Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Mikaela Bautista with her father Vhen on American Idol Season 23. (ABC Photo)

Mikaela Bautista is among the artists who earned a golden ticket on Season 23 of American Idol.

Idol will air a final audition episode Sunday on ABC. Golden ticket recipients will then compete in Hollywood Week. Those episodes begin airing Monday.

Here’s more about Mikaela.

* She’s a 23-year-old from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., who works as a registered behavioral technician. Part of her job is teaching children coping skills.

* Mikaela impressed the judges with her rendition of Whitney Houston’s “Saving All My Love for You.” Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie voted to grant her a golden ticket. Lionel praised her for her “amazing control” of her vocals. Carrie Underwood voted “no” because she felt Mikaela’s performance was affected by nerves.

* Mikaela’s family then entered the room to celebrate her success. That included her father Vhen, also a singer. Mikaela and Vhen delivered a lovely, heartfelt rendition of “The Prayer.” When they had finished, Carrie was so impressed, she changed her vote.

* Mikaela’s audition has now been viewed more than 790,000 times on YouTube, which is 250,000 more views than any other performance from the same week as of Wednesday afternoon (March 26).

* She told Idol her musical inspiration comes from her father, who was a well-known singer of Ilocano music in the Philippines. Ilocano is Filipino folk music, she told the judges.

* Indeed, Vhen performed in the Philippines as Chino Romero and has five albums available under that name on Spotify, not to mention more as Vhen Bautista. He released a Christmas album last year and a 50-song compilation album in January.

* He also posts cover to a YouTube channel where Mikaela has been a frequent duet partner. For instance, head here to hear them performing “My Dear Chatmate Ko.” “Chatmate Ko” was the name of a 2022 album Vren released.

* Mikaela is the featured vocalist on a track on her dad’s 2017 album, “Pakalaglagipan Kenka Nanang.” Her brother Keanu also sings on that album.

* As for her own musical ambitions, Mikaela told Idol: “Singing has been the love of my life since I could talk … I feel like my dad sort of sacrificed his career to be with our family (in the U.S). This is not only my dream, but his dream as well.”

* “Saving All My Love for You” is clearly among her favorite songs to cover. She did so for an online Whitney Houston challenge. And a clip of Mikaela singing the song to acoustic guitar is one of the most popular on her TikTok, with nearly 300,000 views.

* And, yep, she’s been singing for quite a while. Head here to watch Mikaela perform “I Have Nothing” and “I Will Always Love You” with the Filipino American Symphony Orchestra in 2015. She would have been about 14 at the time.

Mikaela on social media:
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