KZ Tandingan

Kristine Zhenie Lobrigas Tandingan-Monterde[1] (born March 11, 1992), mononymously known as KZ, is a Filipino singer and rapper hailed as Asia's Soul Supreme. She rose to prominence following her win on the first season of The X Factor Philippines in 2012.[2]

KZ Tandingan
Tandingan in 2019
Born	Kristine Zhenie Lobrigas Tandingan-Monterde March 11, 1992 Digos, Philippines
Years active	2012–present
Spouse(s)	TJ Monterde ​ (m. 2020)​
Musical career
Genres	Acoustic jazz, pop, R&B
Occupation(s)	Singer, rapper
Instruments	Vocals, piano
Labels	Star Music
Associated acts	Charice Pempengco, X Factor finalists, Side A, TJ Monterde, DIVAS (2016-present), ASAP Soul Sessions (2016-2017)

That same year, she won Aliw Award for Best New Artist. She has released notable songs in the Philippines such as "Darating Din", "Mahal Ko o Mahal Ako" and "Two Less Lonely People in the World", which peaked at number 2 on the Philippine Hot 100 in 2017.[3]

Tandingan is one of the members of the Filipino girl group DIVAS along with Yeng Constantino, Kyla, and Angeline Quinto.

She became known internationally when she joined Singer 2018, a popular singing competition aired on HBS.

Life and career

Early life

KZ Tandingan started singing as a child but had to stop when she was in her junior year in high school after suffering from a throat problem. She is an alumna of University of Southeastern Philippines in Davao City and had graduated with a degree of Bachelor of Science in Biology.[4]

Before she joined The X Factor Philippines, Tandingan was part of a local acoustic band.[4]

2012: The X Factor Philippines

Tandingan was considered as an early favorite after she performed a jazzy version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" in the fourth week of the Judges' auditions. After receiving a standing ovation from all the judges', she was requested to sing again. Tandingan obliged and sang "Ready or Not" by American hip-hop group, The Fugees. With her second song, she also showed her rapping skills. Tandingan was greatly praised by all of the judges. Nievera even shouted, "A star is born in Digos!".[5] The video of Tandingan's audition went viral online after it was uploaded in YouTube. The video reached nearly 1 million views before it was removed due to copyright issues.[6] During the Bootcamp stage, she sang "Mahirap Magmahal ng Syota ng Iba" by the APO Hiking Society and cried after she made the cut for the Top 20.[7] Tandingan sang "Killing Me Softly with His Song" by Roberta Flack during the Judges' home visit. On week 9, she landed on the bottom 2 for the first time with teammate Allen Sta. Maria, but she survived elimination. Tandingan was Charice's last remaining act after Allen Sta. Maria was eliminated on week 9. She reached the grand finals on October 7, 2012, and was proclaimed the winner of The X Factor Philippines.[2]

Performances and results

The X Factor Philippines season 1 performances and results
Stage	Theme	Song choice	Original artist	Order	Result
Audition	Free choice	"Over the Rainbow"	Judy Garland	N/A	Advanced
		"Ready or Not"	Fugees
Bootcamp 1	Specific song	"Without You"	David Guetta	N/A	Advanced
Bootcamp 2	Free choice	"Mahirap Magmahal Ng Syota Ng Iba"	APO Hiking Society	N/A	Advanced
Judges' houses	Free choice	"Killing Me Softly with His Song"	Roberta Flack	N/A	Advanced
Top 12	Songs from the movies	"The Show"	Lenka	6	Safe
Top 11	song with Life or Buhay in the title	"For Once in My Life"	Stevie Wonder	9	Safe
Top 10	Rock	"In the End"	Linkin Park	10	Safe
Top 9	Tribute to late music icons	"Rehab"	Amy Winehouse	8	Safe
Top 8	OPM songs	"Ang Huling El Bimbo"	Eraserheads	7	Safe
Top 7	Songs from the 1980s	"Eternal Flame"	The Bangles	3	Safe
Top 6	Eraserheads or Rivermaya	"Kisapmata"	Rivermaya	4	Safe
Top 5	Revival songs	"Make You Feel My Love"	Bob Dylan	3	Safe
Top 4	Songs from musical heroes	"Forever"	Chris Brown	3	Bottom 2[lower-alpha 1]
	Final showdown	"Ordinary People"	John Legend	2
Finale	Contestant's choice	"Superstar"	The Carpenters	3	Winner
	Celebrity duet	Duet "The Way We Were" with Rico J. Puno	Barbra Streisand	5
	Mentor duet	Duet "The Way You Look Tonight" with Charice	Fred Astaire	1

1. Tandingan was in the bottom two but was saved by the judges' votes.

2012–present: post The X Factor

On January 7, 2013, Tandingan entered the Himig Handog contest with the song entry called "Scared To Death", written by Domingo Rosco Jr. The song was accompanied with a music video that was assigned as a project to be directed by University of Santo Tomas and premiered on the 2nd of February in Myx Philippines. She performed the song in the grand finals on February 24, 2013 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena. Overall, the song finished in 4th place and was the third runner-up for Best P-pop Love Song thus rewarding the writer of Tandingan's song one hundred thousand pesos in cash.[8][9] On April 21, 2013, she toured across North America as a supporting act for pop band Side A.[8][10] On May 2, 2013, Tandingan released her self-titled debut album. The album was produced by Jonathan Manalo and consists of mainly original songs with some covers.[11] On June 27, 2013, she officially launched the album on Makati City.[12][13][14]

On January 11, 2014, Tandingan won ₱1,000,000 in The Singing Bee where she accumulated 4 straight songs correctly. In the show, she did not make a single error in the first 2 rounds and eventually won a tie-breaker against co-contestants Frenchie Dy and Sitti, who also did not commit any errors throughout the game. The following year, she was announced as one of the eight contestants for the second season of Your Face Sounds Familiar along with Myrtle Sarrosa, Sam Concepcion, Cacai Bautista, Kean Cipriano, Denise Laurel, Michael Pangilinan and Eric Nicolas. The show ran from September 12, 2015 to December 13, 2015. and she was the 3rd runner-up. Tandingan was then announced as one of the celebrity mentors in We Love OPM in 2016, being the mentor of Team O Diva. The show ran from May 14, 2016 to July 17, 2016. She is currently seen in ASAP, as one of the ASAP Soul Sessions with Jason Dy, Daryl Ong, Jay R and Kyla. The Soul Sessions formed on May 15, 2016, and disbanded in late 2017.[15]

Singer 2018

On February 9, 2018, Tandingan competed as a weekly challenger on China's Singer 2018 wherein she placed first on her debut round on week five. She sang her own rendition of Adele's "Rolling in the Deep". She remained as a contestant on the show until her elimination on week nine.[16]

On February 16, 2018, Tandingan sang the Mandopop song in her own rendition, "The Hurts You Never Knew" (Chinese: 你不知道的痛), a combination of three pieces of songs "What Else Do You Want From Me"(Chinese:你還要我怎樣) by Joker Xue, "All The Things You Never Knew" (Chinese:你不知道的事) by Wang Leehom and "Still Aching" (Chinese:還隱隱作痛) by Power Station. She was allowed to remain in the competition for ranking third in the top four, per the competition rules for a challenger.[17]

On March 16, 2018, Tandingan sang "Royals" where she was the third person to perform. That week was a double elimination (after one contestant was too ill to perform and was given bye that week), and per the competition rules the two singers receiving the lowest count of overall votes would be eliminated. She finished last on the overall votes, resulted in her elimination of Singer 2018 (another contestant, James Li, was also eliminated for finishing 7th on the overall count after a challenger of the week successfully placed in the top four).

Tandingan's stint in the show had made international music fans noticed her unique and creative musical artistry in different music genre. Her eventual elimination created a flurry of criticism from social media commentators and the Chinese fans she has built during her short stint in the show. On Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter, KZ Tandingan became the second most talked about topic after her elimination.

As a rule, however, all eliminated singers except singers who withdrew and singer in the first round returned for the breakout episode (aired April 6, 2018) for a chance to re-enter Singer 2018 and qualify for the grand finals. Tandingan performed a Tagalog/Mandarin rendition of Anak and finished 7th, and was unable to advance to the finals. Despite her elimination, she later returned as a guest singer (along with former winner Coco Lee) for a performance from Jessie J (who was the series winner) in the grand finals aired April 13, 2018.

DIVAS

On April 27, 2016, KZ was announced to be part of the DIVAS girl group along with Kyla, Yeng Constantino, and Angeline Quinto (Rachelle Ann Go was originally planned to be part of the group, but left due to international commitments). The group staged their first concert titled DIVAS Live in Manila on November 11, 2016 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. On December 15, 2018, the group staged their second major concert at the Smart Araneta Coliseum with Boyz II Men titled Boyz II Men with DIVAS.

2016

On April 27, 2016, it was announced that a girl group named DIVAS, composed of Tandingan, Yeng Constantino, Kyla, Rachelle Ann Go and Angeline Quinto will debut with their first concert at the Smart Araneta Coliseum titled DIVAS: Live in Manila on November 11, 2016. However, Go left the group due to scheduling problems.

2018

KZ held her first major solo concert Supreme: KZ Tandingan at Mall of Asia Arena on June 22, 2018. She shared the stage with some of the biggest artists in Philippines, including fellow ASAP Soul Sessionists Kyla, Jason Dy and Daryl Ong, her biggest rap influence Gloc-9, Malaya hitmaker Moira Dela Torre, singer Iñigo Pascual, and rapper Shanti Dope.[18] Shen then embarked on her first world tour, the "Supreme: World Tour".

On October 31, 2018, KZ returned to the MOA Arena Stage, this time performing alongside Chinese singers Fish Leong, A-Lin, Faye at the PDMN "To Youth Nice To Meet You" Phil-Chi Star Concert.

On December 15, DIVAS returned to the Araneta Coliseum, staging a collaboration concert with international R&B vocal trio Boyz II Men.

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Title	Certifications (sales thresholds)
2013	KZ Tandingan Released: May 3, 2013 Formats: CD, Digital download
2017	Soul Supremacy Released: 2017 Formats: CD, Digital download

Singles

Title	Year	Peak chart positions			Album
		PHI [19]	PHI 20	PHI Spotify [20]
As lead artist
"Killing Me Softly"	2012	—	—	—	The X Factor Philippines / KZ Tandingan
"Scared to Death"	2013	—	—	—	Himig Handog P-Pop Love Songs 2013 / KZ Tandingan
"Puro Laro"		—	—	—	KZ Tandingan
"Mahal Ko O Mahal Ako"	2014	—	3	53	Himig Handog P-Pop Love Songs 2014
"Laban Pa" (with Jay R)	2016	—	—	—	Himig Handog P-Pop Love Songs 2016
"Two Less Lonely People in the World"	2017	2[21]	1[22]	2	Kita Kita soundtrack
"Labo"		—	—	—	Soul Supremacy
"'Imposible" (KZ Tandingan x Shanti Dope)	2019	—	—	—
"Raise Your Flag" (with Kritiko)		—	—	—	Non-album single
"My Hair, My Say"	2020	—	—	—	Non-album single
"Can't Wait to Say I Do" (with TJ Monterde)	2020
As featured artist
"Bolang Kristal" (with Abra)	2016	—	—	—	Abra
"Ikaw at Ako Pa Rin" (with TJ Monterde)	2017	43	8	—	TJ Monterde - EP
"Industriya" (with Gloc-9)		—	—	—	Sukli
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was released before Billboard Philippines era.

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Network	Role	Notes
2012	The X Factor Philippines	ABS-CBN	Contestant	Winner
2012–present	ASAP		Herself	Main cast
2013–16	Himig Handog		Contestant	"Scared To Death" (4th place) "Mahal Ko O Mahal Ako" (Winner) "Laban Pa" (3rd place)
2014	The Singing Bee		Contestant	Winner; won ₱1,000,000
2015	Your Face Sounds Familiar		Contestant	4th place
2016	We Love OPM		Mentor	O Diva; 3rd place
2017	FPJ's Ang Probinsyano		Herself	Wedding Singer
2018	Singer 2018	Hunan Television	Contestant	Invited first as a challenger

Films

Year	Title	Role
2019	The Art of Ligaw	Carisse

Notes

1. ^ The table above only includes Tandingan's significant appearances, therefore guest appearances are not included.

Awards

Year	Awards	Nominated	Result	Ref.
2012	25th Aliw Awards by Aliw Awards Foundation, Inc.	KZ Tandingan as the Best New Artist	Won	[23][24]
2013	26th Awit Awards by the Philippine Association of the Record Industry	"Wag Ka Nang Umiyak" as the Best Performance by a New Female Recording Artist	Nominated	[25][26]
2014	27th Awit Awards by the Philippine Association of the Record Industry	"Bakit Lumuluha" as Best Performance by a Female Recording Artist	Nominated	[27]
		"Scared to Death" as Best Ballad Recording	Won
		"Darating Din" as Best Inspirational/Religious Recording	Nominated
		"Darating Din" as Best Jazz Recording	Won
	Myx Music Awards 2014 by MYX	KZ Tandingan as Favorite Female Artist	Nominated	[28]
		KZ Tandingan as Favorite New Artist	Won
2015	28th Awit Awards by the Philippine Association of the Record Industry	"May Bukas Pa" (with Yeng Constantino) as Best Collaboration	Won	[29]
		"Mahal Ko O Mahal Ako" as Best Ballad Recording	Won
2016	29th Awit Awards by the Philippine Association of the Record Industry	"Wag Ka Nang Umiyak" (with Ebe Dancel) as Best Collaboration	Nominated	[30][31]
2017	30th Awit Awards by the Philippine Association of the Record Industry	"Industriya" (with Gloc-9) as Best Collaboration	Nominated	[32][33]
		"Industriya" (with Gloc-9) as Best Rap/HipHop Recording	Nominated
	2nd Wish 107.5 Music Awards by Wish 107.5 FM	"Throwback" (as featured artist; with Morissette Amon) as Wish Original Song Of the Year by a Female Artist	Nominated	[34]
2018	3rd Wish 107.5 Music Awards by Wish 107.5 FM	KZ Tandingan as Wish Artist of the Year	Nominated	[35][36]
		"Two Less Lonely People in the World" as Wishclusive Pop Performance of the Year	Won
		"Ikaw At Ako Pa Rin" (with TJ Monterde) as Wishclusive Collaboration of the Year	Nominated
		"Labo" by KZ Tandingan as Wish Urban Song of the Year	Won
		"Win The Moment" (as featured artist; with Quest) as Wish Urban Song of the Year	Nominated
2020	33rd Awit Awards by the Philippine Association of the Record Industry	"Halik sa Hangin" as Best Performance by a Female Recording Artist	Won	[37]
		"Imposible" (with Shanti Dope) as Best Collaboration	Won
		"Imposible" (with Shanti Dope) as Song of the Year	Won

References

1. Karen Valeza (October 8, 2012). "KZ wins 'The X Factor Philippines'". Yahoo! OMG! Philippines. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
2. "KZ Tandingan wins 'X Factor PH'". ABS-CBN News. October 7, 2012. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
3. "billboard.ph - Diese Website steht zum Verkauf! - Informationen zum Thema ". billboard.ph. Retrieved July 6, 2018.
4. Baby A. Gil (July 5, 2013). "Will KZ Tandingan make it to stardom?". The Philippine Star. Retrieved July 11, 2013.
5. "'A star is born' in Digos on 'X Factor ' week 3". ABS-CBN News. July 16, 2012. Retrieved July 30, 2012.
6. Fabian, Chris (July 24, 2012). "KZ enters 'X Factor' Top 20". Mindanao Times. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
7. "KZ Tandingan in 'X Factor' Top 20; Osang out". ABS-CBN News. July 23, 2012. Retrieved July 30, 2012.
8. Allan Policarpio (February 25, 2013). "Director-composer wins Himig Handog". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
9. Feliz Borja. ""Anong Nangyari Sa Ating Dalawa" Is HIMIG HANDOG's Best P-Pop Love Song!". Myx. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
10. "Side A 2013". April 24, 2013. Fat Media TV. Archived from the original on April 21, 2013. Retrieved May 8, 2013.
11. "KZ Tandingan Debut Album Snippets". 2 May 2013. Star Records. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
12. "KZ holds successful album launch". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
13. Rito P. Asilo (June 14, 2013). "Debut album shows off KZ Tandingan's 'X Factor'". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
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15. "Kyla, Jason, Daryl, Jay-R, KZ sing Bieber hits on 'ASAP'". ABS-CBN News. August 13, 2017. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
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17. "'Kaya pala nag-iyakan': What KZ's Mandarin song means". ABS-CBN News. February 19, 2018. Retrieved February 23, 2018.
18. BusinessMirror (July 8, 2018). "'Asia's Soul Supreme' showcases versatility". BusinessMirror. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
19. "BillboardPH Hot 100". BillboardPH. June 12, 2017.Retrieved June 13, 2017
20. "KZ Tandingan - Spotify Chart History". kworb.net. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
21. "BillboardPH Hot 100 – August 21". Billboard Philippines. August 21, 2017. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
22. "Week of August 14, 2017". Billboard Philippines. August 14, 2017. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
23. Totel V. de Jesus (November 19, 2012). "25th Aliw Awards bare 2012 finalists". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
24. Jude Cartalaba (November 27, 2012). "Leo Valdez, Eugene Domingo win at 25th Aliw Awards". Rappler. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
25. "Finalists in 26th Awit Awards revealed". ABS-CBN News. June 3, 2013. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
26. NR Ramos (June 4, 2013). "Gloc-9 commands 26th Awit noms". Manila Bulletin. Archived from the original on June 24, 2013. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
27. "Gloc 9 nabs top honors at 2014 Awit Awards". ABS-CBN News. December 13, 2014. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
28. Blanco, Eunice. "Gloc9, Yeng, Sarah, Parokya ni Edgar win big at MYX Music Awards 2014". March 27, 2014. The Philippine Star. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
29. "WINNERS: 28th Awit Awards". Philippine Association of the Record Industry. December 9, 2015. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
30. "List of 29th Awit Awards FINALISTS" (PDF). Philippine Association of the Record Industry. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
31. "Sarah G, Ebe Dancel win big at 29th Awit Awards". ABS-CBN News. December 8, 2016. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
32. "FULL LIST: Nominees for Awit Awards 2017". ABS-CBN News. August 18, 2017. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
33. "Darren Espanto, Inigo Pascual win big at 30th Awit Awards". Philippine Daily Inquirer. November 29, 2017. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
34. Santiago, Ervin (January 20, 2017). "Morisette 'Hakot Queen' sa 2nd Wish 107.5 Music Awards; Jason Dy, Darren big winner din". Bandera. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
35. Ortega, Karlos (December 19, 2017). "Wish 107.5 announces Wish Music Awards 2018; List of nominees out now". One Music. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
36. Ortega, Karlos (January 15, 2018). "The list of winners from Wish 107.5 Music Awards". One Music. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
37. "FULL LIST: Winners, Awit Awards 2020". Rappler. August 29, 2020. Retrieved August 29, 2020.

External links