The spot-on portrayal of “The Birit Duo” Marielle Montelleano and JM Dela Cerna of music icons Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli for their performance of the classic hit “The Prayer” during the pilot week of “Your Face Sounds Familiar” made them the first-ever winners of the ongoing season.
Thus, ardent shippers of their tandem fondly called “JMielle,” as well as avid fans of the celebrity impersonation competition, are perhaps now looking forward to seeing how they and the other seven artists are going to fare in Week 2, wherein the musical pair are going to take on Hollywood superstars Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, who headlined the 2018 film “A Star Is Born.” During the assigning of their next icons, JMielle was hinted to perform one of its original soundtracks titled “Shallow,” which has grown popular ever since it was released seven years ago.
While Marielle and JM have already proven their promising flair and versatility in singing, not to mention their palpable chemistry as stage partners, both confessed during their exclusive interview with ABS-CBN Studios that portraying Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper is indeed going to be a tough challenge for them, mainly due to the differences in the timbre of their voices and their different singing styles.
“Masaya rin pero like I always say, challenging talaga ‘yong artists na may strong projection pagdating sa boses kasi ‘yong approach or atake ko sa mga kanta ay laidback,” Marielle related, as she went on to further explain that Lady Gaga’s voice is textured while hers is clear and smooth. Even though it’s going to be tough for her to imitate her voice, Marielle confidently expressed that she’s up for the challenge of this competition—like she has always been.
JM also recalled feeling nervous upon seeing in the “iconator” the new icons they were about to impersonate next. Just like Marielle, he also pointed out the stark difference between their vocals, with Bradley having that rasp in his voice, while his is more of a ballad or pop.
Aside from talking about their Week 2 icons, JMielle also shared the artists and performances they wish will be given to them in the upcoming weeks of the competition.
There may be a lot of iconic duet performances to choose from, but Marielle mentioned that among their top choices are none other than OPM legends and real-life couple Regine Velasquez and Ogie Alcasid. However, if there’s going to be a chance for her to perform as an individual artist, she’s definitely going to pick Popstar Royalty Sarah Geronimo.
Like Marielle, JM also fancies doing a Regine-Ogie duet with her since the “Your Face Sounds Familiar” judge is his ultimate idol. He conveyed, “Ako lagi kong sinasabi talaga si Sir Ogie and si Ms. Regine. Sana mabigyan kami ng opportunity na magaya sila.”
Meanwhile, when the time comes that they’re going to be the ones to be impersonated, Marielle thinks that “Idol Philippines” Season 1 grand winner Zephanie Dimaranan is going to be her perfect “ka-face na, ka-sound pa.” That’s because aside from the similarities in their voices and singing styles, she also often gets comments about how they look and sound similar to each other. On the other hand, it will probably be Jed Madela for JM as he thinks that they have the same vocal placements and the same capabilities in hitting high notes.
As we’re about to see more of their showdowns or performances in the coming weeks, we also asked JMielle who among their fellow contenders in “Your Face Sounds Familiar” they would like to impersonate. JM expressed his desire to be Rufa Mae Quinto since he admires her personality, while Marielle remarked that it’s likely to be Alexa Ilacad since she’s impressed by her passion and dedication in everything that she does. Besides, she’s a “soft girlie” like her, so it is going to be quite easy for her to portray her.
We also took the opportunity to ask them about their favorite performance during Week 1, and both of them mentioned the transformation of Jason Dy to Erik Santos, to which they gave their three points during the deliberation.
According to JMielle, they voted for Jason Dy because they were impressed by how he copied not just the voice but also the gestures and facial expressions of the Prince of Pop. They added how Jason had already amazed them during their rehearsals.
Are you excited to see Marielle and JM’s transformation into Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper in Week 2? Well, you better not miss an episode of “Your Face Sounds Familiar” every Saturday and Sunday evening on Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live (KOL), A2Z, and TV5!