Enjoying Wonderful World: Maria Laroco

August 27, 2019

2018 X-FACTOR UK Finalist 'Maria Laroco', launches her new debut International Album "Just Maria"

Maria Laroco, 18-year-old student from the Philippines and was a finalist of 2018 "X-Factor UK" as Top 6 of Simon Cowell.

Maria Laroco is very thankful now that her very first album titled "Just Maria" under an international recording label "Odic Records" is finally out!

Maria treated her album as her breakthrough in her career in music industry.

Containing in the album is her "10 original songs" with her carrier single "Imagine. It is a love song and tackles the "Magic of Love" that mostly teenagers like her running through nowadays.

According to Maria, her inspiration to pursue her career is her dreams as well as her parents and all of people trusting and believing in her God gifted talents.

Before her stint on last year's X-Factor UK, the rising star's claim to fame in her native land is being a contestant in the Philippines' version of The Voice Kids in 2014.

She started singing at the age of 3 joining in different amateur singing competitions. Her musical infuences are Sarah Geronimo, Yeng Constantino and many OPM artists. She became one of recording artists of Universal Records Philippines and released her own version of "Beauty and the Beast". Her revival single during that year "Hindi Ko Kaya" (original popularized by Geneva Cruz) was used as official theme song of Korean TV Drama Series "All About Mom" aired in GMA 7. She represented Philippines in Child Aid Asia concert held in Tokyo, Japan.

She becomes Grand Finalist in "The Will To Win" of Wowowin. She also won and become a Grand champion in Great British Festival held in Makati City leaded by Ambassador Daniel Pruce.

Year 2018 that Maria becomes a finalist of "X-Factor UK" as Top 6 of Simon Cowell. Her audition song "Purple Rain" makes the judges and crowd standing! ovation in the prestigious international singing competition. Her journey continues until she was part of Top 6 finalists in the said competition.

Artists who had the biggest impact on Maria were Whitney Houston, Patti Labelle, Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson, Beyonce Knowles, Usher, and Brandy Norwood.

As for the Philippines artists, she wishes to collaborate with her idols like Sarah Geronimo, Regine Velasquez- Alcasid and Morissette.

Maria's newest released album "Just Maria" is now available at digital music platforms online like Spotify, Deezer, Spinner, ITunes and many more.

October 14, 2018

POWERHOUSE SINGER MARIA LAROCO GETS UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL ON HER X FACTOR UK JOURNEY

The X Factor UK teen contestant recounts her best moments at her homecoming celebration

Young power singer Maria Laroco comes home following week after week of sensational acts on The X Factor UK Season 15 airing exclusively on Blue Ant Entertainment. The budding superstar shared some of her biggest moments at a press event held at the Brickyard, Quezon City, where she also gave a special homecoming performance of her winning songs.

“My entire experience has been overwhelming,” Laroco said. “I’ve always wanted to sing at the X Factor UK. It’s my biggest dream, and being able to join the contest is already a huge achievement for me. I’m very happy to be given a chance to perform in front of the British audience, and especially Simon Cowell.”

The 17-year-old first made headlines when she wowed all four judges and the audience at the Wembley Stadium with her stunning rendition of Prince’s “Purple Rain” during the live auditions. “I still couldn’t believe that I got four yeses from the judges. It was very surreal! I never expected to get a standing ovation from these really big people,” Laroco said about her audition.

Laroco won a spot in the Six Chair Challenge with Whitney Houston’s “Queen of the Night” that left international star maker Cowell wide-eyed with excitement. She almost lost her seat to another contestant, but was called back amidst popular demand from the crowd. The teen singer had to fight for her place once again when Cowell asked her to do a sing-off with another contender. It was a tough moment, but she managed to pull through by singing her audition piece, “Purple Rain.”

“That, vocally, was just like a different class,” The X Factor UK judge and One Direction member Louis Tomlinson couldn’t help but exclaim afterwards. Cowell was convinced and decided to keep her among the final six contenders under the “Girls” category.

The X Factor UK contestant shared how proud she was to be one of the many Filipino participants who won hearts from fans both in the UK and around the globe: “It feels incredible to represent our country,” Laroco said. “This contest really gave me an opportunity to raise our flag and show how talented Filipinos are.”

She also expressed her heartfelt gratitude to all her supporters at the X Factor UK. “I wouldn’t make it this far without everyone who cheered for me. Thank you so much for believing in me,” the young talent said. “I’ve learned a lot from the competition, and I’ll continue to work hard to make my dreams come true. Please continue to support me. I promise to have more in store for all of you in the future.”

The X Factor UK S15 continues every Sunday and Monday, 7:55PM (6:55PM JKT/BKK), same day as the UK, first and exclusive on Blue Ant Entertainment, available on SKYcable channels 53 (SD) and 196 (HD), SKYdirect channel 35, Destiny Cable channel 53, and Cablelink channels 37 (SD) and 313 (HD).

Blue Ant Entertainment

Blue Ant Entertainment is a general entertainment channel with the best mix of reality, drama, comedy, and daily programmes. Featuring hit series and late-night television, airing day-and-date with the U.S. and U.K. markets, including: competition series The X Factor UK; dailies Entertainment Tonight, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and The Late Late Show with James Corden. The channel also ‘LIVE’ broadcasts some biggest award shows in the world, including The Golden Globe Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards, American Music Awards and Billboard Music Awards.