Tawag ng Tanghalan hailed its new grand champion through Elaine Duran during its Ang Huling Tapatan held this Saturday, September 28, at the Caloocan City Sports Complex, Entertainment.ABS-CBN.com had an exclusive chat with two of its previous titleholders Noven Belleza and Janine Berdin on that same day.

READ: Elaine Duran named TNT Season 2 Grand Champion

Three years after his historic triumph in the competition, Entertainment.ABS-CBN.com had the rare opportunity to catch up with Season 1 grand champion Noven Belleza before his appearance on Year 3's Huling Tapatan, wherein he performed “May Bukas Pa” alongside Season 3 grand finalist Violeta Bayawa during the tribute number to the late OPM icon and TNT hurado Rico J. Puno.

READ: Noven Belleza is the first ever Tawag Ng Tanghalan Grand Champion 

He may not be omnipresent nowadays, but the first-ever TNT champion revealed that he's actually busy with various gigs around the metro and out-of-town.

When asked regarding the most important lesson he learned from his journey in the competition, the pride of Negros Occidental disclosed, "Kung may pangarap ka, ‘di lang puro pangarap. Kailangan mo ring pagpursigihan, pagsumikapan. Ang pinakaimportante sa lahat, magtiwala ka sa sarili mo kasi kung wala kang tiwala sa sarili mo, ‘di ka rin pagkakatiwalaan ng maraming tao."

According to him, it actually took him a month before it fully sunk into him that he’s the grand winner. The competition didn’t only become a way for him to help and provide the needs of his family, but it has also opened a lot of opportunities for him and made him more known by people everywhere he goes.

Since he’s been occupied with work, he wasn’t able to steadily follow the current season’s run. But, in spite of only seeing the latest performances prior to the grand finals, he was able to determine his personal favorite, whom he refused to divulge during this interview. However, he imparted that he somehow could identify to contender John Michael Dela Cerna because they have the same vocal range and the Season 3 grand finalist also sings Air Supply songs, too, like him. 
If there’ s one piece of advice he’s going to give the latest grand champion, Elaine Duran, it would be learning to set aside the weariness they would feel and to sacrifice first for the sake of their her family.

"Hayaan muna ang pagod, sakripisyo muna. May mga pagkatataon na ilang buwan ‘di mo makakasama 'yong pamilya mo. Kailangan mo munang magsakripisyo para sa kanila,” he stated.

When asked regarding another dream project that he would love to do, Noven imparted that it would be recording another song with her Season 1 batchmates, especially collaborating with fellow Season 1 grand finalist Ato Arman, who, according to him, is also a songwriter.

On the other hand, Janine Berdin enthused that the most memorable part of her Tawag ng Tanghalan journey was her winning moment as the grand champion of Season 2.

WINNING MOMENTS: Janine Berdin, itinanghal na Tawag Ng Tanghalan 2 Grand Champion

“Kasi parang ang bilis pong nangyari ng mga events po that day. Hindi ko namalayan na ito pala ‘yong nangyari. Tapos no’ng in-announce na po talaga na grand winner ako, ‘yon po ang tumatak sa akin. ‘Di ko in-expect na pangalan ko talaga ‘yong babanggitin,” she explained.

Then she went on to recall the preparations she did for their live finale then, which included resting her voice and studying her pieces over and over again until she was able to take full grasp of each of those.

As we talked about how her life has been after winning the championship title, the 17-year-old singer’s face lit up and the tone of her voice went livelier as she described how it has tremendously changed.

“Sobrang iba na po siya. I can say na mas nagkaroon po ako ng tiwala sa sarili ko, mas naging confident po ako sa sarili ko when it comes to singing, and syempre po, I get to live my dreams,” she related.

When it comes to the biggest and most significant lesson her journey in TNT had taught her, she said, “Ang pinakamalaking lesson ko sa TNT siguro is to take care of yourself talaga. ‘Yong body mo, ‘yong health mo talagang important. ‘Di pwedeng kanta ka lang ng kanta, birit ka lang ng birit na hindi mo tina-take care ang katawan mo.”

Meanwhile, with regards to how she would compare the competition during her season to the latest, Janine said that it would be impossible since each batch were able to deliver an entirely different flavor to the contention. However, she noted the emergence of Instant Resbak and Final Resbak in Season 3, which was not implemented yet during their time. These additions actually made her admire contender Kim Nemenzo, who repeatedly fought against her fellow resbakers for the single spot to the Huling Tapatan for two consecutive weeks.

Just like Noven, she also wished not to divulge to whom she was rooting for among the Top 6. But she commended all of them for doing a great job and putting up a good fight, making all of them well-deserving of the crown.

For her advice to Elaine, she said, “To make the most of what you have. Habang nasa ‘yo ang chance, do it. ‘Wag kang mag-doubt. If you want to do something, tell the people around you [that] you want to do it.”

At present, Janine juggles her time as a part of ASAP Natin ‘To every Sunday, one of the hosts of It’s Showtime Online, and as a regular performer in It’s Showtime. She also imparted that they’re currently working on releasing an original song and wishes to probably have an album that would completely showcase her sound.