Marlisa, (born Marlisa Ann Punzalan) is a breakthrough not only because of the reason you’re thinking–that she’s of Filipino descent. She has gone to break records in Australia, origin talk aside.
Jumpstarting her music career pre-X Factor, Marlisa immersed herself in the live music scene by joining competitions starting at age 9, earning her first win at Sydney Eisteddfod Performing Arts Challenge in 2009, and 3 more gold medals in 2013. At age 12, she has already done a solo concert at a live music venue at Sydney, The Basement, with the show dubbed as “Marlisa and Friends” with a setlist of cover songs. Deeply engaged to her roots, she had also been tagging along the Australian leg of concerts of Pinoy acts such as Sharon Cuneta, Jose Mari Chan and Aegis.
But what catapulted Marlisa’s name into brighter limelight is that at only 15, she has wowed the judges of The X Factor Australia, garnering all four yeses upon audition. Marlisa eventually won the season’s round of competition, becoming the first champion from the show’s Under 25 category and ultimately the youngest winner of the entire series. With the aforementioned under her belt, she immediately signed a recording deal with Sony Music Australia. Tied in as the winner’s single of the 6th season of The X Factor Australia, Marlisa recorded “Stand By You”, written by Australia’s premiere songwriters DNA Songs (Anthony Egizii and David Musumeci), serving as her music career’s pilot single which debuted at number 2 on the ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) charts only 3 days after release, just behind Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” and running ahead The Veronicas’ “You Ruin Me” and Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off”.A close race, as “Thinking Out Loud” tallied 29,157 copies sold while “Stand By You”, with only half-a-week’s worth of sales during the eligibility week, garnered an impressive 27,666.Eventually, the single nabbed a platinum certification for sales tallying more than 70,000 copies sold.
With a promising international career, Marlisa gives back to her roots with a strong sense of eagerness for MARLISA Philippine PromoTour this February.
The 15-year-old will be visiting the country with 3 days’ worth of itinerary, touring the Metro to promote her music:
- February 13 (Fri.) / 2 PM: Lucky Chinatown Atrium
- February 13 (Fri.) / 7 PM: Eastwood Mall Open Park
- February 14 (Sat.) / 7 PM: Venice Piazza at McKinley Hill
By the 15th, Marlisa will be meeting with media for some performances and interviews, allowing her local fans to get to know more of her and her music. A busy life but a very exciting feat for a young girl, Marlisa and her sound are definitely ready to take over.
With the help of the song’s inspirational message and Marlisa’s very own vocal prowess, “Stand By You” paved the way to international mark when it also charted on New Zealand, Singapore and neighboring territories including the Philippines. Her self-titled debut album had also been released shortly afterwards, featuring the said single plus 10 re-recordings of her performances during the course of The X Factor, debuting at number 6 on the ARIA albums chart. Amazed by the performance of her records on charts, Marlisa gave thanks to her supporters: “Thanks to all as well, my album is doing very well at No. 2 on both the Australian artist singles chart and Australian artist albums chart!! Also no. 6 on the ARIA albums chart!! So happy you love my album.”
Track list of the debut album, MARLISA:
1. Stand By You
2. Yesterday
3. All By Myself
4. Hopelessly Devoted To You
5. Let It Go
6. Nothing Else Matters
7. Try
8. Titanium
9. Somewhere Over The Rainbow
10. Girl On Fire
11. Impossible
MARLISA is now available in all record stores featuring the lead winner’s single “Stand By You”! Get it on digital through iTunes via hyperurl.co/MarlisaSelfTitled or through Spinnr.ph!
MARLISA Philippine Promo Tour is brought to you by Megaworld Lifestyle Malls, Eastwood Mall, Lucky Chinatown, Venice Piazza at McKinley Hill.
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