Chito Miranda recently took to social media to clear his comments on a recent episode of Idol Philippines, as well as what it means to be a fan.
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If you’ve seen your fair share of reality competition shows, you probably know the drill of how the eliminations work. Most often, contestants move forward in the competition through votes from viewers at home. Usually, it’s those who have been doing a good job in the show that end up winning. But sometimes, the viewers and fans may send someone home whom some people may deem to be a mistake. That’s the situation Chito Miranda found himself in the most recent episode of Idol Philippines.
NO HATE TO TOP 8
On the August 28 episode of Idol Philippines, the show revealed who made it to the Top 8. And in the end, Ann Raniel, Bryan Chong, Delly Cuales, Khimo Gumatay, Kice, PJ Fabia, Ryssi Avila, and Trisha Gomez moved forward in the competition. Sadly, that meant that frontrunners Misha De Leon and Nisha Bedaña would be leaving the competition. The fan votes and the judges’ scores weren’t enough to save the two. That though didn’t sit well with some, including the judges.
Chito Miranda, who currently serves as a judge on the latest season of the hit reality show spoke on behalf of the judges saying, “I don’t know kung pwede kong sabihin ‘to pero we are devastated.” He added, “We are devastated pero we can only do so much as judges pero iba pa rin talaga ‘yung voting. Wala akong masabi.” Those comments though, especially since he was a judge, caused a stir on social media as some netizens assumed that he and the rest of the judging panel didn’t like who made it to the Top 8.
Following the episode’s airing, the Parokya ni Edgar frontman took to social media on August 30 to clear the rumors regarding his comments. In his post, Chito Miranda started by saying that he and the other Idol Philippines judges weren’t saddened by who made it forward. “We weren’t devastated because of those who made it sa Top 8. They deserve their spot…regardless kung trip mo sila o hindi. They worked sooo hard to get there and they got the scores that they needed from the judges, and the support and votes from their supporters.”
THE POWER OF THE FANS
He then went on to comment that it was through the hard work of the fans that brought the Top 8 to where they are now, acknowledging the power of the fandom. “Nag-effort ‘yung mga fans nila para bumoto. Sila yung tipo ng mga fans na willing gumastos para bumili ng tickets sa mga shows, sila ‘yung tipo ng mga fans na pipila para makabili ng CD, and sila yung mga tipo ng supporters na maglo-log in sa isang website para makaboto sa MYX upang manalo yung music video ng mga idol nila.” He adds, “Nagagalit ba kayo sa kanila if they support their idol, while you don’t actively support yours?”
Chito then goes on to mention the voting system of Idol Philippines, which includes measuring how strong the fan support is for their fave contestant through voting. “The format and mechanics used on Idol Philippines is dictated by the American Idol franchise, and sinusunod lamang ng Idol Philippines ang patakaran nila…and that includes online voting. They need to consider, include, and add into the equation ‘yung overall tenacity ng supporters when it comes to supporting their bets. And that counts for a large percentage of their total score.”
Tellingly, the musician shares that it was this lack of support from the fans that made him upset. “Dun ako na-upset: sa fact na wala masyadong nag-effort mag-vote para kay Misha and Nisha…because I felt that they deserved more from their supporters.” While fans of Misha and Nisha did for vote them, it obviously wasn’t enough to compete with the tenacity of support for the other constants. At the end of the day though, those votes get the contestants to the end.
SUPPORT YOUR FAVES HOWEVER YOU CAN
Chito expresses that instead of hating, fans should give an effort to show just how much they support their faves. “Instead of complaining, and asking Idol Philippines to change, and go against the format dictated by the American Idol Franchise, maybe it would be easier to simply make an effort to vote…just like what the others did for those they chose to support.”
He ends the post by saying, “Kung nagawa nila, kaya nyo din…kung gusto nyo.” While some may have felt that Misha and Nisha were robbed of a Top 8 placement, this isn’t the end of their journey. Their fans sadly weren’t strong enough to vote them in the Top 8. Those were the cards they were dealt with. Does not being able to vote enough times to save your fave a bad thing? Not necessarily. We all have our own levels of stanning. But as Chito said in his post, you should still give an effort to support them, especially with the way fan voting works in many of these competition shows.
Time and time again, we’ve seen reality show contestants make it far even if they didn’t win the show. So, whatever Misha and Nisha’s next career move will be, fans should be there to support them in their new journey. What Chito Miranda said should also serve as a reminder that at the end of the day, it will be the fans and supporters who take these artists to new heights. As the Top 8 continue their Idol journey, don’t forget to vote for those who you want to see to the end. Also, don’t forget to support your faves who didn’t make it to the end. Your support shouldn’t stop once their reality TV journey ends.
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