August 22, 2025
In 1984, Lorina Dominguez (Sue Ramirez) made it all the way to the Grand Finals of Ang Bagong Kampeon, only to freeze up and lose to a certain Chona Velasquez. Her mother Carmen (Lilet Esteban) was forced to work in San Francisco as a caregiver, leaving Lorina with her aunt Ester (Gladys Reyes). By 1994, Lorina worked in a record store, while also the PA of her cousin Lyn-Lyn (Vivoree) who was an up-and-coming singer.
In 1984, Entoy Mangarap (Khalil Ramos) helped his father Ben (Romnick Sarmenta) whose business was hand-painting movie posters. One day, he saw Lorina practicing on a building rooftop and became her instant admirer, and was thinking of her ever since. By 1994, Entoy was a musician with his own band he called Ang Banda ni Tessa after his late mother. One day, he went to The Record Station at the Broadway Plaza and saw Lorina working there.
For fans of Filipino music scene in the 1990s, "One Hit Wonder" was a treasure trove of nostalgia with those beloved songs we hear in the soundtrack from bands like Introvoys, Yano, Color It Red, Ang Tunay na Amo, Neocolors, Teeth, Hungry Young Poets, and of course, the Eraserheads. There were actually cameos from a number of musicians of that era -- Dingdong Avanzado, Barbie Almalbis, Cooky Chua, Ito Rapadas, Jay Durias, Dong Abay and others.
Some of the songs being performed by Entoy, Lorina and Lyn-lyn (later Jo-C) were also 90s hits, like Rivermaya's "Ulan," Roselle Nava's "Bakit Nga Ba Mahal Kita" and the centerpiece song -- IAXE's "Ako'y Sa 'Yo, Ika'y Akin" -- which became the breakthrough song of Ang Banda ni Tessa. Entoy, Lorina and the band also performed an original song written by director Marla Ancheta and Paulo Zarate, a jaunty pop ditty called "Hindi Ako Susuko sa Iyo."
The throwback vibe began with a recreation of the iconic Ang Bagong Kampeon 1984 grand finals with Chona (later Regine) Velasquez winning with her winning song, George Benson's "In Your Eyes." Jackie Lou Blanco played her late mother Pilita Corrales, the host of that talent show. There were also little pieces of news that happened in the early 1990s, like the Marian apparition in La Union and the start of the internet in the country.
There were also a lot of details on how it was not easy for striving bands to get demos of their original music to be played on the radio back then. They spend for the recording studios and slip their tapes or CDs to the station by hook or by crook. After that, it was a waiting game if their music ever got airplay or not. Plan B was usually joining a Prod Night with other new bands performing before studio execs and managers for that elusive chance for fame.
This film was so easy to like and enjoy because of the charismatic lead actors, Khalil Ramos and Sue Ramirez. They are both bona fide talented singers, so their characters felt real and relatable. Their romantic chemistry was also off the charts, so we root for their relationship all the way, even as tough decisions had to be made. That sidewalk scene ran the gamut of painful conflicting emotions, but both stars, especially Ramos, played it with great restraint.
Director Marla Ancheta had an auspicious feature film debut with "Finding Agnes" (2020), which ended up as my top Filipino film of that year (MY REVIEW). I guess Sue Ramirez is Ancheta's lucky charm, as she hits another winner with this new film. Ancheta's creative team had a field day recreating the 1980s and 1990s props, costumes, hair and make-up. The cute graphic designs that pop up on screen added to the cheerfulness of the film as a whole. 9/10
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