The SMART Araneta Coliseum is once again a witness to this grand moment in Philippine music history.

By far, it is the most exciting and challenging setting for me as a photography enthusiast: A concert environment with changing lights, where performers often move really fast.

The Story Behind the Event

This Monday, January 15, 2018, the yearly Wish 107.5 Music Awards was held for the third time.

Like in the previous years, the annual event paid tribute to the cream of the crop of Philippine musicians and artists, recognizing their determination to make Filipino talent known even beyond the boundaries of the Philippines.

With that said, the 3rd Wish Music Awards definitely did more, as it once again delighted artists and audiences with a long list of awardees and performances that people love. Wish even introduced the "Wishclusive Performance of the Year by an International Artist" for the first time, to recognize foreigners who have performed exceptionally on the Wish Bus.

In this photo, Kuya Daniel Razon expresses his intentions to bring the radio station's undertakings to a wider scale — and that is by giving a one-of-a-kind musical platform for local and foreign performers to propagate their music.

The Wish Bus must be a huge factor in making the FM station so popular since it allows people on the road watch live performances even while stuck in traffic or while parked at a venue and hear the songs clearly by tuning in to the station.

Kuya Daniel also announces its impending launch In the US.

“How would I be able to help the Filipino artists? It was me who first had that wish. With God’s help, unti-unti, nararamdaman natin na ‘yong wish na ‘yon ay nagkakatotoo (we, are starting to feel that that wish is coming true). And I am equally proud to say that in this third Wish Music Awards, We continue to do the charity.” -Kuya Daniel Razon.

For this year, the music awards had the following categories up for voting:

Wish Contemporary Folk Song of the Year
Wish Urban Song of the Year
Wish R&B Song of the Year
Wish Rock/Alternative Song of the Year
Wish Ballad Song of the Year
Wish Pop Song of the Year
Wishclusive Contemporary Folk Performance of the Year
Wishclusive Urban Performance of the Year
Wishclusive R&B Performance of the Year
Wishclusive Rock/Alternative Performance of the Year
Wishclusive Ballad Performance of the Year
Wishclusive Pop Performance of the Year
Wishclusive Collaboration of the Year
Wishclusive Performance of the Year by an International Artist
Wish Promising Artist of the Year
Wish Young Artist of the Year
Wish Group/Duo of the Year
Wish Artist of the Year

Source

Winners were determined through Wishers’ votes (15%), and judges’ votes (85%). The panel of judges included a few prominent names in the entertainment industry.

Other special recognitions were awarded like the Wishclusive Viral Video of the Year and the Wishclusive Elite Circle awards.

The WMA definitely lives up to its commitment to be an awarding body with a heart. Winners in the said categories were given the chance to donate their winnings to their chosen charity institutions.

[Please watch the official trailer.]

Morissette's cover of "Secret Love Song" won the top YouTube Year-end Round-up Award with more than 58 million views.

She also won a few other awards including the prestigious "Wish Artist of the Year".

For a Complete List of winners, please visit this site.

Please stay tuned for more photos and the lessons I learned while taking photos during the event.

Proof of Authenticity

I took all the photos from the Upper Box B of Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Thanks for reading/viewing!

[Credits to the Author of Life]