Wondering what T.O.P. is?

T.O.P. has an album. Now just in case you are wondering who or what T.O.P. is, this is the Top One Project and it is the newest boy band in town. The group is composed of Adrian Pascual, 17; Miko M. 22; Louie Pedroso, 20; Mico C., 21; and Joshua Jacobe, 22. They were the winners of the GMA 7 Network’s multi-platform boy band competition titled To The Top of almost a year ago.

If I remember right, the show invited young male singers to compete in the contest first as soloists, after which the winners in the auditions were assembled to form six teams. These groups were then placed under the mentorship of some knowledgeable people in the music industry for intensive training.

These were Moy Ortiz, Sweet Plantado and OJ Mariano, members of the famous vocal group The CompanY, songwriters and producers Chino David, Brian Lotho, Tony V and Jon Ong from the Sonic State Audio; the Philippine All Stars dancers Madelle and Prince Palter-ob and Jessie “Reflex” Gotangco; and most of all, the maestro himself Ryan Cayabyab, whose music made the now defunct Smokey Mountain group truly memorable.

After weeks of intensive training under those experts and the dreaded elimination rounds, five boys from the various teams were left standing. And these guys were the ones put together as a boy band in the end. They were told that they had now become a boy band and it would be good for everybody if they would stick together.  Apparently, they took the order to heart and stayed together. Here now is the result of their efforts, the T.O.P.  album, which they and the GMA Network hope would produce some hits and make T.O.P. a success.

The album was produced entirely by Sonic State Audio and GMA Records. It is made up entirely of new originals, five of which came from the Sonic State team.  These are the first single release Pag-gising, plus Bakit Gano’n, Alaala, Kaya Ko Kaya Mo, and Somebody. One song titled San Na is a group effort by Louie P. and Mico C. with production input from the other boys. One laudable part of the To The Top contest was that the participants were also encouraged to improve their songwriting skills.

Although there are distinct traces of R&B in the songs, the T.O.P. sound is basically light pop, which is nice because this type of music appeals to a wide market.  What I do not know is how it will appeal to the young female fans, which is almost always the target market of boy bands. It is these girls who buy the songs, scream during concerts and would die for photo-ops with their idols. 

Come to think of it though, because of some strange and unknown quirk, Filipinos have never really gone crazy over local boy bands. We adore boy bands but they have to be foreign, American, British or Korean. This is why we swoon over the boys of One Direction and we still fill up Backstreet Boys shows to the rafters to this day. Oh, we like local bands, too, but they have to be like the Eraserheads or Itchyworms or Kamikazee, etc.

I think this is why we have never really had a successful Filipino group in the boy band mold. Would you call the Apo Hiking Society a boy band? No. What about the VST&Co? They did boy band sounds but were they really a boy band? The Neocolors is the closest I can think of although the members played instruments and did not dance. Maybe with all the training they got, T.O.P. can soon change that situation.

Meanwhile, here are the top videos in the Pinoy MYX Countdown for this week. There are no boy bands in the list: 7 Minutes by Darren Espanto; Summer Time Love by Juan Karlos Labajo; This Time by James Reid and Nadine Lustre; Di Na Kita Mahal by Silent Sanctuary; Hoy by Gloc-9; Outlaw by Sandwich; You Or Nothing by Hale; Coda by Sponge Cola; Two Four by Gracenote; O Pag-ibig by Ylona Garcia & Bailey May.

Di Ka Man Lang Nagpaalam by Juan Karlos Labajo; Five Ever by Mayonnaise; Sana Mali by Moonstar88; Imahinasyon by TJ Monterde; Half A Million by Karylle; Mananatili by Janella Salvador and Mario Mortel; Liwanag by Aicelle Santos; Cheap Thrill by Pupil; Got To Have You by Young JV; and Bolang Kristal by Abra featuring KZ Tandingan.