Stories that Inform
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Thankful for the music: A girl’s journey from wannabe singer to budding artist
GILLIANA CARDENAS PALMA talks to a young prodigy singer about her journey in her singing career.
Ysabella singing at Radio Heatwave’s The Xtract in 2020, a competition organised by Ngee Ann Polytechnic. PHOTO: COURTESY OF NIANNA YSABELLA BANTA LLAO
With years of competitive experience under her belt, a successful YouTube channel and a partnership with a regional radio station in the Philippines, Nianne Ysabella Banta Ilao, a polytechnic dropout is leaving no stone unturned to become a famous singer.
Ysabella’s journey started from an early age, when her father played songs from Michael Jackson and Britney Spears.
“My father was my biggest inspiration,” Ysabella says in an email interview. “He was the one who introduced singing to me. From there on, I fell in love with music.”
Since then, Ysabella has participated in various singing competitions and talent shows. She remembers taking every chance she could get to sing on stage.
Ysabella has more than a decade’s worth of experiences, but greatly treasures one memory in particular.
In 2020, Ysabella signed up for The Xtract, a singing competition organised by Radio Heatwave, Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s campus radio station. She was overjoyed when Radio Heatwave announced her as one of the finalists for The Xtract.
During the finals, she was tasked with writing an original song and presenting it to the judges. "The adrenaline from performing on stage is like no other I've felt before," she says. Although Ysabella didn't win The Xtract, she still enjoyed herself.
“Music is my passion, and when you take your passion and challenge yourself by joining competitions, I think it becomes a really good learning experience,” she says.
For Ysabella, the most challenging part of her life journey started when she entered polytechnic.
She remembered questioning her decision to enrol in Mass Communication, a course she thought would have been helpful in developing her other strengths. “This was not the path I wanted to take, and that deep within me I still wanted to pursue singing,” she says. In the end, Ysabella made the difficult decision to leave Ngee Ann Polytechnic during her second year of schooling. Her next plan is to take the Diploma in Performance course at LASALLE College of the Arts.
It was also during this time that Ysabella’s depression and anxiety took a turn for the worse. Listening to music kept her grounded, especially during days where she struggled to control her intrusive thoughts.
Ysabella (left) performing onstage during her secondary school’s prom night in 2019. PHOTO: COURTESY OF NIANNA YSABELLA BANTA LLAO
Rachel Banta, Ysabella’s mother, was initially reluctant for Ysabella to drop out of polytechnic but she accepted her decision.
“As a mother, it doesn’t matter the money or years that were wasted. For me, what makes her happy will [make me] happy,” Mrs Banta says.
Ysabella plans to upload song covers on YouTube again when she gains enough confidence to perform for a larger audience. Her YouTube channel, which has been around since 2019, was created out of Ysabella’s desire to be more self-reliant. Within two years, Ysabella’s YouTube channel has gained around 2,240 subscribers. Ysabella’s most popular video to date has over 100,000 views and 6,300 likes.
Besides her plans to return to YouTube, Ysabella has partnered up with Jam 88.3, a radio station based in the Philippines. Eric Perpetua, the radio manager of Jam 88.3, says this project is part of an unconfirmed collaboration with a private record label. However, Mr Perpetua says that he plans to broadcast Ysabella’s song covers nationwide once his company and the record label have sorted out the details of the project. A portion of the profits made from the song covers will go back to Ysabella as well.
Ysabella has come full circle to her first love. For those who are struggling to embrace what they want to pursue, she says,
“Reflect on what you truly enjoy doing in life, and go for it!”