Filipina caregiver Rose Fostanes completed her Cinderella story Tuesday night in Tel Aviv (early Wednesday morning, Manila time), winning the first season of “The X Factor Israel”.
Singing Frank Sinatra’s signature song “My Way”, the 47-year-old native of Taguig City won on her own terms and displayed the form that made her the darling of the Israeli version of the British singing competition created by former “American Idol” judge Simon Cowell.
“There’s nothing to say but you did it your way. I’m so proud of you. Everyone’s proud of you,” the show’s host, Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli, told Fostanes right after her victory-clinching performance of the all-time Filipino karaoke favorite.
“Thank you so much for those Israeli who like my voice. Thank you for giving me the chance to be in ‘The X FactorIsrael’,” Fostanes said after she bested two other finalists. She also thanked the thousands of Filipinos in Israel who supported her.
Fostanes — who has been caring for an elderly Israeli woman for six years — was teary-eyed after her solo number, which was rewarded with thunderous cheers and a standing ovation from the judges and the studio audience.
The audience included her sister Nancy and her girlfriend Mel Adel, who had flown in from Manila to witness the finale.
One of the judges was also overcome with emotion — her mentor Shiri Maimon, who performed a duet of Alicia Keys’ “If I Ain’t Got You” with Fostanes during the show.
Fostanes won the finale representing the over-25s, the category for mature performers. Eden Ben Zaken (Girls category) placed second, while Ori Shakiv (Boys category) came in third.
An extremely popular song in karaoke bars in the Philippines, “My Way” nonetheless got a bad rap in recent years after from many bars that banned the song (link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/philippines/7199022/My-Way-deaths-lead-karaoke-bars-in-Philippines-to-ban-song.html) after singing it led to several “karaoke killings” in recent years.
“My Way”, however, proved to be a lucky choice for Fostanes as the only thing she “killed” was her performance that drew a standing ovation from the studio audience and judges composed of Israeli music sensations Ivri Lider, Moshe Peretz, Rami Fortes and Shiri Maimon.
Since “The X-Factor Israel” turned her into a household name and now, a global phenomenon, Fostanes is often compared with Scottish singing sensation Susan Boyle who shot to fame in 2009 after joining “Britain’s Got Talent”, another talent show created by Cowell.
Fostanes, however, achieved in “The X-Factor Israel” what Boyle had failed to do in “Britain’s Got Talent”—win it all.
And she has the estimated 40,000 OFW population in Israel to thank for it. It is widely believed that her fellow OFWs, including the 16,000 strong “That’s My Tomboy of Israel” group rallied and voted for her to win in the contest.
“mabuhay ka idol INSPIRASYON KA, HERO KA, WE LOVE YOU MATUTUPAD MO NA LAHAT NG PANGARAP MO SA BUHAY…. HAPPY KAMI FOR YOU, BUONG BANSA AY NAG DIDIWANG NGAYON, KAHIT SANG PARTE NG MUNDO NA MAY OFW NAG DIDIWANG,” went the latest Facebook post of “That’s My Tomboy of Israel” shortly after Fostanes won.
Fostanes made no bones about her sexual orientation, admitting in interviews that she misses not only her family but also her girlfriend who is based in Manila.
Adel, Fostanes’ girlfriend, flew to Israel together with the singer’s younger sister, Nancy to personally lend their moral support and ultimately, to witness the victory of the newly-crowned “X-Factor Israel” champ.
Watch Rose Fostanes perform “My Way” in “The X-Factor Israel” finale in this clip from the program as uploaded by Benjo Bojos:
source: interaksyon.com
