No one wants to put it this bluntly these days: Because we Pinoys in the Philippines never made a singing champion of Sofronio Vasquez, he went back home to Ozamis City, Misamis Occidental in 2019, after emerging third place only in Tawag ng Tanghalan, All-Star Grand Resbak and eventually completed his dentistry course in his home province. In 2022, he went to the US to work as a dental assistant, and joined The Voice USA this year. The rest is (new) history, of course.

As recently recalled by ABS-CBN News,  Vasquez first joined  Tawag ng Tanghalan, a major segment on It’s Showtime, in 2016 but he fell short of qualifying to be a finalist. He competed for the second time in 2017 and reached the semifinals.

Vasquez returned to the competition in 2019 by joining the TNT All-Star Grand Resbak where he finished as a grand finalist.

Having become grand winner in The Voice USA, Vasquez gratefully acknowledged in a live interview on It’s Showtime, on 12 December (in the Philippines) that it was in Tawag ng Tanghalan that he was “nabatak” (stretched) as a singer. And instead of saying he didn’t become a favorite of any of the judges, Vasquez decided recently, too, to repost Rey Valera’s comment about him as head judge in that Resbak edition. 

It was actually some netizens who first reposted Valera’s comment. Vasquez saw one of them and decided to share it through his Instagram Stories.

Valera told him on-camera before the final result of the 2019 Resbak edition was announced: “Alam mo gumawa ka ng reputasyon dito, ha, at tuwing makikita kita sa labas, ang meaning ko, tuwing magkakasalubong tayo, ikaw lang yung nakikita kong walang kasama.

“Wala, ikaw lang mag-isa, you’re all alone. Hindi ko maintindihan why? I think [may pagkakapareho] tayo konti.

“You are your best friend. Ikaw ang mentor mo, sarili mo. Ikaw na rin ‘yung cheering squad mo at the same time. Kung hindi ka man ngitian ng Lady Luck ngayon, I’m sure dahil ‘yon sa alam niya na ikaw ang gagawa ng sarili mong suwerte at hindi mo siya kailangan.

“Because ‘yung ganyang klaseng tao, you will always find your way (You know, you have made an impression for yourself here. And every time I would see you outside, whenever we bumped into each other, you would be alone. I guess we are similar in that way. You are your own best friend — your own mentor. If lady luck does not smile on you now, I believe it is because she knows that you will create your own luck. You don’t need her. Because you are that kind of person, you will find your own way).”

But one reason Vasquez was alone most of the time is that he most likely did not have friends in Metro Manila. His family and friends were is in Ozamis City. Only his oldest brother was going with him to Metro Manila.

Vasquez also recalled that he joined the “blind audition” in The Voice Philippines in 2014, and no coach turned around for him. 

Ironically, in his blind audition in The Voice USA, he is believed to be the first to have a four-chair turns from the coaches Michael Bublé, Gwen Stefani, Reba McEntire, and Snoop Dogg. Vasquez chose to be with the Bubble team.