Mitoy Yonting

Michael Yonting (born January 5, 1970), more popularly known by his screen name Mitoy Yonting, is a Filipino singer, comedian, actor, and lead vocalist for The Draybers. Yonting rose to fame after winning the first season of The Voice of the Philippines in 2013.^[2]

Yonting was born on January 5, 1970,^[1] and is from Calasiao, Pangasinan.^[3] His interest in music started at age 13 when he would listen to the radio and make his own singing routines. In high school, he competed in several local singing competitions. In college, he studied criminology at the Philippine College of Criminology. During this time he joined a band, and eventually left college to focus on his singing career.^[4]

Yonting married Merlita Runas in 1996.^[5]

Yonting was discovered after competing in the 1990s televised singing competition Ikaw at Echo, a segment of the noontime variety show Eat Bulaga! on GMA Network where he competed as a voice-a-like of Air Supply's Russell Hitchcock. Though he did not win the title, his performance was well regarded. In 1996, he and his brother, Mylo Yonting, formed a band called "The Draybers" and joined Rockstar: Bakit? a sing-alike television show.^[6]

Through his television appearances, Yonting pursued a career as a comedian in the GMA Network sitcom Ful Haus, and the comedy sketch show H3O: Ha Ha Ha Over aired on QTV (now GMA News TV). Yonting later became a regular host on Eat Bulaga! for a brief time, before deciding to reunite with The Drayber's.^[6]

The Drayber's toured several countries including Japan, where Yonting met his wife,^[4] In late 2011, the band returned to Manila and performed at Resorts World Manila.^[1]

In 2013, Yonting was invited to participate in the first season of The Voice of the Philippines. During the blind auditions, he sang "Bakit Ako Mahihiya" of Didith Reyes. His audition piece made Bamboo Mañalac and Lea Salonga, who got excited after hearing his voice, turn their chairs for him.^[7][8] After he finished his audition piece, Salonga requested that he sing a non-English song, and he responded by singing a Japanese song.^[9] Yonting then picked Salonga as his coach.^[7][8] During the Battles, he was paired with Chien Berbana and performed "Alone" by the American rock band Heart, a performance which was widely commended by both the judges and the show's followers. At the end of the round, Salonga picked Yonting citing his experience and prowess.^[10]

During the Live shows, Yonting continued to do well in the competition. During his first appearance in the Live Shows, he performed "Don't Stop Me Now" by the English rock band Queen. During that particular episode, he was saved after garnering 82.29% of the public's vote.^[11][12] During the third Live show, Yonting performed Dulce's "Paano" against Darryl Shy who sang Asin's Balita. Yonting lost to Shy for the public's vote but won after he got the highest points of the accumulated coach's and public's scores.^[13][14] On the first night of the semi-finals, he was paired up against Radha where both performed "Against All Odds" by Phil Collins as a Battle song.^[15] On the second night, he performed "The Power of Love" by Jennifer Rush. At the end of the show, Yonting was proclaimed as the Salonga's representative to the Finals.^[16][17] After the results, he performed his original song, "Bulag."^[18]

During the first night of the finals, he performed Freddie Aguilar's "Anak" and his original song "Bulag."^[19][20] On the second night of the finals, Yonting made a trio performance with Salonga and Vice Ganda where they performed "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler.^[21] After the end of the round of votes, Yonting along with Sarah Geronimo's Klarisse de Guzman made it to the top two. In his last performance, he sang The Beatles' "Help!".^[22] At the end of the voting, Yonting received 57.65% of the votes proclaiming him the winner of the reality competition.^[23] With his title, he also won two million pesos, a brand-new car, and a four-year contract with MCA Music.^[24]

  – Studio version of performance reached the top 10 on iTunes

After winning The Voice of the Philippines, Yonting became part of the Philippine Ballet Theatre's two-night concert called Sayaw at Serye on November 15 and 16, 2013. Yonting was one of the cast of Home Sweetie Home, ABS-CBN's newest sitcom, which premiered in January 2014.^[25] He was also a supporting act for Lea Salonga's concert series titled 'Playlist', which ran from December 2013 to January 2014. Yonting and Salonga performed a medley together during the concert.^[26]

From 2018 to 2020, Mitoy was in the sitcom "Home Sweetie Home". In 2021, Mitoy was cast as a guest member in his first drama, the long-running action drama series "FPJ's Ang Probinsyano". In 2022, Mitoy returned in his second action drama series, "The Iron Heart", with former child star and "Ang Probinsyano" villain Richard Gutierrez, also featuring Sue Ramirez, Albert Martinez, and others.

• The Voice of the Philippines – The Final 16 (MCA Music, 2013)^[27][28]
• The Voice of the Philippines – The Final 4 (MCA Music, 2013)^[28]
• The Voice of the Philippines: The Complete Season 1 Collection (MCA Music, 2013)^[29]
• Hanggang Wakas (Until Forever) (2014)^[30]

• "Bulag" (2013)^[31]
• "Pinaikot-Ikot" (2014)^[30]

Notes

Supporting act

• Playlist: A Celebration of 35 Years (2013–2014) (supporting Lea Salonga)

• Best Male Performer in Hotels, Music Lounges, Bars (26th Aliw Awards, 2013)^[32]

• Mitoy Yonting on Twitter