PEP: Dangal ng Musikang Pilipino award goes to Lea Salonga

Lea Salonga was named as this year's recipient of the Dangal ng Musikang Pilipino award given out by the Philippine Association of the Record Industry (PARI). The honor was officially bestowed on Lea last night, November 26, at the 21st Awit Awards ceremony held at the Eastwood Central Plaza in Libis, Quezon City. Lea, unfortunately, was not able to grace the occasion as she is currently in Hong Kong for the musical play, Cinderella. In a video message played through a huge monitor, Lea thanked PARI for the recognition and "for all the opportunities" given to her throughout the years. The Dangal ng Musikang Pilipino award was instituted by PARI to honor local artists who have brought honor to the country by making a mark both here and abroad—a criteria which perfectly suited Lea's remarkable achievements particularly in the field of musical theater. Lea—who made a name in the international scene in 1989 when she starred in the Broadway hit Miss Saigon—have won prestigious international awards such as the Olivier, Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics and Theatre World. Salonga's singing voice was also tapped in several animation movies like in Aladdin (1992), Mulan (1998) and Mulan II (2004). SURPRISE WINNERS. This year's edition of the celebrated local music event witnessed the emergence of young talents taking home some of the major awards. Acoustic artist Julianne finally achieves the recognition she deserves by bagging the Best Performance by a New Female Recording Artist and Best Performance by a Female Recording Artist for her debut album Grateful and the single, "Tulak ng Bibig." The Pinoy soul band Sinosikat? likewise announced their arrival after winning three awards namely the Best World/Alternative/Bossa Music for the haunting single, "Turning My Safety Off," Best Jazz Recording for "Akin Ka," and People's Choice Favorite Group for "So Blue." But it was Yeng Constantino who garnered a handful of awards including the Album of the Year honor for her debut record under Star Records, Salamat. Yeng, who is currently in the Middle East for a show, collected four awards all in all. Sarah Geronimo, meanwhile, clinched the Song of the Year trophy for the Medwin Marfil-penned single titled, "Ikaw." The evening was hosted by MYX VJ Nikki Gil and balladeer Christian Bautista. Performers include Sandwich, Aicelle Santos, M.Y.M.P., Julianne, Itchyworms, Janno Gibbs, Cueshe, Ronnie Liang, Parokya ni Edgar, Richard Poon, Nyoy Volante, Sitti, Christian Bautista, Toni Gonzaga, Raki Vega, Hale and Karylle, among others. Here are the list of all the winners and the corresponding categories: Best Inspirational/Religious - "Salamat" Yeng Constantino (Star Recording Inc. / Dream Big Productions) Best Christmas - "A Perfect Christmas" Jed Madela (Universal Records, Inc.) Best Regional Recording - "Matud Nila" Mark Bautista (Star Recording, Inc. / ASAP Music) Best Dance - "Sumayaw Ka" Gloc 9 (Sony-BMG Music Philippines) Best Musical Arrangement - "Probinsyana" Bamboo (EMI Philippines) Best Vocal Arrangement - "Souvenirs" Moy Ortiz (Viva Records Corporation) Best Engineered Recording - "Probinsyana" Angee Rozul - Tracks Studio (EMI Philippines) Best Album Package - Moonlane Gardens Orange & Lemons (Universal Records) Best Ballad - "It's Over Now" Kyla (EMI Philippines) Best Rock - "Tatsulok" Bamboo (EMI Philippines) Best Novelty - "Itaktak Mo" Joey de Leon (Sony-BMG Music Philippines) Best World/Alternative/Bossa Music - "Turning My Safety Off" Sinosikat? (Warner Music Philippines) Best Rap - "Lando" Gloc 9 feat. Francis M (Sony-BMG Music Philippines) Best Jazz Recording - "Akin Ka" Sinosikat? (Warner Music Philippines) Best R&B - "Let Me Love You Tonight" Ryan Cayabyab Singers (Sony-BMG Philippines) Best Song Written for Movie/TV/Stage Play - "Paano Kita Iibigin" Piolo Pascual and Regine Velasquez (Star Recording, Inc. / Viva Records Corporation) Music Video of the Year - "Probinsyana" Bamboo (EMI Philippines) Best Performance by a New Group Recording Artist - "Let Me Love You Tonight" Ryan Cayabyab Singers (Sony-BMG Philippines) Best Performance by a New Male Recording Artist - "I'll Take Care of You" Richard Poon (MCA Music, Inc.) Best Performance by a New Female Recording Artist - "Grateful" Julianne (MCA Music, Inc.) People's Choice Favorite Music Video of the Year - "Time In" Yeng Constantino (Star Recording. Inc.) People's Choice Favorite Song of the Year - "Salamat" Yeng Constantino (Star Recording, Inc. / Dream Big Production) People's Choice Favorite New Group Artist - 3rd Avenue "Why It Can't Be" (Universal Records, Inc. / Barnyard Music Phils.) People's Choice Favorite Group Artist - Sinosikat? "So Blue" (Warner Music Phils.) People's Choice Favorite New Male Artist - Daniel Razon "All My Life" (EMI Philippines / Breakthrough & Milestone Production Int'l) People's Choice Favorite Male Artist - Martin Nievera "Hard Habit to Break" (EMI Philippines) People's Choice Favorite New Female Artist - Olivia "Oh Lori" (Ivory Music & Video) People's Choice Favorite Female Artist - Aicelle "Ikaw Pa Rin" (GMA Records) Dangal ng Musikang Pilipino Awardee - Lea Salonga Best Performance by a Group Recording Artist - "Tatsulok" Bamboo (EMI Philippines) Best Performance by a Duet - "Hard Habit to Break" Jed Madela and Gary Valenciano (Universal Records, Inc.) Best Performance by a Male Recording Artist - "Sana Maulit Muli" Gary Valenciano (Star Recording, Inc. / ASAP Music) Best Performance by a Female Recording Artist - "Tulak ng Bibig" Julianne (MCA Music, Inc.) Best Selling Album of the Year - "Salamat" Yeng Constantino (Star Recording, Inc. / Dream Big Productions) Album of the Year - "Salamat" Yeng Constantino (Star Recording, Inc. / Dream Big Productions) Song of the Year - "Ikaw" Sarah Geronimo (Viva Records Corp.) - Philippine Entertainment Portal