Tawag ng Tanghalan season 9

The ninth season of the Philippine amateur singing competition Tawag ng Tanghalan, titled Tawag ng Tanghalan: Ika-9 na Taon, airs as a segment of the noontime variety television show It's Showtime. The season premiered on April 28, 2025.^[1]

Preliminary auditions for the ninth season were announced, with the first ones taking place in January 2025.

The ninth season premiered on April 28, 2025, just two days after the finale of All-Star Grand Resbak 2025. This is the ninth season to air on A2Z, the third season to air on All TV, and the fourth season to air on GMA Network.

The format was revised and is now divided into two rounds. The first round marks the return of the face-off format, where three competitors (or two, if a defending champion is present) from Metro Manila, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao compete. This format was last used in the seventh season. This opens up the possibility that two or even all three contenders could come from the same region. The contender (two if there is no defending champion) with the highest average score advances to the face-off round, titled KanTapatan, where the daily winner has the chance to snatch the golden microphone from the defending champion. Furthermore, the rounds in some episodes can also be modified due to time constraints similar to the second and third quarters of the sixth season.

In rare cases where a contender is gonged during the daily rounds—such as seen in the May 30, 2025 episode, where the first contender was gonged while the other two were not—the remaining contenders must ensure they are not gonged by the head judge in order to automatically advance to the next round. If two contenders are gonged, the one who remains will automatically be named the defending champion without proceeding to the face-off round. In the face-off round, if one of the daily round winners is gonged, the remaining contender who is not gonged will automatically be named the defending champion. However, if both are gonged, no defending champion will be declared, and a new three-way face-off will be held the following day to determine the next defending champion. In case of a tie as seen in the May 31, June 2 and 27, 2025 episodes, both of them will become defending champions and will continue to defend their respective titles until the 3-day winning streak is achieved, similar to what happened in the seventh season.

The required number of consecutive wins for a defending champion to advance to the next round has been reduced to three. Once achieved, the contender moves to the second round, where the eighteen three-day winners are grouped into three teams, each consisting of six members. This team-based structure resembles the Last Man Standing format used in the All-Star Grand Resbak series, with each team guided by a celebrity mentor.

Additionally, the judging criteria have been modified, adopting the same standards used in the second season of All-Star Grand Resbak:

• tone quality (40%),
• voice projection and technique (30%), and
• intonation and enunciation (30%).

Vhong Navarro, Vice Ganda, Anne Curtis, Amy Perez, Jhong Hilario, Karylle, Kim Chiu, Ogie Alcasid, and Darren Espanto reprised their hosting roles for this season. Meanwhile, Ion Perez, Ryan Bang, and Teddy Corpuz reprised their roles as gongmasters for the season.

Jugs Jugueta, MC Muah Calaquian, Lassy Marquez, Cianne Dominguez and Jackie Gonzaga served as guest co-host in the absence of the main hosts.

Judges Erik Santos, Bituin Escalante, Mark Bautista, Kyla, Dingdong Avanzado, Nyoy Volante, Jed Madela, Yeng Constantino and Klarisse de Guzman reprised their judging roles to the panel, along with alternating head judges or punong hurados Louie Ocampo, Zsa Zsa Padilla, Marco Sison, Nonoy Zuñiga and Alcasid.

The mechanics for the daily rounds have returned with the face-off format, which will pit competitors against one another. A contender can only defend the golden microphone three times. When a contender does this, he or she advances to Round 2. Contenders who claimed the golden microphone receive ₱10,000 for each win while contenders who became daily winners receive ₱10,000 and contenders who lost in the elimination and face-off rounds receive ₱5,000.

Color Key:

Contender's Information:

Results Details:

• Italicized names denotes a contender is a resbaker

When a contender reaches three consecutive victories, he or she is dethroned and assigned to a group for the following round. The full mechanics for the second round will be revealed once the teams have been determined. There are three groups of six, each led by a celebrity mentor. The first defending champion is assigned to Team A, the second to Team B, the third to Team C, the fourth back to Team A, and so on until all eighteen spots are filled.

On the July 2, 2025 episode, Marco Zamesa defeated Alexa Salcedo, the current member of Team B and 2-time defending champion. She would have been placed on the same team if she had won. It is unknown why Salcedo was assigned to Team B, but it is likely that she was re-invited to compete. On the other hand, it was known that Leira Anne Raynes was assigned to Team C rather than Team B following her victory on July 12.

Color Key:

Contender's Information:

• Claudia Louisse Eliver auditioned for the third season of The Voice Teens under the screen name, Chloe Pigar Eliver. During her audition, coach KZ Tandingan did not select her, leaving her with only one spot on her team, as Martin Nievera and Bamboo Mañalac's teams were already full. Her audition was one of the final ten to be aired.
• Queenie Ugdiman was part of the first season of The Voice Teens from Kamp Kawayan, and was eliminated in the first live shows to Emarjhun De Guzman. Queenie had also joined the first season of The Clash, under the screen name, Kyryll Ugdiman, where she had reached 7th place. She also had received several special awards.
• Zamae Comia joined the third season of The Voice Teens under the screen name, Eliza Mae Comia, under Team Supreme, and was eliminated in the Battle Rounds.
• Kent Villarba auditioned for Kalokalike: Face 4 on It's Showtime who impersonated Bruno Mars. He finished as the runner-up, only losing to KZ Tandingan's impersonator, Vyan Dela Cruz.
• Jhomarie Buhisan auditioned for the second season of The Voice Teens. During his audition, no coach had turned for him to proceed to the next round, immediately eliminating him from the competition.
• Antonette Sison auditioned for the third season of The Voice Teens from Kamp Kawayan, and was eliminated in the first live shows with then Tawag ng Tanghalan: The School Showdown grand finalist Maelynn Rapista to Nicole Olivo and eventual winner Jillian Pamat.
• Alexa Salcedo auditioned for the fourth season of The Voice Kids from FamiLea, and was eliminated in the Semifinals with Gaea Salipot to Cyd Pangca.
• Leira Anne Raynes auditioned for the fifth season of The Voice Kids from Team Supreme, and was eliminated in the Semifinals with Marc Antillion to Xai Martinez.

These contenders were resbakers from previous seasons:

• Alexa Salcedo was a daily contender in the all-region face-off format on the first season of Tawag ng Tanghalan Kids under the screen name, Alexa Nicole Salcedo, but she lost to then three-time defending champion and eventual winner Jhon Clyd Talili.
• Gel Pesigan was a daily winner in the fifth season under the screen name, Marian Gel Pesigan, but she lost to Aeron Santos and RJ Francisco Jr.

Notes

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