COVER VERSIONS

One of the acts to watch out for is singer-songwriter and ukulele artist Reneé Dominique. She started her own YouTube channel three years ago and now has over 35,000 subscribers and almost four million views.

The 18-year-old told her story of almost forgetting her passion for music when she was younger. But after her parents decided to homeschool her after she was bullied, she thought of getting back into playing music and started her own YouTube channel.

“It’s been a pretty long time of contemplation, but I thought, ‘Screw it, let’s do it,’” she said after her performance. “Now a lot of people recognize me for my ukulele and I get to connect to them, not just in the Philippines, but also around the world.”

Ms. Dominique’s first cover song was Ed Sheeran’s “A Team” done with an iPad for video recording. She has since done ukulele version of songs by The Beatles, Maroon 5, The Weeknd, among others. She also has written original songs including one called “Quiet,” which she dedicated to her crush who was really quiet when they were together.

Aside from the ukulele she also plays the piano and guitar, and was included in Star Music’s album OPM Fresh.

Another YouTube artist who does cover versions of popular songs is Karl Zarate, 22. This high- pitched singer debuted on YouTube with his cover of Southborder’s “Kahit Kailan” which got over a half a million views. Later he was able to collaborate with the original singers of the song, Luke Mijares and Jimmy Bondoc.

Mr. Zarate is also into vlogging (video blogging) and making song parodies, and often collaborates with fellow YouTube creators. His YouTube channel now has over 16,000 subscribers and more than 5 million views and counting.

Beyond YouTube, he has participated in reality talent shows such as RisingStars Philippines on TV5 and Just Duet on GMA 7.

NEWBIE

Multihyphenate Reese Lansangan — she is a singer-songwriter, visual