Jonalyn Viray

Jonalyn Viray
Viray singing at Music Museum during "Fearless" concert, wearing a Nat Manilag haute couture gown
Background information
Birth name	Jonalyn Roxas Viray
Also known as	The Philippines' Fearless Diva and Soul Princess
Born	(1989-11-15) November 15, 1989[1]
Origin	Pioduran, Albay, Philippines[1]
Genres	Pop ballad, R&B, soul.
Occupation(s)	Singer, Actress
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	2005–present
Labels	GMA Records CREATIVE MEDIA ENTERTAINMENT

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Jonalyn Roxas Viray (born November 15, 1989^[1] in Marikina City, Philippines^[1]) is a Filipina singer and an occasional actress^[2] She is a member of a trio named La Diva, along with Maricris Garcia and Aicelle Santos. She is also a cast of the Sunday variety show Sunday All Stars. Her single 'Help Me Get Over' named as the 'Song of the Year' at the 6th PMPC Star Awards for Music.^[3]

Early life

Born on November 15, 1989,^[4] Jonalyn is the eldest of 4 kids from Pio Duran.^[4] She started joining singing contests on an early age.^[5] She has won first runner-up in "Birit Bulilit" of IBC 13 as a child^[5] and in MTB Teen Pop Star^[5] wherein her winning piece was Mariah Carey’s Never Too Far.^[5] Growing up, Jonalyn, much like any aspiring singer, and actress admired Mariah Carey, Regine Velasquez, Whitney Houston, Kyla, and Beyoncé.^[4][6] Viray cites Kyla as another idol saying she "inspired [her] to get up there and do what [she] did."

Pinoy Pop Superstar

Viray was 15 years of age back then when she competed at the singing competition Pinoy Pop Superstar held by the local television station GMA 7. She emerged as the weekly champion after singing a Whitney Houston hit song Run to You. She also sang Reflection, I Have Nothing and Never Too Far on the consecutive weeks, and after four consecutive weeks of being weekly champion, she then qualified to the grand finals.

In the grand finals, the eight grand contenders wore identical attire: the men in black suits with red shirts; and the women in red gowns. They sang their own respective songs as the UP Concert Chorus, dressed in black, and carrying lighted white balloons, provided the background. MC Monterola and Jonalyn Viray had a back-to-back performance, MC singing "Through the Fire" and Jonalyn "It Might Be You". Kristel Astor sang "If You Dont Know Me By Now", Philbert de Torres did "Once There was a Love", Sheila Ferreri gave an impressive rendition of Eva Eugenios' "Tukso", Charmaine Piamonte sang "I Believe", Brenan Espartinez sang "Home" and Michael Garcia sang "If You're Not the One".

From the eight were chosen the Top Four: Jonalyn Viray, Michael Garcia, Charmaine Piamonte and Brenan Espartinez. Michael was as cool, smooth and confident in singing "She's Out of My Life" and Charmaine was equally at ease and cool in singing her song. Jonalyn was in her best elements as she sang "Run to You" by Whitney Houston. Brenan was also confident and remarkable as he sang his song "Careless Whisper".

From the Top Four, Michael and Charmaine were eliminated to give way to the Top Two, Jonalyn and Brenan who then delivered their own versions of the Pinoy Pop Superstar theme song "The Miracle." Jonalyn then beat Espartinez and was declared the first ever grand champion of Pinoy Pop Superstar.

For winning the title of "Pinoy Pop Superstar", Jonalyn won 1 million pesos in cash and became the owner of a Futura Classic house and lot developed by Filinvest and a brand-new Toyota Innova. She also won an exclusive one-year contract with GMA Records, the recording arm of GMA Network, and received 100,000 pesos worth of Belo Medical services, plus gift certificates worth 50,000 pesos from Gandang Ricky Reyes.^[7]

La Diva

Viray in 2012

In May 2008, it was confirmed that GMA Artist Center would be forming a female music trio called La Diva. With its “Three of a Kind” segment, the musical variety show gets ready to introduce a new generation of divas. Member Jonalyn Viray notes that a meeting for the creation of La Diva was held in January that year, with the stipulation that each member of the group would still keep their own identity, and their solo career. While the three ladies of La Diva are uncertain of how the group was formed, the combining factor is that each of them came from the singing competition, Pinoy Pop Superstar. Jonalyn Viray and Maricris Garcia were the Grand Champions of the first and third seasons respectively, and Aicelle Santos was the runner-up of the second season.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Filmography

Television

Other TV Appearances

• Unang Hirit^[8]
• SiS^[8]
• Extra Challenge^[8]
• Eat Bulaga!^[8]
• Sweet Life^[8]
• Full Time Moms^[8]
• Showbiz Central^[8]
• S-Files^[8]
• Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho^[8]
• Celebrity Duets: Philippine Edition^[8]
• Protégé: The Battle For The Big Artista Break
• Net 25
• Just Duet

References

External links

• Jonalyn Viray at iGMA.tv
• Jonalyn Viray at the Internet Movie Database