The one reason why many people fail to succeed is because they easily lose hope and give up in the face of setbacks. Whether aware of this pitfall or not, Patricia Janine Dusaran Berdin has always led her young life believing that dreams take time, effort, risks and unwavering patience to come true, which she deservingly proved in front of millions of people.
Popularly known today as Janine Berdin, this small powerhouse of a singing voice who eventually became “Tawag ng Tanghalan” champion always knew she wanted to pursue a career in show business. But before taking the first of many difficult and disappointing steps, she steeled herself with what she knew was sure to come. Rejection after rejection that would have destroyed the toughest of egos.
At age eight, Berdin first tried to break into the business when she joined ABS-CBN’s “Star Circle Quest: Search for the Next Kiddie Superstars (Season 4)” in 2010. While only finishing as fourth to “Grand Questors” Clarence Delgado and Brenna Peñaflor, she valued and learned from the experience of joining the talent search, bringing it with her as she vowed to keep on going.
“My parents and I really went to Manila from Cebu just to audition for Star Circle Quest. I remember at that time the number of auditionees were around 6,000, but luckily, the night after my audition, someone called us up saying I was included in the Top 120,” the 16-year-old lady with a rock star’s voice recalled to The Sunday Times Magazine before she went on stage to entertain guests at The Manila Times’ 120th Anniversary celebration at Conrad Hotel on October 24.
“The day after, we had a look test and I didn’t pass that part and that was it for Star Circle Quest. I forced my parents to take me to Manila but I made sure not to expect too much, and I was right. It didn’t end well so we went back to Cebu.”
Most probably, the heavens looked down on this little girl’s strength of character and humility because just as she watched the talent show begin airing on ABS-CBN, her mom received a text message from the program staff, informing them that a contestant had backed out and she was chosen to be the replacement.
“So we flew back to Manila, carrying song material we had remixed from a computer shop because we were given a requirement to submit a one-minute and 30-seconder demo,” Berdin continued. “But when we got there, I was told they didn’t need me to sing anymore and suggested I compete with acting as my talent instead.”
Giggling sheepishly, the sweet Cebuana revealed that was the one time she felt like backing out because she had no confidence in acting.
“But maybe they saw something in me during the first audition because they encouraged me to give it a go since I was the only one chosen as a replacement contestant out of the 120 who were called back and re-screened down to 60.”
Compelled to see the opportunity through, Berdin set aside her fears—and her love for music—and threw herself into the competition. Perseverance again secured her a spot in the final Top 4 and in bit roles for such shows as “Maalaala Mo Kaya,” “Wansapanataym” and “Annaliza,” to name a few.
“I was cast as the younger versions of the female leads, or the younger sister of Toni Gonzaga, and the best friend of Xyriel Manabat…” she enumerated. “So maganda naman po yung outcome ng Star Circle Quest kahit hindi ako nakaabot ng grand finals. The good thing po kasi was that all of the kids who were included in the Top 10 were given certified contracts from Star Magic,” she added, ever grateful for everything that brought her closer to her dream.
“After that, my family thought about my schooling and who would join me in Manila if whenever I had projects. Mabuti po at that time I had an auntie living here in the city so I stayed with her. The rest of my family went back to Cebu, but my aunt couldn’t join me during tapings because she also had her own children to look out for. Even going to school I’d take the train on my own and then for work.”
Studies first
According to the very level headed Berdin, there did come a time when she had to hold off on pursuing her dreams of making it in show business, not because she gave up but for a very valid reason.
The second eldest in a brood of four, her parents noticed how her TV projects were affecting her studies and asked her to return to Cebu to focus on school like the rest of her siblings.
“They saw that my career was no longer beneficial to me because I couldn’t concentrate on my schooling, when they’ve known I was always a serious student. On the other hand, I also missed being with my family so I gave in to their wishes.”
Still, she kept her dream alive within her—that of being watched by so many people doing what she does best to sing.
“When I was little, I always saw my parents singing on the karaoke, so I asked them to help me out with the lyrics of songs like ‘My Heart Will Go On.’ They also enrolled me once to voice lessons during summer vacation. It didn’t last long though but my passion to sing just kept getting stronger.”
As she carried on with school, Berdin had a sinking feeling she may never be able to return to showbiz especially when she saw a fellow Top 10 Quester finally breaking through television.
“That was Kyline [Alcantara, now a major star on GMA Network] who’s been my friend since Star Circle Quest,” she intimated. “Anyway, I felt sorry for myself back then because I decided I probably don’t have the looks to make it any way and I felt I probably didn’t sing well anymore since I had to concentrate on acting during my stint on ABS-CBN.”
But even if she felt discouraged, she still saw herself motivated to do covers of her favorite anthems and top hits with her ukulele.
“Sometimes I’d even upload them on YouTube so I guess I never really gave up on singing and being seen by the public singing, even if it was just online,” Berdin surmised.
Try and try
Well into high school and with good grades, Berdin convinced her parents to allow her not one but two more shots at becoming a singer, auditioning for “The Voice Kids Season 2” in 2015 and “Tawag ng Tanghalan sa Showtime Season 1” in 2016.
“I tried to audition for the second season of The Voice Kids where Elha Nympha won, waiting for five hours in line. But when it was finally my turn [in the queue], I was told I was no longer within the age bracket of contestants because I was already 14 years old at that time. Ako lang din po kasi ang mag-isang nag-audition nung time na yun, which is why I wasn’t able to check the requirements,” she good naturedly laughed at her mistake.
“They encouraged me to join ‘Voice Teens’ in 2017 instead but I was doubting myself na po talaga. Noon namang Tawag ng Tanghalan Season 1, I asked my parents if I could try out because I had a friend who was interested to join and she asked me to accompany her. I passed all the rounds during the audition but for some reason, they never called back.”
Breakthrough
Another year passed until fate intervened to restore Berdin’s dream. One day in Cebu, she heard there were spontaneous auditions being held at a fast food restaurant at a popular mall.
“I heard about the auditions on the very day it was being held and I went for it. Luckily, we were already in the area and my family even had to leave me behind since they had to go to Church. Ako nag-skip na because I had to wait in line for a long time as usual,” she smiled.
“I passed all the rounds and after a month, they called me back and told me to go to Manila to compete in Showtime. Sa dinami-dami nang nangyaring rejections, dito pa ako sa pinaka-unexpected nakapasok!”
And so it finally happened. On January 24, 2018, Janine Berdin had her first performance in Tawag ng Tanghalan Season 2, Quarter 4 of the ABS-CBN noontime program It’s Showtime. She was introduced as a singing young military trainee and dubbed “Cadets My Girl ng Cebu.” The production team decided on her nickname when they learned she was a Citizen Army Training (CAT) officer in school and also under the Air Force Reserve Command (Fifth Air Reserve Center) of the Philippine Air Force.
Berdin surprised the judges by singing “Magasin” by Eraserheads—an unusual choice for a teenaged girl—and bowled them over to become a daily winner.
By February 5, she was defending the “Golden Microphone” for five consecutive days, and consequently became the first semi-finalist of Tawag Ng Tanghalan Season 2.
Nine semi-finalist would emerge by May, with whom she competed to earn repeated standing ovations from the celebrity judges, especially for her rendition of “Banal Na Aso, Santong Kabayo” by Yano [which she also sang at The Manila Times anniversary party].
Another memorable performance Berdin gave was that of Kamikazee’s “Narda,” which literally moved OPM icon Ogie Alcasid to tears.
On the last day of the semi-final rounds, Berdin received yet another standing ovation together with the second highest combined score of 97.98 percent recorded on the show advancing to the grand finals. Her competitor with Reggie Tortugo scored 60.84 percent.
“Every performance in Tawag ng Tanghalan was challenging for me—even before then, whenever I had to perform. Even if I’d been auditioning to so many shows so many times, I was nervous from the day they called me back and told me I’d finally perform on TV because when it came to singing my only experience by then was the cover songs I’d upload on YouTube
“All that time, the pressure for me was not to win but only to deliver my songs well. So I would always tell myself at every round, maybe this is my last time here so I’d give it my best,” she related.
Champion!
In the grand finals, 12 competitors from four quarters of the Tawag ng Tanghalan Season 2 went head to head for a straight week, which culminated on June 2 at Aliw Theater.
On the first round, Berdin sang Eraserheads’ “With A Smile” and garnered a combined score of 98.2 percent to make it to the Top 6. She followed it up with a medley of Bamboo’s “Tatsulok,” “Noypi” and “Hallelujah,” and another knockout rendition of Sampaguita’s “Nosi Blasi,” which eventually made her Tawag ng Tanghalan champion with the highest grand finals score on record at 96.11 percent.
Second place went to Ato Arman (74.27 percent) and third to Steven Paysu (61.80 percent).
“I never really thought I’d win because I’d hear a lot of people saying ‘hindi malinis’ ang boses ko,” Berdin shared without a hint of negativity.
But indeed, it was her husky and roaring voice that set her apart from the rest of the constestants throughout the season.
“My genre is really Alternative Rock. That’s the music I always choose to sing, like ‘Creep’ by Radiohead, the songs of My Chemical Romance and in the competition, Sampaguita’s ‘Nosi Balasi’,” she explained.
“I was actually shocked na kaya ko pala kantahin ang Nosi Balasi. Hindi naman po kasi talaga ako performer like I said so I’ve never been able to explore my voice and what I can do until then. It was because of Tawag Ng Tanghalan that I learned a lot more about myself as a singer and what I can offer to people.”
Heart of gold
As the newest grand champion of the widely followed contest on national TV—and even internationally via ABS-CBN’s The Filipino Channel—Berdin won P2 million cash, a trophy created by renowned Filipino visual artist Toym Imao, a brand new house and lot, management and recording contracts, an “ultimate vacation package,” a musical gadgets package, a livelihood package and a premium television set.
The Sunday Times Magazine learned from this interview that Berdin is not only blessed with a golden voice that finally won the Cebuana her lifelong dream but also a golden heart.
Asked what she has done with her winnings, the fast rising singer unaffectedly replied she has allocated them for her grandmother’s medical bills and her siblings’ studies.
“We’re using the cash prize for my lola who’s a breast cancer survivor. The chemotherapy had side effects on her kidney that’s why she needs to have dialysis [treatments] twice a week for life. And also, since I’m homeschooled now, I’ve decided to give part of the money for my siblings’ studies.”
‘New Gem of OPM’
Berdin’s performance during the daily rounds Tawag ng Tanghalan through the grand finals had been published on ABS-CBN Entertainment’s YouTube channel, and would immediately go viral each time. Always on the Top Trending list, her top two videos to date reached over 24 million views with the other videos raking in at least three million each. And just a few weeks after the finals, her video performances accumulated some 60 million views across 18 uploads online.
Moreover, Berdin’s choice to sing Filipino songs every time she competed deservingly earned her the title, “New Gem of OPM.”
For her patience, perseverance and undoubtedly gifted and unique voice, Berdin signed a recording contract with Star Music’s new label TNT records and with whom she cut her first single “Biyaya.”
On July 28 she headlined the “Tawag Ng Tanghalan All Star Showdown” along with Season 1 grand champion Noven Belleza, finalist Sam Mangubat and the widely popular TNT Boys. Soon after, she was able to perform back home via the “TNT All Star Showdown-Cebu” concert at the Hoops Dome on September 21, finally coming full circle.
Meanwhile, on September 25, Berdin was thrilled to have her very own invitation to the legendary ABS-CBN Ball for the very first time where she shared the stage with her idols KZ Tandingan and Yeng Constantino.
As if all that were not enough, the following day, Berdin was chosen to interpret and record “Mas Mabuti Pa,” composed by Mhonver Lopez and Joanna Concepcion, as one of the Top 10 entries for “Himig Handog 2018 P-Pop Love Songs,” in an album compilation.
As the proverbial cherry on top, Berdin was also asked to perform the theme for the drama series “Kadenang Ginto” titled “Nasa Puso” composed by Jeremy Sarmiento, heard by millions every day on TV.
Somewhere in between all that, she also went back into acting as herself in an episode of “Maalaala Mo Kaya” chronicling this very success story.
“I really can’t ask for anything more except to hope that the youth who watched my life story on TV, reading this, and those who might still learn about me will use my experience in their own lives—for them never to give up on their dreams,” Berdin expressed.
“I am OK kung hanggang dito na lang ako, pero kung may darating pa, of course, that’s a blessing na hindi ko dapat tanggihan.”
Asked about the most important thing she learned in getting to where she is today, Janine Berdin paused for a moment and finally said, “I’ve had many frustrations in life growing up—like hindi malinis ang boses ko, kulang ako sa looks. But after all that, ang masasabi ko na lang, ang kaibahan mo ay hindi hadlang para sa tagumpay.”
Now that no doubt is a true champion.
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