Mau Marcelo

She was contestant number 1646 during her auditions in Pasay, wherein she sang Jaya Ramsey's "Laging Naroon Ka" (You Were Always There).

Her audition was not shown on Philippine Idol, although she appeared during the final phase of the theater eliminations singing "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" by Laura Branigan.

Despite her impressive auditions, Marcelo's journey through Philippine Idol was not easy.

She did not reach the Top 4 of the Women's Semi-finals and had to go through the Wildcard.

Her confidence slowly started to dwindle to the point that she commented during the Wildcard Results Show, when there was only one finalist spot to fill, that Philippine Idol is a "beauty contest".

Her sarcastic yet tearful comment garnered laughter and applause from the audience, including Idol judge Ryan Cayabyab.

When her name was finally called as one of the finalists, Marcelo cried out loud on stage.

During competition, Marcelo's father had petitioned her to migrate to the United States.

Marcelo talked to him about what she was going through the competition.

He advised that she can continue with the contest, but would rather not see her getting hurt in the process.

She ultimately decided to continue.

Maureen "Mau" Flores Marcelo (born May 13, 1980) is a Filipina soul singer and composer who rose to prominence as the first winner of Philippine Idol in 2006.

She was dubbed as the "Soul Idol" and "The Black Belter" at the competition for her R&B-style vocals.

She was also called "Philippines' Diamond Diva" after her much-applauded performance of "Diamonds Are Forever" by Shirley Bassey during the Movie and Musical Theme Week.

For a time, she went by the stage name Samantha Brown, based on her father's surname.

In 2004, Marcelo went to Singapore to gain foreign exposure in singing with the help of her stepsister's husband.

Using her screen name "Samantha Brown", she performed in various bars and has become popular with the city-state's Filipino community.

By the time Marcelo was about to audition for Philippine Idol, she won in over 200 amateur singing competitions.

She even joked in an interview that she had so many trophies in her house that she donated some of them to gay beauty pageants.

Marcelo tried out in Philippine Idol through a "fast track" screening held in SM City Lucena.

Passing the fast track audition meant that she did not have to go through the numerous screenings of the main auditions.

She was also the Philippine representative to Asian Idol, which was held on December 15 and 16, 2007 in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Marcelo's mother is Filipina while her father is an American citizen from Puerto Rico.

Her father left the family when she was four months old, while her mother died when she was 14.

She has a half-sister from her mother and two half-brothers and another half-sister from her father.

It was Marcelo's mother who taught her how to sing when she was seven years old, wherein she first learned to sing "Somewhere Out There".

She first performed publicly in a singing contest during her school's foundation day when she was first grade.

It was also the first time that she won.

She eventually joined different local singing contests around her native Quezon Province when she was eight, winning most of the time thus giving her a boost of self-esteem.

She also learned to accept herself and her looks.

A year after her mother's death, Marcelo's father came into her life once more when he returned to the Philippines.

It was the first time she met her American father.

Since then, they had constant communication even though her father lives in Atlanta with his own family.

She eventually graduated in Quezon National High School and attended college in Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation, both in Lucena City.

By her 20s, Marcelo became a veteran of singing competitions.

She joined her first national singing competition through Star for a Night, which was shown on IBC-13.

She reached the grand finals, but lost to Sarah Geronimo.

Losing in the competition did not dampen her spirits.

She eventually joined a band called "Chemical Syndrome" and toured around Lucena City and surrounding areas.

She has also joined other televised singing competitions such as Star Quest at ABS-CBN's Magandang Tanghali Bayan and ABC-5's Sing Galing.