Eventhough she was not chosen as the grand champion, Leih Ann Arcales – Catbalogan City’s representative to the region-wide Leyte IDOL singing contest – still did her homecity proud with her superb performance and stage presence during the said competition’s grand finals last March 28, 2009 at the Leyte National High School Gymnasium.

She, however, was the favorite among online voters and watchers and for this, has bagged the special award for garnering the most number of votes through the internet.

Leih Ann had to battle it out with seven other contestants through three categories and twice had to endure critiques from a star-studded board of judges composed of Danny Javier, Buboy Garovillo and Bituin Escalante. The first criticque came after the first category where the 8 contestants were made to sing OPM songs. Although Javier told her that her singing is “beyond question,” she was also advised to learn how to pick songs that will highlight her vocal range.

The Rhythm and Blues category, the second part, had her singing Beyonce Knowles’ “Crazy in Love” but it was in the Rock category , the final challenge, where she shone the most with her rendition of band Paramore’s “Decode,” where she was able to hit the high notes and display her powerful vocals.

This performance earned for her some positive reviews from the judges and was considered as her best performance. As she stood before the judges for their comments, Leih Ann could only say “thank you po” as Javier exclaimed, “ayun! Ikaw pala! Ikaw pala yung rocker!” Due to a microphone glitch, Escalante could only give a thumbs up sign to express her approval while Garovillo agreed that being a band vocalist would suit her.

All the finalists performed in a jampacked crowd of supporters coming from different parts of the Region. Leih Ann got moral support from the student athletes of Catbalogan City who were already in Tacloban for the Eastern Visayas Regional Athletics Association. They learned of Leih Ann’s quest through coordination with City Mayor Coefredo T. Uy who prodded them to give their support to thier kababayan.

Although it is now on its third season, this is the first time that the Leyte IDOL Search opened its doors to contestants outside of Leyte. Leih Anne was one of only two aspirants coming from the neighboring Samar Island who managed to get a spot in the final round. This change in rules has only increased the region’s interest in this competition, which was patterned after the international hit reality show “American Idol.”

She may have not been chosen as the grand champion for this year, but Leih Anne will always be known as Catbalogan’s first and foremost singing idol. Through her participation in this once Leyte-dominated competition, she has also inspired other local talents to dream big and has paved the way for them to have a chance to be known to a wider audience.