Acapellago sweeps Vokal Total Awards
They may be viral sensations in their home country for their cute version of the kiddie song Tatlong Bibe but to the judges of the prestigious Vokal Total International Acappella Competition, our Acapellago are the best a cappella singers in the whole world today. The talented vocal ensemble that hails from Bulacan, bested entries from several countries last July 19 to win all of the major prizes at stake in the contest.
It was a clean sweep for the only Asian entry to make the cut this year. Acapellago won the Gold Prize in the Pop Category, was given the Audience Award, which means they were voted the audience’s favorite contestants and best of all copped the most coveted plum of them all, the Ward Swingle Award. The prize was named after the founder of the most admired pop/jazz a cappella group of all time, the Swingle Singers. The groups Blended from Germany and Alti & Bassi from Italy came in second and third places.
Vokal Total International is held every summer in the beautiful city of Graz in Austria. For one week of full of vocal craziness, a cappella groups meet to compete, share their talents, make friends and most of all, promote a cappella singing. This means singing without any musical accompaniment, live or otherwise. It is blended human voices that provide the music and whether simple or intricate, those vocal arrangements never fail to impress listeners.
Watching Acapellago on the Vokal Total live stream in performance of their awardwinning set, was not only impressive, it was a goose-bump inducing treat for all music lovers, especially for the Filipinos who were sure our entry was the best. It was the fabled Pinoy music artistry in grand display. And what a joy to later find out that all of the judges and even the audience agreed with us. Do check it out on the web to find out why and share the good feelings of the proud moment.
Here now is the repertoire that wowed Graz. Michelle Corpuz Pascual, soprano; Almond Pondevida Bolante, counter-tenor; Joshua Fernandez Cadelina, tenor; Ronnel Allen Roman Laderas, bass; and his brother Ricky Gavin Roman Laderas, the beatboxer, performed Ain’t No Other Man by Christina Aguilera, Conga by Gloria Estefan, Safe And
Sound, the Taylor Swift song with Capital Cities from the soundtrack of The Hunger
Games and Queen Of The Night by Whitney Houston based on the Marvin Querido arrangement for Lani Misalucha.
While victory at Vokal Total is a major win for these kids, it is a fact that Acapellago are really no strangers to winning. In fact, they started out in the business by winning. Acapellago was discovered in the Akapela Open Competition which has arranger, composer and long-time a cappella proponent Ryan Cayabyab at the helm. This was followed two years later with the Gold Award win at the A Cappella Championships 2015, that was held at the ITE College Central in Singapore.
A year later last Sept. 24, 2016, the group bagged the top prize at the AKA VIII A Cappella Asia Pacific Championship League competition also held in Singapore. The invitational-only- sudden-death face-off was the closing highlight of the event that saw a cappella champions from the region vying for the championship title. Acapellago also won the Audience Award, while members Michelle and Ron won for Best Lead Vocals and Best Bass Performer. Deke Sharon of the
Pitch Perfect series of movies was the chairman of the board of judges.
Acapellago are under the Viva Records label and are now getting their debut album ready for release. The first single Peroplano is now out. Aside from the very famous Tatlong
Bibe, Acapellago have a collection of a cappella versions of current favorites like 24K Magic, One Call Away, Sorry, On The Wings Of Love, Triangulo, Uptown Funk, Break Free and many others available for streaming or downloading on the Internet.
One thing more. Those interested in a cappella singing might want to check out the Combi-Nation A Cappella Battle of Singing Barkadas endorsed by Acapellago for the famous Rebisco Combi biscuits.