As a child, he learnt to sing from his Filipino mother who loved karaoke, and now teenager Lukas Janisch has won The Voice Kids Germany.
Impressing the coaches and viewers with his singing voice and piano-playing, the 13-year-old bagged the crown by winning the most public votes on the reality-singing competition last weekend.
Mentored by celebrity coach Mark Foster, Filipino-Austrian Janisch covered Alicia Keys's If I Ain't Got You and Adele's When We Were Young for his final performance. The youngster's mother hails from the town of Palompon in the Philippine province of Leyte, while his father is from Furstenfeld, Austria, where the family lives.
Janisch won a recording deal as part of his prize after seeing off the challenge from fellow finalists Ridon Jakupi, Matteo Bok, Shanice and Lara Blob.
He auditioned for the show last month when he performed Fallin', another hit from Keys. All three coaches – Foster, Lena Meyer-Landrut and Sasha Alexander – turned their chairs in approval and gave him a standing ovation. Janisch told them he had grown up singing karaoke with his mother.
This was the fourth edition of The Voice Kids Germany, a franchise of the global reality-singing programme. It is open to contestants ages 8 to 14.
Reid and Lustre visit nurses in London
After visiting Dubai and Doha this month as part of their international concert tour, Filipino superstars James Reid and Nadine Lustre flew to London last weekend to entertain fans in England. Admirers were spotted waiting at Heathrow International Airport past midnight on Saturday for their arrival, similar to the scenes at Dubai International Airport last week, when fans waited until after three in the morning to greet Reid and Lustre.
In addition to performing a sell-out show in London, the popular on-screen duo took time out to visit Filipino nurses at Ashford and St Peter’s Hospital in the city.
“Filipino nurses have the reputation of being the best,” Reid told ABS-CBN News. “My message to them is to keep up the hard work.” “We’re very grateful that we are being appreciated,” said Rizelda Ramirez, a nurse at the hospital. “Our hard work as OFWs [overseas Filipino workers] is appreciated.” Reid and Lustre also visited and entertained patients being cared for by the nurses.
After their London stop on Saturday, the stars flew to Milan on Sunday, where they performed at another sold-out show.
Filipinos bag major roles in Miss Saigon
After holding auditions in Manila throughout this month, the producers of the classic musical, Miss Saigon, have found two Filipino performers who will join the cast for the show's revival on Broadway in New York next year.
Claude-Michel Schonberg, the Frenchman who wrote the book and composed the music of Miss Saigon in 1989, made the announcement on the news programme TV Patrol, but did not name the successful pair or the roles they will play.
"The callback for the audition of Miss Saigon was very, very good," said Schonberg. "We found two new people and that's very exciting because these are two parts that are very difficult to cast. But as usual, in the Philippines, the best can be expected."
According to director Bobby Garcia, more than 900 people auditioned, singing 16 bars of a song from the musical. Lea Salonga, Rachelle Ann Go and Jon Jon Briones are among the show’s former Filipino stars.
Of Sinners and Saints wins big in Los Angeles
An independent drama from the Philippines has taken three awards at the 2016 International Independent Film Awards in Los Angeles, California.
Of Sinners and Saints, directed by and starring Filipino-Italian actor-filmmaker Ruben Maria Soriquez, won Best Actor, Best Original Score and Best Narrative Feature.
The film, which also features veteran Filipino actor Raymond Bagatsing, had its premiere at the World Premieres Film Festival in Manila last year. Soriquez stars as a Catholic priest from Rome who is sent to a parish in Payatas, one of the poorest neighbourhoods in the Philippines.
"The inspiration is to put the spotlight on some problems here in the Philippines, such as child abuse, violence against women and poverty," Soriquez told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
After a long career in acting and directing in Italy, 43-year-old Soriquez moved to the Philippines in 2013 with his Filipino wife and son. He was born and raised in Bologna, Italy, by his Filipino father and Italian mother.
artslife@thenational.ae
