He delivered one of the best performances of the night (probably the best) but Eman Abatayo was still expelled because he received the least number of votes among the 4 probationary scholars, 21.20% to be exact. Eman's rendition of Higher was complimented by the judges as a "high-powered" performance. And in my opinion, it was the best of the night since some performances got a little boring. Watch the video below and my ranking of the final 9 scholars based on their performances tonight:

:: Eman Abatayo – Higher ::

Here’s my ranking based from tonight’s performances with the theme “Song Request Night”:

[Click on the Scholar’s name and title of his/her song to watch the video]

1. Eman Abatayo – Higher [90%]

2. Panky Trinidad – Trouble [89.5%]
I disagree with Jose Mari Chan’s comment regarding Panky’s attitude towards the song that instead of doing it with anger and angst, she should portrayed the song with coolness and sarcasm. First, Panky was told by one of the teachers, Mr. Jose Javier Reyes, to show the original bad-angry-girl image in attacking the song. She only connected her personality with the message of the song and she made it her own. I believe Panky should be commended for that.

3. Yvan Lambatan – Open Arms [89%]
I agree with Mr. Chan regarding Yvan’s emotional delivery with the song Open Arms (It seems Mr. Jose Mari Chan is checking if the scholars understand what they are singing) that it showed that he fell in love before and was broken hearted. But beyond the performance, how Yvan sang it was even more commendable. Nice control, nice falsettos, nice intonation, nothing to criticized really. It was really smooth.

4. Ronnie Liang – Babaero [87.5%]
Again, i would like to disagree with Mr. Chan’s comment that Ronnie shouldn’t portraying a Babaero image with the song and that he should show the opposite instead. First, Ronnie was instructed by Mr. Jose Javier Reyes and it was shown last Friday night that he should look and act like a “Babaero” and that he should flirt with his audience. This is totally NOT Ronnie’s fault. Although the message of the song is that the man is trying to prove to his girlfriend that he is not BABAERO, the essence of the man singing is babaero. Even the choreography of the dancers is pointing the “babaero image” out of Ronnie so what’s wrong with that. The audience connected with him, and they enjoyed Ronnie’s flirtations and that’s more important.

5. Yeng Constantino – I’ll Never Get Over You [84%]
Yeng should be thankful this song was requested for her. It was a good and highly likeable song but Yeng’s performance was a little mediocre. It was alright but it wasn’t her best.

6. Irish Fullerton – Hiram [83.5%]
The technique on where to pull the emotions worked! Although i don’t like it when Irish sings a tagalog song but this one is quite good. She should have belted more on the high notes. Overall, much better than last week.

7. Chad Peralta – With or Without You [81%]
It’s a safe performance, no level of difficulty with this song choice. The plus: because it’s a safe song to begin with, the flats were unrecognizable tonight than his previous performance. Another plus is Chad’s personality, umpisa pa lang may dating na kaagad sa audience. Minus: For me, the beginning was ok but the middle and the end turned a little boring.

8. Rosita Bareng – Ako ang Nasawi, Ako ang Nagwagi [80%]
I can’t believe Dulce commented that Rosita is the only one who can revive the song. Maybe because the message of the song fits her but as for me, Rosita didn’t bring justice to it. She was all over the place.

9. Jay-R Siaboc – Ever Since the World Began [79%]
Jay-R was my favorite last week but tonight he was really the weakest. He looks tired while singing the song requested for him. Honestly, the performance was really boring.