Kagay-anon performers made a big splash with no less than six awards garnered between four artists during the recently concluded 35th ALIW & AWIT Awards.
Making a big splash in the 35th ALIW Awards held at the Manila Hotel on December 5, 2022 were Pianist Rudolf Golez and Baritone Cipriano Mercádo De Guzman, bothprofessors with the Liceo de Cagayan Conservatory of Music, Theatre and Dance.
Golez was acclaimed as the Best Instrumentalist, while De Guzman won as Best Male Performance in a Concert.
Both were previously nominated during the 34th Aliw Awards held 2020 at the Manila Hotel for the same categories.
“To be nominated twice in one of the most established and prestigious award giving bodies in the Philippines is already a great honor, winning the award is just the cherry on top! Thank you very much Aliw Awards Foundation! Mabuhay ang mga Musikerong Pilipino!” De Guzman exclaimed in a correspondence with this writer.
The 35th ALIW AWARDS
The Aliw Awards Foundation, Inc. commemorated its 45th year anniversary with the 35th Annual ALIW Awards Night on December 5, 2022 at the Fiesta Pavilion of the historic The Manila Hotel in Manila.
Founding President Alice H. Reyes disclosed that due to the dearth of live performances during the pandemic, there were less categories, although two new ones were added.
The Legacy Award is bestowed upon individuals who have left their mark in the fields of live entertainment and public service, while the Excellence Award is given to socio-civic organizations that have promoted culture and live entertainment through specific projects for which they expended time, effort and money.
This year’s honorees for the ALIW Lifetime Achievement Awards includes theater actress and comedienne Nanette Inventor, violinist John Lesaca, Johnny Manahan, Vic Del Rosario and Jay Enriquez.
“Aliw Awards Foundation was the first ever award-giving body to give due recognition to the country’s live entertainers,” Reyes said. “Receiving an Aliw Award, particularly the Entertainer of the Year award, for a live entertainer, was considered a definite plum because the goal of an entertainer is not only to entertain, but also to receive acclaim of his or her audience, manifested through the applause given him.
So what does it mean for an entertainer to win an Aliw Award?
“I guess it is the recognition of their excellence in their craft, the satisfaction in the knowledge that they have “arrived”, so to speak, the adulation of their audience manifested through their applause,”
Reyes noted.
“All they have to do to earn an Aliw award is to strive to excel in their particular fields, and the Aliw Awards Foundation is right there, waiting to give them the recognition they deserve.”
The 35th AWIT Awards
Kristine KZ Tandingan, a Kagay-anon by affiliation by virtue of her marriage to Kagay-anon top recording artist TJ Monterde, was a big winner with three (one individual and two shared) awards during the 35th Awit Awards held at the Newport Performing Arts Theater in Pasay City on November 23.
KZ won Best Performance by a Female Recording Artist for the song 11:59 recorded with AFPI (Tarsier Records); and shared the Best Collaboration Award for the song Sabel she performed with Ben&Ben, and recorded with Sony Music Entertainment Philippines; and Best World Music Recording, also for Sabel with producers Toni Muñoz and Jean Paul Verona, and composers Miguel Benjamin G. Guico, Paolo Benjamin G. Guico, and Toni Muñoz.
Another big Kagay-anon winner was pop singer Maymay Entrata, who won Favorite Female Artist at the same event..
Maymay, who was born in Camiguin and raised in Cagayan de Oro City, shared her gratitude for the award in a recent Instagram post, saying, “Isa po ito sa patunay na bunga ng pinag-aralan ko dito po sa industriya ng musika (This helps prove all that I’ve learned here in the music industry).”
The Awit Awards
The AWIT AWARDS is an expression of the Filipino’s undying passion for music – music etched in every Filipino’s heart. It is the longest-running and most credible music award-giving body in the Philippines.
Awit Awards is a prestigious award-giving body, spearheaded by PARI (The Philippine Association Of The Record Industry, Inc.), that gives recognition to Filipino performing artists and people behind the making of Filipino recorded music.
This year’s Awit Awards Committee is chaired by Jesmon L. Chua, with Flerry L. de Leon, Rene A. Salta, Alvin F. de Vera, Bernie F. Refuerzo, Jing B. Castro, and Marivic A. Benedicto as members.
Among its objectives are to recognize exceptional works of music and the people working behind it; promote the Philippine music industry, artistry, and legacy; champion music making and production, at par with global trends and excellence; showcase talents in an event dedicated to music; and reinforce the fight against music piracy.
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