'Lesha x ELM' shines in Youtube's 'Best.Cover.Ever' contest
A Filipino duo have won the grand prize in YouTube's "Best.Cover.Ever" reality singing competition held in Los Angeles, California recently.
The duo of Lesha Litonjua and Leo Malli, collectively known as Lesha x ELM, emerged as the ultimate winners of the show hosted by Grammy-award winning artist Ludacris and produced by Ryan Seacrest Productions and Endemol Shine North America. The episode has been uploaded on Youtube last December 22.
During a press conference held at the Herald Suites Polaris in Makati City, the duo recalled how they got entered into the reality show.
"A day after submitting the audition video, we got a call early in the morning from the producers of the show that we made it to the next round. ELM and I went through rigorous screening processes through Skype calls where we were further interviewed, background checked and were also asked to perform live," said Lesha.
Leo continued: "Two weeks later, we got a call from one of the producers saying we made it to the 'Executive Producers Round' to be held in Los Angeles, California where we will be auditioning in front on DNCE's producers."
"When we landed in Los Angeles, we didn't know what to expect. We were called on the set few days after we arrived for the Executive Producers Round at YouTube Space LA. We were standing in line waiting for our IDs, and out of nowhere we hear a car honking really loud. ELM and I along with one other contestant, Will Makar, looked behind and DNCE jumped out of vehicle and surprised us. We were all in shock! At that moment, Joe Jonas of DNCE told us that we were the top 2 finalists chosen to audition in front of DNCE themselves and Ludacris," said Lesha.
The Filipino duo performed DNCE's song "Kissing Strangers" for the auditions. After a few hours of deliberations, Ludacris and DNCE announced that the Filipino duo have been chosen to perform "Cake By The Ocean" with DNCE in front of hundreds of fans.
"They flipped the song on its head and it doesn't sound like anything that we've heard before and they created it themselves. Their energy was lovable and you kinda wanna be a part of the party. They made the song feel like it was the first time we heard it in the studio, it felt fresh, it felt new and performing not only with fans but great musicians is what we always love to do," said Joe Jonas.
Lesha and Leo are best friends in college who have always bonded together over their passion for electronic music.
They began performing together in 2016 and since then, they have been booking performances at the premier night clubs in Manila and have opened acts for international artists who visited the Philippines.
"Being a cover artist is a challenge mainly because we really have to break down
the song and make it our own. Our genre is electronic alternative but we also tap into future bass and trap and we love adding a different spin to our song covers," Lesha said.
Believe it or not but the duo hopes to perform with Kapamilya star James Reed among our local artists soon.
"As of the moment, there are several opportunities presented to us and all of it is in the planning stage and we are very excited to reveal this once everything is final. This is beyond what we both expected and we're very fortunate enough to live our dream," added Leo.
The series "Best Cover Ever" will premier exclusively on YouTube featuring music superstars Demi Lovato, Katy Perry, Jason Derulo, Charlie Puth, Keith Urban, Backstreet Boys, Flo Rida, Nicky Jam, Bebe Rexha and Joe Jonas of DNCE.
The original series from YouTube will give emerging musicians from around the world to a global singing competition that allows musicians to submit cover performances alongside their idols.
A new superstar artist will challenge competing musicians to perform a cover of one of their original songs.
The musician can perform their own unique style of the song as they battle for the ultimate prize: the opportunity to perform a duet with the superstar artist that will premier in the platform. - ROBERT REQUINTINA
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