Held on October 21 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena, the Filipino Music Awards gathered the country’s most vital musicians, songwriters, and producers, honoring how they’ve shaped and redefined Filipino music’s past, present, and future. Across every category, the awards paid tribute to the perseverance and collaboration that continue to keep OPM alive.
The show opened with IV of Spades performing “Aura,” the pop-rock quartet’s comeback single that reintroduced their signature flair and tight musicianship. Bathed in glowing black suits and backed by the Windows XP landscape screensaver, the band’s return set a playful and eclectic tone for the rest of the evening.
Pop Domination
From there, the ceremony rolled through its major genre awards, including Pop Song of the Year, Alternative Song of the Year, Rock Song of the Year, Folk Song of the Year, Hip-Hop Song of the Year, and R&B Song of the Year.
Pop music dominated early on, with performances that reminded the crowd why it remains the most enduring sound in local music. P-pop group BGYO brought high energy with “All These Ladies,” blending choreography, confidence, and prowess that showed how far homegrown pop has come since its early boy band roots. Solo pop singer-songwriter Maki followed with the dramatic “Abelyana” and “Kahel sa Langit,” performing alongside animated visuals of himself and his pet cat.
“Nakakakaba! Ang OA [pakinggan] pero kung ako talaga, seeing my peers out there and seeing my friends and all the people that supported OPM inside a space, in one place, it fills our hearts,” Maki told Rolling Stone Philippines backstage. “And para sa akin, doon ko na-realize na oh, ito yung meaning kung bakit namin ginagawa ‘to. And I’m just really, really happy that I get to represent OPM and I get to be me inside MOA Arena.”
Girl group BINI followed with their latest single “First Luv,” transforming the arena into a dreamy, pink-lit landscape. Their choreography, vocals, and precision built on the legacy of idol pop while grounding it with Filipino charm.
Legacy Lives On
As the night moved deeper into its lineup, the tone shifted toward legacy and lineage. Hip-hop icon Gloc-9 took the stage to perform “Upuan,” the politically charged track that became an anthem of social change in 2009, while remaining just as relevant in the country’s current political climate, particularly in light of recent corruption scandals centering around bogus flood control projects. The performance served as a reminder of hip-hop’s role as both storytelling and social critique in Filipino music.
Apl.de.ap of the Black Eyed Peas brought his infectious showman energy with “WIND IT!,” a new solo release that fused pop and dancehall, proving how far Filipino musicians have expanded the definition of OPM. The night also featured drag performer Maxie Andreison, who electrified the crowd with “Tado” and “Halika Na,” performing alongside 16 dancers with commanding vocals and a theatricality that blurred the lines between drag artistry and live pop spectacle.
Folk legend Lolita Carbon and Yeng Constantino exchanged melodies and offered their own rendition of “Masdan ang Kapiligiran” alongside the Manila Philharmonic Orchestra quartet. Pop rock band Cup of Joe went on to sing “Multo” — the night’s Song of the Year — while the crowd did most of the singing for them.
The night’s closing moments looked to the past and future of OPM. Ely Buendia, frontman of the Eraserheads, took the stage for a performance of “Kandarapa,” a track from his project Method Adaptor. His band stretched the song into a sprawling jam with a feedback-drenched outro that filled the arena with the raw energy of live rock.
The finale saw SB19 and Ben&Ben collaborating on “Kapangyarihan,” a deep cut from Ben&Ben’s Pebble House, Vol. 1: Kuwaderno, which felt monumental in scale. The song’s socially aware lyrics and vocal harmonies echoed across the venue, closing the ceremony with unity and power. SB19 also performed “DAM,” blending pop precision with high trap hip-hop intensity, showing why they remain one of the country’s most important music groups.
The performances at the Filipino Music Awards showed a snapshot of where OPM currently stands and where it is headed. From the softness of folk and the intimacy of R&B, to hip-hop’s urgency and the bombast of pop, every performance felt like a small piece of a larger narrative in the local music scene. If the night proved anything, it is that Filipino music refuses to stay still. It borrows, reinvents, and builds upon itself in ways that no single genre can contain.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source rollingstonephilippines.com ’
