X Factor Australia’s Cyrus Villanueva shows versatility

It is just too bad that we do not get The X Factor Australia on local TV but I have heard him being talked about. How this guy from the show could take any song and put a Sam Smith spin to it. He looked very attractive, too, and girls were just falling all over themselves to get close to him. That guy was Cyrus Villanueva and he became even more interesting when it was revealed that he was part-Filipino. It felt great thinking that that was why he looked and he sounded so good. Pinoy kasi siya.

So with his fantastic vocals and with all the good vibes from Pinoys all over the world who were rooting for him, the 19-year-old Cyrus, a graphic design student from the University of Wollongong, became the X Factor Australia Season 7 champ in 2015. By the way, The X Factor Australia’s Season 6 winner was also Filipino, the young girl Marlisa Punzalan. This year’s Season 8 still has to air. For all we know, given the good batting average, the next champ might also be Filipino. Let us hope.

As for Cyrus, whose father still performs solo or with a band, he cannot only do a Sam Smith with any song. He has actually developed his own pop/soul style and it is the kind that sounds great with anything. This interesting quality is brought to fore in his first album release also titled Cyrus, under his contract with Sony Music Australia and distributed here by Ivory.  

Cyrus is a collection of current hits and for a while there, I wondered why such a promising new artist was given covers to record for his debut album. But that was until I realized that those were the songs that earned him the grand prize because he performed them well in the show with his own arrangements. He is a natural singer with an easy way of twisting the melodies. The results are very good that truth to tell, I have told myself that I would advise aspiring singers around here to listen to Cyrus and learn how to make a song their own.

See how varied were his song choices.  He goes from dance to rock to techno and others easily and these all came out perfectly suited to his soulful pop style. Included are Dancing On My Own by Robyn; Earned It by The Weeknd; Wicked Game by Chris Isaak; Hold Back The River by James Bay; Rumour Has It by Adele; Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door by Bob Dylan; Jealous by Labrinth; Don’t by Ed Sheeran; Love Me Like You Do by Ellie Goulding; and In The Air Tonight by Phil Collins.

Cyrus also contains Stone, the original song composed by TMS and Bobby Andonov for the X Factor finale show. This was released as the album’s first single. And because he is also a promising songwriter, Stone was followed by Cyrus’ own composition titled Keep Talkin.’

Also out of Australia and of The X Factor is heartthrob Jai Waetford. Jai ended up in third place in Season 5 after winner Dami Im and Taylor Henderson. He has been dubbed the Justin Bieber of the Land Down Under doubtless because he is young and very good-looking. But this kid from New South Wales has better pipes than the Biebs. Jai would never have lasted in the rigid competition at X Factor if he could not sing.

Jai got a Gold Record Award with his very first single, Your Eyes, which he co-wrote. He has since then released four well-received extended play albums under Sony Music. His latest is titled Heart Miles. Jai has turned actor with a regular role in the long-running soap series Neighbors and he also often goes on tour.

Heart Miles includes Waves, Words, The Nights We Won’t Remember, Heart Rules, Elements, Living Not Dreaming, The Worst Goodbye and Shy, all of which were co-written by Jai, who by the way, is only 17 years old. He was only 15 when he joined The X Factor. His inspiration for the songs was his girlfriend who lives in the U.S. of A. That is quite a long way from Australia. No wonder his songs are so lovelorn.