Sydney, Australia (The Adobo Chronicles) – Fifteen-year-old Filipina Marlisa Punzalan was declared this season’s winner of the syndicated reality show X Factor Australia, beating two other finalists, Dean Ray and Brothers 3.
Marlisa’s mentor, Irish singer Ronan Keating, so much wanted his protégé to win the competition that he had a nervous breakdown during the night when the results of the voting were announced. He had to be briefly hospitalized immediately after the live telecast.
The night previous to the announcement of the results, Keating said on live TV that this could possibly be his last season as judge and mentor on X Factor Australia and that he wanted to leave the show with her protégé winning the competition.
Keating’s first visitors at his hospital bed were Marlisa and her huge family who brought him home-cooked adobo, pancit and lumpia, the signature Filipino dishes. That significantly reduced Keating’s blood pressure.
All’s well that ends well.
Here’s Marlisa’s final performance in the grand finals:
The announcement:
The Adobo Chronicles 
I think you used the term ‘Nervous Breakdown’ very loosely. This is over dramatic reporting.
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She’s no longer a Filipina, she’s Australian of Philippine ancestry. So stop using the hash tag #proudtobepinoy unless she agrees to pay the taxes of her price money to the Philippines via Commissioner Henares.
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I mean, prize money. LOL
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Blood is thicker than water. That is genetically talent and very aspiring skills show to us in the world. She’s still filipino although she’s living her whole life in the Australia. Filipino are very talented singer so we are named as ” Singer Lounge Capital of the world”. We are outshining in the whole world in terms of singing industry so don’t say that “She’s no longer a filipina”. Her race in not depends on the citizenship it is in the blood.
#BackOFF
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Would you still think like that if it applied to a mass murderer?
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i’m a filipino and yes i agree , once a person gives up her/his citizenship for another nationality, he or she’s no longer a citizen by bloodline, thus.. i’m proud that she is such a talent but in as much as i want to claim her as a countrymen, she is not and she chose to be a different nationalty , we should see that. let’s stop claiming for somthing that is not real
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talagang HIGH BLOOD pressure reducer ang ADOBO? hehehe
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OO naman. Dahil sa suka. Just like red wine is good for the heart 🙂
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