By Ian Zane T. Esparaga | February 23, 2021
Sophomore students Melchizedek Lozarita of College of Arts and Sciences and Shanice Caballes of Institute of Clinical Laboratory Sciences bag major awards during the 2021 Valentine Songwriting Competition (VSC) held last February 14.
Lozarita, who dedicated his song entitled “Huling Yakap” to his late father, was proclaimed grand winner of the annual event.
“I feel extremely honored and thankful. This win means a lot to me and it serves as a fuel for my passion in songwriting,” he said.
The Bukidnon native who made it to the top 10 finalists last year with this song “Hiraeth” said it was a no-brainer for him to try his luck this time.
“I joined again just because I love songwriting. I also respect and admire the VSC so much and winning it would be an honor. Luckily, I did on my second try,” Lozarita added.
Aside from being the grand winner, Lozarita also won the Best Music Video award. According to him, his team encountered a few problems in looking for a location for their music video and finding a studio to record the song due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The last edition’s Best Song Arranger winner, Ruel Joseph Tabada, was Lozarita’s song arranger this year.
Meanwhile, Shanice Caballes won the People’s Choice Award. The award was given to the music video with the most number of heart/love reactions on Facebook.
Caballes shared that her song entitled “When Quarantine Ends” was a story of a person who ‘develops feelings for someone and lives miles away and there is nothing to do with the current situation because of the safety measures set by the pandemic.’ She revealed that the song was inspired by a person she met in the university and during the quarantine.
The medical technologist student said that it was not her intention to join the competition at first but decided to do so.
“I initially did not want to submit my song to the VSC when I heard about the competition for fear that it might not be good enough for a public audience, but then I thought, ‘You know what? I only have one life, I might as well live it fearlessly.”
The VSC awards night was shown live on the Silliman University Culture and Arts Council website.
