Sarah G, Catriona Gray named 2018 Pinoys of the Year; DonKiss wins big at #VoicePointsSMA2018

VoicePoints Social Media Awards honor the best of social media by recognizing influences, brands and followers.

We asked the netizens to choose from a list of finalists. They were able to vote using four platforms – for the first time, we used Instagram.

The fourth edition of this social media awards since its launch in 2011 gives different special awards to outstanding individuals.O

The first one is awarded to the ‘Total Entertainer’ for his impact in the entertainment industry. Rico J. Puno passed away in 30 October but his memories remain as one of the most iconic pioneers of Original Pilipino Music (OPM). His famous hits “May Bukas Pa,” “Macho Gwapito,” and “Magkasuyo Buong Gabi” have been making waves across generations. With this, Rico deserves the Original Pinoy Music Artist of the Year award.

Joining Nora Aunor (Pinoy of the Year 2012), Brillante Mendoza (Pinoy Director of the Year 2012), Nonito Donaire, Jr. (Pinoy Fighter of the Year 2012), Kevin Balot (Pinoy Gender Equality Ambassador of the Year 2012), Atom Araullo (Pinoy of the Year 2013), Bailey May (Pinoy of the Year 2017 for Entertainment), and Alyssa Valdez (Pinoy of the Year 2017 for Sports) is Sarah Geronimo.

In March 2018, Sarah was included at Spotify’s “Amplify: Women of the World” global playlist with her song “Tayo” in celebration of the Women’s Month. She is the only OPM artist included.

In August 2018, Sarah starred in her first title-role movie “Miss Granny,” a remake of the 2014 South Korean film of the same name. The film has set the record for the highest single day gross for a local movie released in 2018, gaining twenty million pesos on its fifth day of screening. It was the most liked movie on our Facebook voting platform, making it our Most Liked Pinoy Musical Film of the Year, another special award given this year. The film garnered a total of 1,235 votes, net of deductible points.

Sarah represented the Philippines on ASEAN-Japan Music Festival in 4 October where she performed her original hits “Kilometro” and “Tala”

In 29 November, Sarah was hailed as the Best Pilipino Artist and the Most Popular BAMA 2018 Artist at the 2018 Big Apple Music Awards (BAMA). With this, Sarah truly deserves to be the Pinoy of the Year 2018 as she got 97.46% of the total votes.

Pinoy of the Year is an annual search of VoicePoints that features and profiles a person, group, idea or object that “for better or for worse, has done the most to influence the events of the year.”

Catriona Gray was not one of the finalists for Pinoy of the Year but considering the definition of this award, the Editorial Advisory Panel of VoicePoints decided to give a special award to Miss Universe 2018. Helping children fulfill their dreams is the advocacy of Catriona and she made this known in her opening statement at the coronation of the pageant in Thailand. She has her own project for it called “Paraiso: The Bright Beginnings Project” that raises funds for children in the Smokey Mountain landfill in Tondo, Manila. With this, VoicePoints hails Catriona as the Pinoy Advocate of the Year.

Catriona is truly an advocate of the Philippine history and culture as she stunned the world with her gowns and costumes. In the past, Filipinas Miss Universe candidates chose to go to the Maria Clara style but Catriona was different. She chose gowns and costumes that are more representative of a country with many various cultures, languages, and ethnicities.

With 27.78% of the total votes, Alex Gonzaga was named Pinoy Social Media Icon of the Year. Currently, Alex has more than two million subscribers in her own vlog channel. In less than a week, her uploads racked up a million views from varied audiences.

Following Alex is Paolo Ballesteros who got 21.30% of the total votes. He is the Most Liked Digital Artist of the Year, a special award, which is new this year. Most of the votes came from Facebook. Paolo continues to make news online even outside the Philippines because of his make-up transformation posts.

VoicePoints has given Kisses Delavin a special citation with Pinay Newcomer Artist of the Year 2017. She’s no more a newcomer as she was hailed Most Beautiful Pinay of the Year 2018. Kisses entered Pinoy Big Brother house in June 2016 as a teen housemate of the seventh regular season where she was the Second Big Placer. Today, Kisses currently has a television series and joined the main cast of a movie. Kisses got 12,967 votes, representing 54.01% of the total 24,009 votes, net of deductible points. Following Kisses is Jane Oineza and Maine Mendoza with 5,237 votes and 4,041 votes, respectively.

Tony Labrusca has the same story with Kisses. He was hailed Pinoy Newcomer Artist of the Year 2017 and now, he is the Hottest Pinoy of the Year 2018, with 29.57% of the total votes. He has the biggest break to date this year as he starred in two independent films and one digital material. Kit Thompson and Matteo Guidicelli placed second and third, respectively.

With no doubt, Sarah won the Pinoy Performer of the Year award, with 98.83% of the total votes of 2,898, net of deductible points. Sarah had her 15^th anniversary concert, which was reportedly the highest grossing local concert of all-time. The same production was staged in Dubai, Japan, Spain, Oman and other cities in the Philippines.

BoybandPH is Pinoy Group Performer of the Year for the second time, with 93.61% of the total votes. The group is composed of Ford Valencia, Joao Constancia, Niel Murillo, Russell Reyes, and Tristan Ramirez. The group was formed during the finals of “Pinoy Boyband Superstar,” a franchise of Simon Cowell’s Latin American singing competition “La Banda.”

It must be another good news for DonKiss fans as the pair composed of Kisses and Donny Pangilinan was hailed Pinoy Pair of the Year, with 8,800 votes, representing 68.70% of the total 12,810 votes, net of deductible points. NashLene (Nash Aguas and Shalene San Pedro) and MayWard (Maymay Entrata and Edward Barber) placed second and third with 13.40% and 12.72%, respectively.

Last year, Joshua Garcia was recognized by VoicePoints with the Phenomenal Pinoy Actor of the Year award for putting his passion and art in acting either in the silver or big screens. We are proud of Joshua’s achievements. He truly deserves to be the Pinoy Act of the Year. He got 46.60% of the total votes. He continues to reap awards like Movie Actor of the Year in Aral Parangal Awards 2018, Actor of the Year in the 2^nd Gawad Bedista, Best TV Actor in the Golden Laurel Awards, Youth Character Model of the Year in The Platinum Stallion Awards 2018, Best Actor in a TV Series in the 8^th Eduk Circle Awards, Best Drama Actor in the 32^nd PMPC Star Awards for TV, and Makabata Star Award in the Anak TV Awards 2018.

Following Joshua is Tony, who is the Pinoy Indie Film Artist of the Year, a special award this year. He starred in “Double Twisting Double Back,” “ML,” and “Glorious” films. Fans are excited for his upcoming TV series “Mea Culpa.”

Maine, who was awarded Most Beautiful Pinay of the Year 2017 and Pinay Act of the Year 2017, is again the awardee of Pinay Act of the Year 2018, with 70.91% of the total votes. Maine has one television comedy project and a film this year. Following Maine is Kathryn Bernardo, with 11.52%.

The millennial movie of the year “WalWal” is Pinoy Movie of the Year. The story revolves around the life of four young guys who try to discover life as they go through the journey of young adulthood. Young starts Elmo Magalona, Kiko Estrada, Donny, and Jerome Ponce starred in this film, joined by Kisses, Devon Seron, and Miss Multinational 2018 Sophia Senoron. The film got 1,933 votes, net of deductible points.

Following “Walwal” is Most Liked Pinoy Musical Film of the Year, “Miss Granny.”

Angelica Panganiban and Zanjoe Marudo starrer TV series “Playhouse” is Pinoy Teleserye of the Year, with 2,462, net of deductible points, representing 97.12% of the total votes. VoicePoints SMA 2018 big winners Donny and Kisses are part of this TV series.

With 40.96% of total votes, Dantes Family is Pinoy Celebrity Family of the Year. The family of actors Dingdong Dantes and Marian River, with baby Maria Letizia, continues to make rounds online. Next year will be another great blessing as they expect their second child.

Garnering 63.58% of total votes, AC Bonifacio is undoubtedly Pinoy Teen Icon of the Year. She is a Hall of Famer in Portland’s International Dance Challenge. In the Philippines, she placed third in the Philippine TV Show “Your Face Sounds Familiar Kids.” She is now currently working and uploading on her YouTube channel “Andree Bonifacio.”

Garnering more than half of the total votes, Justine James Quilantang is Young Pinoy Star of the Year. He plays the role of Robin in ABS-CBN TV series “Playhouse” and a “Goin’ Bulilit” mainstay.

Kisses Delavin topped the scoreboard for Pinoy Star Fashionista of the Year, with 96.65% of the total votes of 5,536, net of deductible points.

“Kung ‘Di rin lang Ikaw” of December Avenue, featuring Moira dela Torre, was named Pinoy LSS of the Year, with 38.46% of the total votes.

At VoicePoints, we don’t only recognize individuals and groups but also brands. There is no denying that Safeguard has always been a part of our lives. This year, the Philippine team released its TV commercial entitled, “Safeguard: Pabaon sa Buhay (Protection for Life),” which tells the story of Norman King, the first ever Aeta who graduated from the University of the Philippines. The short film got 33.07% of the total votes, followed by two #KwentongJollibee2018 series “Homecoming” and “Signs,” with 25.50% and 19.92%, respectively.

Rejoice, DonKiss! The celebration does not stop here as Donny was hailed Breakthrough Pinoy Artist of the Year, with 2,876 votes, while Mccoy de Leon placed second. Donny starred in three films this year while doing a TV series. We expect more of Donny next year with his commitment, passion and dedication in the entertainment industry.

Of course, social media is nothing without its users. These individuals will not be able to climb the ladder without their fans. We would like to announce that for the first, we are awarding Pinoy Fan of the Year. This is given to active social media followers of VoicePoints. We selected top three fans of different Pinoy artists and the winner is @closetDKfan, a closet fan of DonKiss for a year since the account was launched this 2018. The account actively retweets, likes and mentions posts about DonKiss. You deserve a spotlight, @closetDKfan!

These individuals, groups and brands are determined to advocate Philippine arts and culture.

As this is our last article for this year, we would like to thank our readers and visitors for the support. The votes this year are surprisingly much bigger. Our site and Facebook page went down in the first week and last week of SMA 2018 due to the increasing traffic.

We hope to see you again next year and we hope to receive stories from you to be shared with the rest of the community.

WRITE A RESPONSE ARTICLE
Response article enables VoicePoints readers to respond to the article published by the author by completing the form below. Under ‘Message’ box, please ensure to include the title of the main article you are responding.