An alumnus of De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde’s (DLS-CSB) School of Hotel, Restaurant, and Institution Management (SHRIM), 24-year old Butuan native Lance Busa placed third in the first-ever Philippine reality singing television competition on ABS-CBN “Idol Philippines” yesterday, July 28.
Screenshot from "Idol Philippines"
Busa began his “Idol” journey when he performed a rendition of Bobby Caldwell’s “What You Won’t Do For Love.” Idol Philippines judges Vice Ganda and Moira dela Torre commented on Busa’s effortless funky sound which drew comparisons with Idol Philippines presenter Billy Crawford and R&B/funk superstar Bruno Mars, respectively.
During his audition, Busa said his voice wasn’t accepted and fit for a local audience. “Actually natatakot po talaga ako to do this sound kasi lagi po ako nasasabihan na “Try mo na sa ibang bansa kasi ‘di naman bagay ‘yan dito.” So tinry ko po sa ibang bansa… Malaysia po, tapos hindi po ‘yun ‘yung buong kaligayahan ko, gusto ko po umuwi.”
End of the line
The finale of the show aired on two nights, July 27 and July 28. On the first night, Busa performed his rendition of “Lean on Me” by Bill Withers and was placed at the Bottom three garnering a combined vote of 69.45% but was after named part of the final three alongside Zephanie Dimaranan and Lucas Garcia.
On the second night, Busa performed “Akin Ka Na Lang” by Morissette Amon and his own song for the show, “Kapit Lang.” Busa finished in third place garnering a combined vote of 41.89%.
Dimaranan won the competition, garnering 100 percent of combined viewers’ and judges' votes, while Garcia placed second (70.2 percent of combined votes) and Busa settled for third.
Before “Idol”
Busa struggles to continue to express himself in showing off his identity and appealing to the audience. However, he is no stranger to talent shows, being a finalist of GMA Network’s 2015 boyband search, “To The Top.”
In 2017, Busa became the grand winner of the first edition of Michael Bolton’s talent competition show, “Bolt of Talent” in Malaysia and opened Bolton’s “Asian Dream Tour.”
Busa’s “Idol” journey may have ended, but he will be appearing in the Sunday musical-variety show “ASAP” on ABS-CBN.
