Jonalyn Viray

Jona
Jona singing at Music Museum during "Fearless" concert, wearing a Nat Manilag haute couture gown
Background information
Birth name	Jonalyn Roxas Viray
Also known as	The Philippines' Fearless Diva and Soul Princess
Born	(1989-11-15) November 15, 1989[1]
Origin	Pioduran, Albay, Philippines[1]
Genres	Pop ballad, R&B, soul, Classical.
Occupation(s)	Singer, Occasional Actress, Endorser
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	2005–present
Labels	GMA Records (2005-2013) Creative Media Entertainment (2013-present) Star Magic (2016-present) Star Music (2016-present)

Jonalyn "Jona" Viray (born Jonalyn Viray, on November 15, 1989^[1] in Marikina City, Philippines^[1]) is a Filipino singer and an occasional actress^[2] She is the former lead singer of trio girl-group La Diva, alongside with Maricris Garcia and Aicelle Santos who she shared success with following her career as a solo artist. The trio earned string of hits with their rendition of songs such I'm Yours, Angels Brought Me Here, Apologize, Stand up For Love and performed to sing the Philippine National Anthem at the Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto boxing match in Las Vegas as well as singing the theme song of Philippine remake of the Mexican telenovela Rosalinda following their disbandment and her return as a solo artist. Again as a solo artist she released her single 'Help Me Get Over' which was awarded the 'Song of the Year' at the 6th PMPC Star Awards for Music.^[3]
On February 2016, Viray has ended her decade of exclusivity with GMA and has transferred to ABS-CBN with changing her screen name to "Jona". On her first project in the Kapamilya Network, Jona sung "I Will Survive", the theme song of primetime drama series, We Will Survive.^[4] Throughout her career as Lead vocalist for La Diva and as a solo artist, Jona has won an Awit Awards, Aliw Awards, PMPC Star Awards For Music and World Championship of Performing Arts. She is known for her belting technique, melismatic singing style and her ability to sing operatic arias and is quoted as "Soul Princess" by the Philippine media and critics. She also sang the second version of I'll Never Love This Way Again, the OST soundtrack of 2016 romantic-drama film, Barcelona: A Love Untold.

Early life

Born on November 15, 1989,^[5] Jona is the eldest of 4 kids (the only girl with 3 boys) from Pio Duran, Albay.^[5] She started joining singing contests on an early age.^[6] She has won first runner-up in "Birit Bulilit" of IBC 13 as a child^[6] and one of the finalists in MTB Teen Pop Star^[6] wherein her winning piece was Mariah Carey’s Never Too Far.^[6] Growing up, Jonalyn, much like any aspiring singer, and actress admired Mariah Carey, Regine Velasquez, Whitney Houston, Kyla, and Beyoncé.^[5][7] Viray cites Kyla as another idols saying she "inspired [her] to get up there and do what [she] did."

Pinoy Pop Superstar

Viray was 15 years of age back then when she competed at the singing competition Pinoy Pop Superstar held by the local television station GMA 7. She emerged as the weekly champion after singing a Whitney Houston hit song Run to You. She also sang Reflection, I Have Nothing and Never Too Far on the consecutive weeks, and after four consecutive weeks of being weekly champion, she then qualified to the grand finals.

In the grand finals, the eight grand contenders wore identical attire: the men in black suits with red shirts; and the women in red gowns. They sang their own respective songs as the UP Concert Chorus, dressed in black, and carrying lighted white balloons, provided the background. MC Monterola and Jonalyn Viray had a back-to-back performance, MC singing "Through the Fire" and Jonalyn "It Might Be You". Kristel Astor sang "If You Dont Know Me By Now", Philbert de Torres did "Once There was a Love", Sheila Ferreri gave an impressive rendition of Eva Eugenios' "Tukso", Charmaine Piamonte sang "I Believe", Brenan Espartinez sang "Home" and Michael Garcia sang "If You're Not the One".

From the eight were chosen the Top Four: Jonalyn Viray, Michael Garcia, Charmaine Piamonte and Brenan Espartinez. Michael was as cool, smooth and confident in singing "She's Out of My Life" and Charmaine was equally at ease and cool in singing her song. Jonalyn was in her best elements as she sang "Run to You" by Whitney Houston. Brenan was also confident and remarkable as he sang his song "Careless Whisper".

From the Top Four, Michael and Charmaine were eliminated to give way to the Top Two, Jonalyn and Brenan who then delivered their own versions of the Pinoy Pop Superstar theme song "The Miracle." Jonalyn then beat Espartinez and was declared the first ever grand champion of Pinoy Pop Superstar.

For winning the title of "Pinoy Pop Superstar", Jonalyn won 1 million pesos in cash and became the owner of a Futura Classic house and lot developed by Filinvest and a brand-new Toyota Innova. She also won an exclusive one-year contract with GMA Records, the recording arm of GMA Network, and received 100,000 pesos worth of Belo Medical services, plus gift certificates worth 50,000 pesos from Gandang Ricky Reyes.^[8]

La Diva

Viray in 2012

La Diva is a Filipino trio pop girl group, first established from the now-defunct musical variety-show SOP. The group is composed of two winners and a runner-up of Pinoy Pop Superstar, namely Jona, Aicelle Santos and Maricris Garcia. La Diva has sold more than 10,000 albums in the Philippines which has earned them several achievements, including an Awit Award, two PMPC Star Awards for Music and an Aliw Award, becoming the fourth best-selling female group in the Philippines behind the Sexbomb Girls, Aegis and Mocha Girls.

It was May 2008 when the GMA ARTIST CENTER formed the musical trio. Member Jonalyn Viray cited that a meeting for the creation of La Diva was held in January that year, with the stipulation that each member of the group would still keep their own identity, and their solo career. While the three ladies of La Diva are uncertain of how the group was formed, the combining factor is that each of them came from the GMA's reality talent search Pinoy Pop Superstar. Jona and Maricris Garcia were the Grand Champions of the first and third seasons respectively, and Aicelle Santos was the runner-up of the second season.

She left La Diva after the disbandment in 2015.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Filmography

Television

Other TV Appearances

• Unang Hirit^[9]
• SiS^[9]
• Extra Challenge^[9]
• Eat Bulaga!^[9]
• Sweet Life^[9]
• Full Time Moms^[9]
• Showbiz Central^[9]
• S-Files^[9]
• Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho^[9]
• Celebrity Duets: Philippine Edition^[9]
• Protégé: The Battle For The Big Artista Break
• Net 25
• Just Duet
• Showtime
• Rated K
• Umagang Kay Ganda
• Tonight with Boy Abunda
• Kris TV

References

External links

• Jonalyn Viray at iGMA.tv
• Jonalyn Viray at the Internet Movie Database