The Voice of the Philippines, the country's version of the very popular reality television franchise will start airing this coming Saturday on ABS-CBN. The Philippines will be the fourth country in Southeast Asia to get into the popular franchise which started as The Voice of Holland in the Netherlands. The first three Southeast Asian countries to get the franchise are Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand.
The show's main host will be actress Toni Gonzaga with her sister Alex Gonzaga and Robi Domingo as media correspondents and backstage hosts.
Serving as judges and coaches in the show are Sarah Geronimo, Bamboo Manalac, Lea Salonga and Apl.de.Ap. Sarah Geronimo, the youngest among the four judges, who rose to fame as singer after emerging as the winner of Star for a Night, a singing competition which aired then on GMA 7 and hosted by Regine Velasquez. Geronimo continued to achieve success as a singer while dabbling in television, movies, hosting and modelling.
Bamboo Manalac is one of the most popular musicians in the Philippines. He is a former vocalist for Rivermaya and Bamboo, two of the most successful rock bands in Philippine music history. Manalac now performs as a solo artist. He released a solo album in 2011 titled No Water, No Moon which contained the songs Questions, Please, Back On My Feet, In This Life, All Hail the Fool, Just Go and Ikot ng Mundo, among others.
Lea Salonga is most well-known worldwide for her performance as Kim in the musical Miss Saigon. She received multiple awards for her work on the musical including Olivier, Drama Desk, Theatre World, Tony and Outer Critics awards.
apl.de.ap is of course the Filipino American member of hip-hop group The Black Eyed Peas. He is also a rapper, producer and drummer. Together with The Black Eyed Peas, they've released seven successful studio albums - Grass Roots, Behind the Front, Bridging the Gap, Elephunk, Monkey Business, The End and The Beginning.
