The general impression on British
music executive and veteran singing reality competition judge Simon Cowell was
that he was a tough judge of talent with some of the meanest put-downs of
aspiring contestants that fail to match his standards. But it is also known
that when he sees somebody talented from his reckoning, he would support them
vigorously. That was how Simon formed a boy band out of failed solo “X-Factor”
UK contestants, turning them into One Direction. During the show’s 15th
series on ITV in 2018, Cowell extended that same support for talent to Filipina
singer Maria Laroco. Though she did not advance in competition, she was not
forgotten.
Such was made clear according to The Manila Bulletin, which reports that
Simon Cowell has reached out to one of his chosen contestants back in “The
X-Factor” UK series 15, asking her to return to the reality show in the future.
Maria Laroco has been back in the Philippines since her overseas “X-Factor”
campaign, and has already established a recording career for herself. She was actually
promoting her single “Pilit Pa Rin” under EMC Entertainment in a press
conference in Quezon City this past Tuesday, January 28, when she revealed that
Simon had contacted her.
Laroco explained that Cowell
reached out to her via telephone call back in 2019 to see if she could come
back to “The X-Factor” UK. The season last year had been a special celebrity
version, but the singer replied that she would not have been able to join the
auditions on time. The “X-Factor” judge was not one to give up however, telling
Maria that he would even fly over to the Philippines to arrange for her
transport back to the UK if deemed necessary.
While her own personal schedule at
the time might not have permitted it, Maria Laroco also remarked at her
press-con that she was ready to try it out anew at “The X-Factor” UK this year
if she gets another call back, especially if Simon Cowell asked her. “I might
really come back (in X Factor UK) if there’s a chance to really go there this
2020,” she said. “I also really want to represent our country in the
international contest.”
On the 2018 run of “X-Factor” on
ITV, the then-UK student Laroco was picked from audition-deliberation by Simon
for his pool of talents (Girls). Visa problems prevented her from joining her
fellow contestants on Cowell’s “Judge’s House” period on Malibu. She sang her
House performance instead via video link from a studio in London, and was praised
for her cover of “Purple Rain” by the late Prince. Laroco was ultimately
eliminated, with the final victory going to Jamaican Dalton Harris.
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