Singing, like basketball, remains a national pastime in the Philippines. Singing competitions have proven time and again to be a big ticket for those aspiring to stardom in the local music scene. This was evident during the grand finals of one of the country’s longest-running singing and songwriting competitions, Your Song of Excellence: Duo Legacy, now on its fourth season. The event was recently held at Market! Market! in Taguig City and was hosted by multi-awarded singer-songwriter Nicole Asensio.

Unlike previous seasons of Your Song of Excellence, this year’s format featured singing-songwriting duos competing against other pairs from all over the country. These duos gave their all during the auditions, preliminaries, semifinal stages and ultimately, the grand finale, where three duos were chosen.

During the grand finals, each duo was tasked with performing two full songs — a Taiwan Excellence Jingle and a Taiwan Excellence Core Value Song — with a maximum length of three minutes and 30 seconds.

Criteria

The Taiwan Excellence Jingle should include the phrases “Taiwan Excellence” and “The Best Made in Taiwan.” For the second song, the mentor-judges and their Duo Grand Finalist must choose one of the core values of Taiwan Excellence -- innovation, interest, sustainability or global quality -- and use that core value as the theme for their song.

The competition leading up to the grand finals was tough and arduous. Finally, the top three singing duos duked it out one last time on 31 August to determine the winner. Choosing only one winner from the three grand finalists proved even tougher for the judge-mentors: Yeng Constantino, Ice Seguerra, Paulo Zarate and Kean Cipriano.

Mandarhyme Duo, composed of Rusty Loayon and Janine Loayon, prevailed and won P300,000 as the grand winner. First runner-up was Haranajeeb Duo, composed of Khen Aldovino and Nephtali Fajardo, who took home P200,000. The Unexpected Duo, composed of Vench Larenas and Renz Salazar, went home with P100,000 as the second runner-up.

The packed venue, full of supporters and weekend visitors, cheered on the grand finalists’ performances, showing once again that Filipinos can be proud of their singing talent.

Support

Your Song of Excellence: Duo Legacy was made even more special by the presence of officials from the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) and the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in the Philippines. Brian Lee, TAITRA’s executive director of Strategic Marketing, and Alex Lai, director of the Taiwan Trade Center Manila, joined Wallace Chow, TECO Ambassador, and Josephine Shun, TECO’s director of the Economic Division.

“Legacies are better built by strong partnerships, and “Your Song of Excellence” is a perfect example of how partnerships can be life-changing. This competition not only showcases the incredible talent of Filipino singers and songwriters but also highlights the shared passion for music between the Philippines and Taiwan,” Lee said.

He also expressed pride in TAITRA’s role in launching this event, adding, “We are particularly proud to have introduced this celebration of musical excellence to the Philippines. Alongside this, we are equally dedicated to promoting Taiwan’s finest innovations through the Taiwan Excellence initiative, which represents the pinnacle of Taiwanese ingenuity.”

He also thanked Derma Angel, the event’s Premier Partner, and major partners Acer, Aorus, AOpen, Asus, DLink, Gigabyte, Kymco, MSI Gaming, PC Express, Republic of Gamers, Tatung and Xyzel.

“TECO is honored to be part of this day’s showcase of Filipino world-class talent and admirable passion for music. World-class and passion — two notable values that are evident in both the Filipinos and the Taiwanese,” explained Chow.

He added that the momentous event also presents the influential power of partnerships, making a duo legacy a better legacy. “Taiwan and the Philippines have been in a duo, creating and inspiring legacies for many generations in various aspects of social, economic, cultural and environmental purposes. And that has to be celebrated in music filled with stories of strengthened collaborations,” Chow said.

“We believe that this nationwide singing and songwriting contest is just one of the many ways of Taiwan Excellence, graciously mounted by TAITRA, that there will always be opportunities offered, to be taken, to work hard for and to win,” Chow concluded.

Watch the livestream of “Your Song Of Excellence: Duo Legacy” at https://www.facebook.com/share/v/6q5rmdn2uhwz5WTA/.