THE FINALISTS

RJ is an ECE graduate, who's supposed to take his ECE Board Exams, this November when he stumbled upon Pinoy Dream Academy. In spite of hoping that his son would be an engineer, RJ's father is still very supportive of his son's decision to enter the Academy. Though he is a good composer and singer, RJ knows that he cannot be the perfect performer because he has a big problem with dancing. His original composition "Miss Kita Pag Tuesday" was a hit in UST where he graduated.

18-year-old Yeng the rebel-rocker, stopped schooling in order to help out her parents. She sacrificed her own education in order to let her siblings continue with their own schooling. Never giving up on her music, Yeng used her time to continue to live out her passion and soon became the lead vocalist of a rock band. She has written a number of songs like, “Hawak-kamay” which is about a cousin whom she has developed a deep friendship with.

Gemma is a 20 yr. old medical administrative officer from Australia. She started singing when she was four and loves to perform in front of people. Besides singing, she can also dance and act. Her Australian-Irish father and Filipino mother are very supportive of her chosen career. Being part of a multi-cultural family, she says the only difficult thing about it is having to cook two different meals for her parents due to their different tastes. She is also into sports and was once Miss Philippines-Australia. She is excited about the prospects of entering the Academy because this is what she really wants to do with her life – be a performer.

23 yr. old Yvan takes after his father who was a jazz musician. At the young age of 20, he got married and started a family. Not having finished his education, Yvan turned to music as his source of living. He is a vocalist of a band who is based in Baguio. He loves composing songs for his wife, who still has to understand the nature of his job as a performer. They used to fight over girls swooning over him when he performs. He sends his wife to nursing school and he knows the hardships of being married at an early age but he doesn't have any regrets. His family actually serves as his inspiration to work hard.

20 yr. old Kristoff is extremely close to his only sister, aside from having gone through a lot of things together the two also work in the same company back in Canada. Kristoff works as a grocery clerk while his sister works at the payroll department. They have a younger brother who died at a young age – not only did it help them become closer, Kristoff’s brother also serves as his inspiration to succeed. Aware of Kristoff’s dreams of becoming a singer, his sister - who’s also his bestfriend and manager, always help him out when it comes to auditions and makes sure he’s always well prepared. For the Pinoy Dream Academy audition, Kristoff had to save a lot of money in order to fly him and his sister to San Francisco, California where the auditions were held. He was pleasantly surprised when he found out that he made it to the next round of auditions. He wants to make it big to make his family, most especially his sister proud.

21 yr. old Ronnie used to be a ramp model based in Pampanga before his manager discovered that he could sing. He owes a lot to his manger for helping him get started on his career which is why he was really disappointed when he got disqualified in a singing competition just because he doesn’t want to give in to their demands. There’s no doubt that Ronnie has a beautiful voice but he still needs to work on showing some emotion while singing as well as correct his diction problem.

23 yr. old Irish was raised by her mother and stepfather. She has never met her real father and is not really interested in meeting him. She’s really close to her mom who she considers her best friend. While studying nursing in the U.S., Irish works as a part-time waitress.

24 yr. old Michelle is a hotel front desk officer from Amsterdam who also works as a part-time singer for a music group. This gave her the experience that she needs to improve her performing skills. Her father died of skin cancer when she was still young and forced her to grow up faster. She looks after her younger brother who’s very supportive of her chosen career. In spite of being in a 6 yr. relationship with her Vietnamese boyfriend, Michelle still can’t see herself marrying anytime soon.

Having a municipal councilor for a father made 21 yr. old Iya interested in politics. In fact, she’s currently the Sangguniang Kabataan chairperson in their area. She also has a real passion for singing wherein she even stopped schooling in order to pursue it. She used to be a lounge singer in Manila but stopped since she had to go back to Pangasinan. Still, Iya strongly feels that she has what it takes to make it.

Like any other teen, 18 yr. old Jun is a bit insecure. He considers only a handful of people as his friends wherein the ones closest to him are his mom, his two sisters and his girlfriend. In spite of being half-Filipino, Jun can’t speak nor understand Tagalog and is not used to Pinoy culture. Still, Jun hopes that through his music he will be able to reach out to Filipinos. He actually had a hard time deciding whether or not to pursue PDA since he didn’t want to take a leave from school.

This 25-year-old domestic helper from Dubai almost didn’t make it to the Philippines for the final phase of the PDA screenings. This is because her employer did not want to let her go but she decided to pursue her dream even if it meant going against her employer’s wishes. Rosita worked in Dubai in order to send her siblings to school. She is the eighth among 12 siblings, two of which died due to separate accidents. Rosita endured all the hardships that she has encountered abroad in the hopes of being able to give her family a good life.

20-year-old Panky is very passionate about music. She is out to prove to the world that she is a good musician, who has the ability to compose and sing well. Her parents are separated which is why she is very protective of her mom. Meanwhile, her dad is a former actor and model who is now based abroad. She’s ambidextrous when it comes to playing the guitar and claims that she composes better when she’s depressed and is presently a member of a band.

22-year-old Eman has no qualms about being adopted. His father died when he was only 3 yrs. old which is why he was raised by his uncle. Even though he’s adopted, Eman never felt that he didn’t belong because his uncle and his family all love him. He took up Accountancy back in college then a 6-month caregiving course. He never pursued any of these careers because his heart was always in music. They say he takes up after his father who used to be a guitarist. He’s the vocalist of the band Kwatro Kantos.

20 yr. old Chai is a researcher and band vocalist. She likes to think of herself as an artist as she tries to compose her own songs for her Cebu-based band “Balde ni Allan”. Chai feels that she lacks direction as she wants to pursue all sorts of things, from being a theater artist to a singer Chai wants to try it all. Though she has good voice quality, Chai lacks versatility. She loves singing ethnic songs but she still has to explore other music genres.

20 yr. old Geoff works as a model since he had to stop going to school after his father stopped supporting him back in his sophomore year in college. Geoff actually never met his father, they only communicated through letters. In spite of everything, Geoff is really hopeful that he’ll one day meet his father – even just for a short time. He lives with his mother in Cagayan Valley.

The youngest of 5 siblings, Jay-R grew up having not much. He was forced to quit school in order to help out his parents. Jay-R used to live in Manila with his uncle who introduced him to the band scene, unfortunately Jay-R’s too young to work in a band that time and had to go back home to Cebu. Earlier this year, Jay-R got to pursue his dream and became the vocalist of Scrambled Eggs. Jay-R has big dreams for himself and is determined to make it big. He has a great voice but his distinct Visayan accent may be a problem.