By Patty Ramirez

Unexpectedly, the scholars failed to impress the judges tonight in their 2nd gala night. Although all the scholars tried their best in executing their best loved high school melodies, Louie Ocampo, Isay Alvarez and Gerard Salonga didn't warm up to their performances.

First scholar on the stage was Miguel, who was given a challenging piece after his org, One Voice, lost in one of their recess games. He had to sing the chorus of the song Farewell in Chinese.  Van's nervousness was obvious in his rendition of  Next in Line by Wency Cornejo. Liezel, who was Van's complete opposite, remained very cool singing Whitney Houston's Count on Me.

Louie Ocampo commented that Inaki's performance of Superstar was better than his number last week. Judge Isay got to critique Laarni's version of Barbara Streisand's As If We Never Said Good-Bye and said she needs to work on her enunciation. Judge Gerard was not too happy with Jet's song, I Will Be Here. He told the scholar to practice and concentrate on his lessons more.

Bunny and Bea both got so-so comments from the judges while Bugoy had a verdict of not hitting the right notes. Ross got a thumbs down verdict too and was said to be stiff and unemotional. The judges then said that Hansen could have picked a more appropriate song for his voice. Judge Gerard was especially harsh on Sheng, who said that her performance was very gimmicky.

Apple also got the 'aral ulit' verdict while Christian was adviced by Isay not just to mind the high notes but the low notes as well. Cris' sexy version of Come Together by the Beatles failed to wow the judges too, rounding off everyone's performance to an average.

The mentors, who were also taking notes of the scholars' performances inside the faculty lounge, agreed with most of the judges comments. They had a few exceptions however and felt some of the scholars improved from last week.

Toni then revealed three surprises for the scholars. First was Chivas' last perfomance on the Academy stage, which made not only Bunny happy but all of his friends as well. Next, Laarni and Inaki were relieved of their probationary status. And last was the announcement of this week's Star Scholar.

Bugoy, Liezel and Laarni were all thrilled to hear their names being called out to the stage as the top three performers of the night. With the Star Scholar title comes the priviledge of granting a special wish for a loved one. After a few nervous seconds, Liezel was again declared the Star Scholar for the second time around. She will be then allowed to give a gift of a necklace to her mother.

The pressure of the performance night may be over, but the tension continues as the scholars await the annoucement of the second set of probees. Laarni, Bugoy and Liezel can have a good night's sleep but the 12 other scholars will be probably tossing and turning in their beds. Don't miss the Academy's 2nd probationary night tomorrow after Goin' Bulilit.