Last November 10, I saw the finals of Himig Handog on ASAP on TV. While this contest featured a lot of good music, there was one song that stood out for me: Kababata by Kritiko featuring Kyla (Kritiko wrote the song and also performs the rap parts). The live performance was so powerful that Ogie Alcasid and another judge - I think it was Erik Santos - gave Kritiko and Kyla a standing ovation after. I was so blown away by it that I immediately wanted to see it again. Here it is:
video uploaded by ABS-CBN Star Music
I couldn't immediately find this performance on youtube (it was uploaded the next day) but my search online brought me to the live performance with Angeline Quinto during the pre-finals. Kyla was unable to sing so Angeline subbed for her. What I loved about this was that the song was performed fully, as opposed to the shortened version during the finals. This allowed me to understand and appreciate it a lot more than I already did. I was clearly not the only one moved by it, as judge Yeng Constantino was in tears (you can see her reaction at the 4:55 to 5:02 mark of this next vid). Check out the pre-finals performance here:
video uploaded by ABS-CBN Star Music
This song for me is truly amazing. It is so well-written, with the lyrics projecting such vivid imagery that you feel emotionally invested in the story. The first half of the song is more nostalgic and wistful, about two people who were 'magkababata' or who grew up together. The singer shares a longing for that time when life was simpler and they were still together and how, at that time, they had dreams and plans. However, the second half is a lot more intense and painful: he returns to meet the girl as promised, but as it turns out, he only sees her ghost because she was raped and murdered. You don't hear songs with stories like this everyday.
My great interest in this song brought me to this video of Kritiko explaining how he came up with the story. Apparently, he had finished recording the song when he saw rape victims on the news. He then got inspired to revise the song he finished to change the ending. Here is the video of Kritiko talking about his inspiration for the song.
video uploaded by LionhearTV
Kababata ended up only in third place in Himig Handog and I immediately felt that it was robbed. This song was so revolutionary, so powerful, so well-written, and so well-performed that I strongly believed it should have won first place. As it turns out, I'm not the only one who thinks so. If you scroll through the comments in these videos I shared, you will see so many people saying they felt this should have won and that they were so moved and even brought to tears by it. I also feel that Kritiko should have won the One Music Philippines Favorite Interpreter Choice Award. While Sam Mangubat was indeed very expressive and moving in his rendition of Wala Kang Alam, I just felt Kritiko was better. You could really feel Kritiko's pain, grief, guilt, and anger as he took you on a truly emotional journey. (That said, maybe this award was given based on the recorded version and not the live performance.) The repeated line "Bakit nila sa yo 'to nagawa?!" (why did they do this to you? or how could they have done this to you?) gives me goosebumps each time. I've watched many times and I am still moved. Here's the offivial music video.
video uploaded by ABS-CBN Star Music
There were a lot of great songs released all over the world this year but this may actually be my favorite. I truly wish Kritiko greater success and that he continues to write great songs.
video uploaded by ABS-CBN Star Music
I couldn't immediately find this performance on youtube (it was uploaded the next day) but my search online brought me to the live performance with Angeline Quinto during the pre-finals. Kyla was unable to sing so Angeline subbed for her. What I loved about this was that the song was performed fully, as opposed to the shortened version during the finals. This allowed me to understand and appreciate it a lot more than I already did. I was clearly not the only one moved by it, as judge Yeng Constantino was in tears (you can see her reaction at the 4:55 to 5:02 mark of this next vid). Check out the pre-finals performance here:
video uploaded by ABS-CBN Star Music
This song for me is truly amazing. It is so well-written, with the lyrics projecting such vivid imagery that you feel emotionally invested in the story. The first half of the song is more nostalgic and wistful, about two people who were 'magkababata' or who grew up together. The singer shares a longing for that time when life was simpler and they were still together and how, at that time, they had dreams and plans. However, the second half is a lot more intense and painful: he returns to meet the girl as promised, but as it turns out, he only sees her ghost because she was raped and murdered. You don't hear songs with stories like this everyday.
My great interest in this song brought me to this video of Kritiko explaining how he came up with the story. Apparently, he had finished recording the song when he saw rape victims on the news. He then got inspired to revise the song he finished to change the ending. Here is the video of Kritiko talking about his inspiration for the song.
video uploaded by LionhearTV
Kababata ended up only in third place in Himig Handog and I immediately felt that it was robbed. This song was so revolutionary, so powerful, so well-written, and so well-performed that I strongly believed it should have won first place. As it turns out, I'm not the only one who thinks so. If you scroll through the comments in these videos I shared, you will see so many people saying they felt this should have won and that they were so moved and even brought to tears by it. I also feel that Kritiko should have won the One Music Philippines Favorite Interpreter Choice Award. While Sam Mangubat was indeed very expressive and moving in his rendition of Wala Kang Alam, I just felt Kritiko was better. You could really feel Kritiko's pain, grief, guilt, and anger as he took you on a truly emotional journey. (That said, maybe this award was given based on the recorded version and not the live performance.) The repeated line "Bakit nila sa yo 'to nagawa?!" (why did they do this to you? or how could they have done this to you?) gives me goosebumps each time. I've watched many times and I am still moved. Here's the offivial music video.
video uploaded by ABS-CBN Star Music
There were a lot of great songs released all over the world this year but this may actually be my favorite. I truly wish Kritiko greater success and that he continues to write great songs.
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