In this archipelago of ours, karaoke and its twin, videoke, are staples in any celebration, while the Songbird, Nightingale, Phoenix, Popstar Queen, Concert Queen serve as inspirations and aspirations of believers and singers.

Thus, we all no longer wonder if the men and women of the academe — teachers — dream and possess what it takes to become the next singing singular sensation.

To realize this, Dr. Carl E. Balita and film director Cathy Garcia-Sampana formed a partnership that will showcase the singing prowess of teachers via the latest singing competition billed as "Gimme a Break: Teachers Edition."

Balita and Garcia-Sampana's talent search competition has for its main objective to discover, mentor and hone formidable talents, who are not only singers but total performers and yes, they must be present and future educators.

The first force behind this novel singing contest, Dr. Carl E. Balita is the president and chief executive officer of the Dr. Carl E. Balita Review Center, or popularly known as CBRC.

CBRC has almost 200 branches in major cities locally and internationally, and it happens to be the home of hundreds of topnotchers and a million board passers that include a wide array of professionals, such as teachers, nurses, midwives, criminologists, agriculturists and many more.

This fact earned Balita the title of the "Father of Philippine Review."

The powerful feminine in this competition is multi-awarded and blockbuster director Cathy Garcia-Sampana, who heads NICKL Entertainment Corp. as its president and CEO.

Direk Cathy's NICKL Entertainment is composed of passionate professional with decades of experience and expertise in the fields of motion picture, broadcasting and entertainment. The group caters to audiences with discriminating tastes for entertainment.

Display of amazing Filipino talent

Balita said: "I want to share that I am a dreamcatcher, and that as the years progressed, I have developed an eye and feel for talented people. Because of this, I make it a point to create opportunities for what I can call as diamonds in the rough, providing them the platform to express themselves whether through music, film or the classroom."

He carried on: "In a serendipitous moment, I met Direk Cathy. Everything in that destined meeting, ang gaan, ang bilis ng usapan (the discussion was light and quick) between two creative minds and passionate individuals, who are both set to discovering untapped potentials to mold and hone. Isang (A) once-in-a-lifetime meeting, 'tapos, sunod-sunod na ang magagandang pangyayari (then good things came in succession)."

"'Gimme a Break' is dedicated to putting the spotlight on Filipino talents," said Direk Cathy. "With my NICKL Entertainment team, we are all here to be of assistance to local artists by giving them a chance to show what they've got. Let me backtrack a little, three years ago, songwriters were what we looked for. The contest ran for a year until the best one emerged among the roster of talented songwriters. His name is Chard Salazar, a.k.a. Putito Chief, who has now written a song for SB19."

The box office director continued: "Now, the educators are our targets. In this teacher edition, we have already chosen four male and four female contenders who will undergo a series of challenges until they reach the finale. Their identities will be hidden by wearing a mask throughout the competition. It is the voice and talent that we are giving emphasis.

"Yes, looks matter in the business but what will give you longevity and respectability is 'yung mahusay at magaling ka talagang kumanta (being good at singing). Hindi 'yung (Not just) you won because of your looks or there is a sob story that goes with it."

Serving as coaches of the talented eight contestants are Frenchie Dy, Beverly Salviejo, Rocky Garcia, Joross Gamboa and Jeffrey Tam.

This panel of experts will also serve as judges during the final round along with Dr. Carl Balita and Direk Cathy Garcia-Sampana.

Up for grabs

"Gimme a Break: Teachers Edition" has the following prizes: The second runner-up will receive P20,000. The first runner-up will receive P30,000. The grand champion will receive P50,000 and an exclusive contract with CLINjK Artist Management Inc., which is NICKL Entertainment's sister company.

The Final Reveal happens on 10 April. The promise of bringing out the best in Filipinos is fulfilled and the journey to singing singular sensation begins!

"Gimme a Break: Teachers Edition" is brought to you by the Dr. Carl E. Balita Review Center and NICKL Entertainment.