Entertainment
Singer-Comedian “Ethel Booba Hailed As The First Tawag Ng Tanghalan Celebrity Champion
47-year-old singer-comedienne and social media personality Ethel “Booba” Gabison was hailed as the champion in the grand finals of “Tawag ng Tanghalan” celebrity edition, held last Saturday, November 9.
After a month of competing with other celebrity contenders, Ethel was given a spot in the top 3 finalists, along with Jason Fernandez and Roxanne Barcelo.
But in their last song number, she performed her own rendition of Nonoy Zuñiga’s “I’ll Never Say Goodbye,” where she gained the highest total average score of 39.82 percent.
Abs Cbn
She took home P300,000 cash, tax-free, a pair of customized in-ear monitors, a trophy carved by Toym Imao, and a recording contract from TNT Music.
The singer-comedienne defeated the performances of former Rivermaya vocalist Jason Fernandez, who sang “Next In Line” by After Image. He came in second with a score of 36.79 percent, followed by Roxanne Barcelo’s own version of Gary Valenciano’s classic song “How Did You Know,” where she got a score of 23.39 percent.
Credits to the Owner
Their total score was a combination of the score given by the “hurados” and the text votes of madlang people.
It’s Showtime “Tawag ng Tanghalan” hurados present in the grand finals were Ogie Alcasid, Zsazsa Padilla, Randy Santiago, Karylle, Nyoy Volante, Mitoy, Jolina Magdangal, Karla Estrada, Dulce, and Punong Hurado, composer and arranger Maestro Louie Ocampo.
Credits to the Owner
Other celebrity contenders who made it to the grand finals are Brenan Espartinez, Anna Ramsey, Thor Dulay, and Apple Chiu.
Ethel first rose to fame after winning the karaoke singing competition of ABC 5/TV5 “Sing Galing.” She eventually landed as one of the hosts of GMA-7’s reality show, Extra Challenge.
She has also been known as a freelance artist and a social media personality for her witty tweets. The singer-comedian launched her first book titled #Charotism: The Wit and Wisdom of Ethel Booba on September 18, 2016.
