "I know Jasmine Trias is Filipino also. And she made it pretty far. If Jasmine could do it, I could do it," a confident Ramiele shared in a taped interview. A sushi waitress from Miramar, Florida, Ramiele wasted no time to try out when the Idol auditions graced their home state late last year. "I want to try to be the first Asian-American Idol," said Ramiele, who as early as now has mustered quite an Internet following who chant a play on her surname, "Mabuhay Malubay! (Long live Malubay)" Even Texas-based Star-Telegram.com's pop music critic Preston Jones gave his plaudit to the female singer by saying, "I'll go out on a limb as saying that Ramiele is one of the better voices we've heard so far this year." 'Natural' Woman And indeed, big things can oftentimes come in small packages. As soon as the petite Ramiele opened her mouth to sing, compliments given by the judges as she entered the audition room such as "cute" and "adorable" seemed to dissipate. Ramiele, with her powerful voice, broke into a soaring rendition of Aretha Franklin's "Natural Woman," an overwhelming song which when executed in a non-histrionic fashion usually shatters wannabes even before they could launch a career. But as Ramiele hit and held her last note, Paula Abdul bursted into her usual albeit unique applause, a clear indication that Ramiele had just secured for herself a third of the vote. "I think you are a fine singer and a fine performer," said an obviously impressed Abdul, even squeezing in her "You're phenomenal" comment later on in the audition. For his part, all Simon Cowell could cough up was, "I don't think you're a contemporary singer. I think you're more like a hotel singer." The English judge, however, admitted that she was indeed a good vocal performer. "I was impressed. You definitely got a big voice for a very cute, small girl," 'dawg' master Randy Jackson, meanwhile, said of the 4'11'' songbird. Even though the young singer failed to earn Cowell's "Yes," the two other judges' approval was enough to send Ramiele packing to catch the next flight to Hollywood. Ramiel's audition clip, which can be viewed via video-sharing site YouTube, even showed her proud father boogieing with Ramiele as they made their way out of the audition building. Appearing to be more ecstatic than his daughter, Ramiele's father even cheered, "Anak ko! Anak ko! (My daughter. My daughter)" which could hardly be discerned due to his extreme happiness. In the American Idol 'battlefield,' all roads lead to Hollywood and for viewers who find Ramiele's surname rather tongue-twisting they will have to remember the name because they will never forget the voice. The hit reality show airs on QTV-11 every Wednesday and Thursday via Satellite Feed at 6 p.m., with one-hour replays at 8:30 pm on the same days. - Mark Meruenas, GMANews.TV