Sam Mangubat

Samuel Marbella Mangubat (born 21 December 1990), better known as Sam Mangubat, is a Filipino singer and songwriter.

He gained significant popularity when he participated in the first season of Tawag ng Tanghalan of the noontime television show It's Showtime, a singing competition broadcast on ABS-CBN, and becoming its first runner-up.

Mangubat was born on December 21, 1990, and raised in Calamba, Laguna, Philippines.

His father, Wilfredo Mangubat, is a pastor of a Christian church in Santo Tomas, Batangas, whereas his mother, Crisanta (Santi) Marbella-Mangubat, is a housewife and a former City Municipal Administrative Officer.

He is the eldest of five siblings—the other four are Jedidiah, Jonathan, Divine Faith, and Catherine Anne.

Mangubat claimed in his social media account that even at an early age of two, he had already been showing a penchant for singing.

He attended secondary school at Jesus Is Lord Colleges Foundation, Inc., where he graduated valedictorian.

He finished Digital Arts and Design in Malayan Colleges Laguna.

Mangubat started out as a freelance photographer and videographer.

During this period, he started to create and upload cover songs on YouTube, ReverbNation, and SoundCloud.

Right after college, he worked as a call center agent but he left after four months because the nature of the work tends to burn him up.

Sometime during this period, he also became an English tutor to children.

As he continued being a freelance photographer and videographer, he did some stints on directing and editing music videos for David DiMuzio.

These videos have collectively accumulated millions of views on YouTube.

As he kept uploading more cover performances, he gradually gained followers and eventually got discovered by several companies such as a Karaoke company which offered him singing job in Karaoke training.

Some of Mangubat's other notable activities include the following: co-writing original songs for albums of XLR8 and myPhone; directing several commercial music videos such as Kris Angelica's debut single "Nasaan Ka Na" (which he has also written); recording jingles and directing several television advertisements; participating in Elements Music Camp, an annual national singing and songwriting camp; performing on Evolution of Music, a birthday concert of his colleague; co-writing, performing, and directing the music video of the song "Apoy" (with Geo Ong); joining a roster of performers for promotions of commercial products and benefit concerts such as the myPhone-sponsored ''One Heart.

One Beat.

One Voice. in Smart Araneta Coliseum; and establishing his own independent video production house Dreamzone Productions''.

Mangubat also auditioned on The Voice of the Philippines, but he was rejected at the initial stages of the screening process.

Mangubat created his YouTube channel on June 28, 2006.

His uploaded performances on YouTube consist of both covers and original songs.

They are performed either solo or in collaboration with other artists and are recorded through portable devices.

Due in part to the popularity of some of his covers in his YouTube channel, he was featured on several television programs such as CgeTV In da Loop and ASAP, both broadcast on ABS-CBN.

This growing online visibility also prompted him to self-produce a demo album titled Strong Inside, which includes original compositions such as "Liwanag Para Sakin", "I Hope You're Proud of Me", "Strong Inside", and "Love Alone".

The album was introduced on shows like Rise and Shine broadcast on UNTV and Tambalan sa DZRH News Television.

Some of Mangubat's YouTube covers were also used by television programs: his cover of Ed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud" was shown on an episode of the GMA Network show Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho; and his cover of Yeng Constantino's "Ikaw" was used on another GMA show AlDub:Tamang Panahon of Eat Bulaga.

In early 2015, Mangubat became one of the regular performers in Club Se7en in Dubai, U.A.E.

He continued uploading new covers to his YouTube channel featuring his fellow club singers and musicians.

After one and a half-year, he left the job and decided to return to the Philippines to try some new ventures.

On August 16, 2016, Mangubat participated in the third Quarter of Tawag ng Tanghalan (TNT) sa Showtime, a singing competition broadcast on ABS-CBN.

He was introduced as a YouTube cover artist and was dubbed the "Uploaded sa Galing ng Laguna" (it was later changed to "Uploaded sa Galing ng Batangas" in his second attempt due to his transfer of residence from Laguna to Batangas).

On his first performance, he delivered his rendition of "Secrets" by OneRepublic.

Rey Valera, one of the judges, commented that Mangubat's voice seemed to fit better on the rock ballad genre and that it sounded "imported".

Garnering an average score of 94.4% from the judges, Mangubat won against the two other contenders vying to challenge the current defending winner.

On his second performance, he sang "Flying Without Wings" by Westlife for which he garnered an average score of 95.6% eventually beating the defending champion.

His winning streak continued until the fifth day when he lost to the daily winner missing his slot in the semi-finals of the quarter.

On November 19, 2016, Mangubat returned to the competition, already in its fourth Quarter, for another chance of being one of the semi-finalists.

On his first performance, he sang "Love Runs Out" by OneRepublic.

Valera commented that Mangubat got the right image, moves, energy, intelligence, and talent, but cast some doubt on whether he has grown wiser and luckier on his second attempt.

As of November 15, 2017, Mangubat's YouTube channel has already gained a total of over 19 million number of views and over 100 thousand subscribers.