Jan Nieto

Jan Kurt Anthony Pasion Nieto (born June 13, 1981)
Philippine Idol official website, Contestants section
Philippine Idol official website, Features section is a Filipino male singer who rose to prominence as one of the runners-up of '' Philippine Idol'' in 2006. With the height of and weighing , he was dubbed as the "Hunky Idol" during the competition. Nieto was an artist of GMA Network.

Biography

Early life and career

Nieto is the youngest son of Rolando Nieto and Etherlyn Pasion (both medical doctors) in a brood of six.Why Jan Nieto has the XYZ factor
Philippine Daily Inquirer, January 26, 2007 His mother is also an undersecretary of the Department of Health. His parents named all of their children with the initials "J" and "K", as his siblings are named Joseph Kenneth, Johnielle Keith, James Kenrick, Judy Kristine, and Janelle Kathleen. When he was born at the Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Santa Mesa, Manila, his sisters insisted on adding the name "Anthony" because he was born on the Feast of St. Anthony of Padua. He was often teased as a child for his dark skin, calling him "Nognog". His brother, Johnielle Keith (Kit), is currently the Mayor of Cainta.

He studied in Ateneo de Manila University from Preparatory until he graduated with a degree in Management Engineering. The first song he learned to sing is "My Love Will See You Through" by Marco Sison when he was 7 years old. When his father heard him sing while singing Christmas carols in their home, he would make him sing in front of house guests during parties, although he considered himself as the shy type in the family.

Nieto started singing in public when he was in second year high school as part of a class Christmas caroling and had no formal vocal training, except being a member of a church choir and receiving criticisms from his father and informal training from his older brother Johnielle Keith who works as a lawyer. He also tried to join his college glee club, but only stayed for several weeks because of the difficulty of catching up with his co-members.

Nieto considered himself as a nerd in school. He preferred studying for examinations a week before because cramming does not work for him. He admitted being a "teacher's pet" in school, even until college. Aside from studying, Nieto also has interest in sports such as tennis (his favorite), judo (which he excels), table tennis, badminton, and basketball (which in another interview he said he dislikes).

Before auditioning for ''Philippine Idol'', he worked as a Customer Marketing Manager for Unilever Philippines where he worked since February 2003. However, he never told anyone that he actually wanted to become a singer.

''Philippine Idol''

Following his dream of becoming a professional singer, and through encouragement of his friends, Nieto auditioned in the Luzon Main Auditions held in Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay. It was his first time to have tried out in any singing contest. He sang "Limang Dipang Tao" (A Five-Dipa-Long Queue of People), a composition of Idol judge Ryan Cayabyab. His audition was not shown until the show's tenth week, which featured special segments about the Final 3.

Several people who knew Nieto were surprised that he tried out for ''Idol'', including actor Alfred Vargas, who was once his classmate.Alfred Vargas secret fan of Jan Nieto
Philippine Entertainment Portal, December 12, 2006

He landed on the Top 4 during the Men's Semi-Final Round and became one of the 12 Finalists.

During the competition, he offered fellow finalist Ken Dingle—who at the time was based in Baguio—a place to stay at his house. Dingle, who taught Nieto how to sing in R&B style, resided in the Nieto household even after his elimination. He also volunteered, with the help of his mother, in helping fellow finalist Pow Chavez recover from her asthma during the Women's Semi-Finals.

The judges often compared Nieto (who studied in Ateneo de Manila University) with fellow finalist Gian Magdangal (who studied in a De La Salle school), calling it "the new Ateneo-La Salle rivalry". They are also compared to the rivalry between Filipino singers Martin Nievera and Gary Valenciano during the 1980s.Gian and Jan Face-off
ABC-5 official website, features section Entertainment writers even predicted that Nieto and Magdangal would vie for the title.‘Philippine Idol’ fearless forecast: Gian vs. Jan
Pep Eye, Philippine Entertainment Portal, November 24, 2006

One of his performance highlights was his rendition of Nievera's "You Are My Song" during the Final 6 Round wherein the songs were chosen by another finalist. In Nieto's case, it was Magdangal who picked the song. Nieto admitted that it was a difficult song because of its wide range and some of its high notes were beyond his normal range. Eventually, he was surprised with the judges' positive reactions.
Philippine Idol, Features section

Nieto landed at the Bottom 3 twice and on the Hot Spot once, when there was no official Bottom 3 or 2 announced. This happened for three consecutive weeks before the Finale.

He was often criticized during the competition that his performances were stiff, inorganic, or not note-perfect. However, the judges noted that he showed improvement as weeks passed, with Cayabyab calling it "from 0 to 100". Nieto was also criticized that he breezed through every round, and eventually into the Final 3, because of his family's riches. He said that every contestant's family is supporting their own, but the vote of the whole country would overpower his family's votes.

He considered himself as the underdog in the Finale, compared to fellow finalists Magdangal and Mau Marcelo