Philippine Idol finalists

The Philippine Idol Finalists consisted of 12 aspiring singers who competed for Philippine Idol. They were selected after several stages of audition and theater eliminations, and succeeded in earning a spot in the Finals by popular votes from the viewers.

The Final Round started on September 30, 2006, wherein each finalist sang one to three songs under a specified theme and received comments from each of the judges. The viewers voted for their favorites by dialing a toll-free telephone number or sending an SMS as many times as possible until 8:30 p.m. the following day, which was shortened to two hours on Finals Week 5. One finalist was eliminated during the Results Show every week. However, there were special circumstances wherein there were no eliminations during the a Results Show, but would eventually eliminate two finalists on the following week.

The 12 Finalists also recorded a compilation album entitled Philippine Idol: The Final 12, consisting of OPM songs they have performed during the first Finals Week.

The remaining 3 contenders—namely Gian Magdangal, Jan Nieto, and Mau Marcelo (in order of performance)--battled it out at the Finale, instead of the usual 2 contestants in most Idol shows, held on December 10, 2006, at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

Maureen "Mau" Marcelo, from Lucena City, Quezon Province. A "veteran" in amateur singing competitions, she sang "Dahil Naroon Ka" (You Were Always There) by Jaya during the Luzon Main Auditions. She was dubbed as the "Soul Diva" during the competition, and won the title on December 10, 2006

Jan Kurt Anthony Nieto, from Antipolo City, Rizal Province. A former Customer Marketing Manager for Unilever Philippines, he sang "Limang Dipang Tao" (A Five-Dipa-Long Queue of People)--a composition of Cayabyab—during the Luzon Main Auditions. He was dubbed as the "Hunky Idol" during the competition, and was one of two runners-up as announced on December 10.

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