Little boy from Sultan Kudarat wins Pop Star Kids title

The Pop Star Kids Year 2 talent search finally came to an end at Mall of Asia and a new voice will soon be heard all over the country. Kierulf Raboy from Sultan Kudarat won the title with his winning piece “Inside Your Heaven” originally sung by American Idol champion Carrie Underwood.

Born and raised in Mindanao, this gifted boy started singing when he was 3 years old and was a regular contestant in amateur singing contests in his barangay and nearby barrios.

“I really love and enjoy singing. My

mom told me that I was using the feeding bottle as my microphone when I was kid,” he jokes. He impressed the judges when he started hitting the high notes. Kierulf also sung his song far from the original melody, infusing his own style and take on the song. “I chose ‘Inside Your Heaven’ as my piece because it really matches my voice,” he explains.

Snatching the grand prize wasn’t easy at all as he fought his way up with seven other equally brilliant contenders like Diana Tabitha Caro from Las Piñas who sung “My Saving Grace” by Mariah Carey. She gave justice to the song as she ended it with a whistling voice just as Mariah did it. Suzette Soyanco from Bataan also sung her heart out with her piece “What Kind of Fool I Am” a Barbra Streisand original.

On the other hand, Gidget de la Llana from Laguna chose Beyonce’s “Listen” which made the crowd go crazy over her performance while Dino Canido enjoyed his moment singing and dancing the “Man in the Mirror” by Michael Jackson. Jalynna Magadia also did very well.

Jessica Joy Reynoso—describing herself as a black beauty—sung Jaya’s “Ikaw Lamang” and Marion Torres from Canada opted to go nationalistic with the song “Isang Lahi.”

The judges who decided on the winners were Nanette Inventor, Raymond Lauchengco, GMA 7 executives Wilma Galvante, Darling de Jesus and Ida Henares.

Kierulf Raboy took home P300,000 in cash and P100,000 worth of gift certificates from the Center for Pop music school.

The people behind QTV 11 announced that Pop Star kids would rest for a while because they’ll be honing the children’s singing voices in order to be ready for the career. GMA 7’s sister channel vowed that the talent search is not merely for the ratings sake but really to discover and develop new talents like little boy Kierulf.
Johanna M. Sampan
Manila Times