WebHits: Young Filipino’s cover of Air Supply’s ‘Having You Near Me’

MANILA, Philippines – Another proof that there’s a fantastic singer in every corner of the Philippines.

On Saturday, August 23, a group of teenagers singing classic rock songs caught the attention of Cotabato teacher Zacky Kandalayang.

“I was awakened by the sound of guitars… I opened the windows and the curtains of my room and outside I saw a group of young looking boys happily singing together,” wrote Kandalayang in the Facebook post featuring the video of the young musicians.

The video featured Jhong Madaliday, a high school student from Kabacan, North Cotabato, who sang Air Supply’s “Having You Near Me” accompanied by his two friends who played acoustic guitars. Madaliday hit the notes in the song with relative ease in a voice you wouldn’t believe came out of scrawny 15-year-old.

As of Tuesday night, August 26, the video has been liked over 80,000 thousand times and has been shared over 110,000 times. It has also been re-uploaded several times on YouTube. 

In a separate Facebook post, Kandalayang shared that segment producers and talent scouts have reached out to him to try to get in touch with the 3 boys. Unfortunatey, Kandalayang was unable to get the contact details of the 3.

In another YouTube video of the three boys posted by user Nol Trawz, Madaliday was described by Trawz as a passionate musician who idolizes Journey frontman Arnel Pineda and Pilipinas Got Talent winner Jovit Baldivino. – Rappler.com