4th Impact
4th Impact is a Filipino girl group composed of sisters Almira, Irene, Mylene and Celina Cercado. The group competed in the twelfth season of the British singing contest "The X Factor", where they finished in fifth place. They are also known for having participated in several Philippine and international talent competitions, including the "World Championships of Performing Arts", which they won in 2006 and 2013, and the South Korean talent search "Superstar K6" in 2014, where they reached eighth place. The sisters are originally from Roxas, Isabela, and are now based in Metro Manila. Career. 2001–2014: Early years . Almira, the eldest of the sisters in the group, first began competing at a young age in Filipino talent shows such as "Batang Kampeon," which was won by Charice Pempengco, and "Star for a Night," which was won by Sarah Geronimo. The sisters formed their singing group in 2001 at the suggestion of an aunt. Initially, they named themselves 'The Cercado Sisters' after their surname and began performing and competing as a girl group at festivals, events and talent shows at Roxas, Isabela. In 2006, they were approached by one of the producers of the talent show FamJam, who asked  them if they would like to represent the Philippines in the "World Championships of Performing Arts." They won 16 gold medals and four outstanding plaques and were proclaimed Junior Vocal Group Grand Champion of the competition. The following year, the group was invited to perform in the 2007 Monaco Charity Film Festival. In 2008, the group released a six-track self-titled EP under Viva Records, which did not reach commercial success. In 2009, they also began using the name 'The Gollayan Sisters', which was derived from their middle name. They continued to compete in various singing contests and in  2012 participated as members of a family troupe that won in the Filipino variety show "It's Showtime", singing covers of "I Believe I Can Fly" and "Queen of the Night". Early in 2013, the group landed a regular gig in the musical variety show "Sarah G Live" as backup singers and dancers. Later that same year, the group competed and won again in the "World Championships of Performing Arts", this time as the Grand Winner in the Senior Vocal Group Category, bringing home a haul of 20 gold medals, four silver medals and four over-all champion plaques. In  April 2014, the group released their album "The Cercados: Unstoppable!" under Saturno Music, which also failed to reach commercial success. 2014: "Superstar K". In August 2014, the group traveled to South Korea to audition in the talent competition "Superstar K6." There they changed their name to 'MICA', an acronym formed from the first letters of their names. In the first stage of the auditions, the group sang "U&I" by Ailee, who, incidentally, was one of the judges on the panel. The judges were particularly impressed with the voices of Almira and Irene, and asked Almira to perform a solo piece  to which she sang "Listen" by Beyoncé. Her performance further impressed the judges and the group moved on to the next round, where they performed their rendition of Idina Menzel's song "Let It Go" from the Disney movie "Frozen". Their performance went viral on social media and YouTube, quickly garnering over 20 million views. After competing in the knock-out stages of the show, MICA was eliminated in the second round of "Super Week". The judges, however, decided to bring them back as a wildcard act, and the group, along with 10 other acts, progressed to the live show  stage of the competition. At that point, they were the only non-native Korean speaking contestants remaining on the show. The group was eliminated in Week 3 of the competition, finishing in eighth place. 2015: "The X Factor". After their experience in Superstar K6, the group were about to abandon their singing career until a fan from the United Kingdom suggested that they try auditioning for the British singing contest "The X Factor". The group decided to submit an online application for the reality TV competition. After several months, they received an invitation to audition. In July 2015, the sisters  traveled to London, and after going through several screening tryouts eventually made it to the arena auditions for the 12th season of "The X Factor". Introducing themselves as 4th Power, they performed "Bang Bang" by Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj as their audition piece. Their performance received a standing ovation from the audience and all four judges, with Simon Cowell saying, ""In terms of first auditions, this is probably one of the best I've ever seen."" After its airing, the group's audition went viral on YouTube and Facebook; and, as of February 2021, their YouTube audition  video had garnered over 174 million views. It is currently the most watched video in the show's history. The group sailed through the "Boot Camp" rounds of the show, where they performed "Proud Mary" by Tina Turner and "Titanium" by David Guetta, and the "Six-Chair Challenge" round where they performed "Show Me How You Burlesque" by Christina Aguilera. There, the mentor for group acts, Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, selected them as one of her final six acts. At this time, copyright issues were raised regarding their use of the name 4th Power, forcing the group to re-brand themselves  as 4th Impact. They then progressed to the "Judge's Houses" round, where they sang "Love the Way You Lie (Part II)" by Rihanna ft Eminem and were selected to move on to the live shows. In the quarter-final, the group ended up in the bottom two. Being one of the two acts who received the fewest public votes, they had to perform against fellow contestant Lauren Murray for the last place in the semi-final. For the sing-off, the group performed "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" by Jennifer Holliday, and later covered by  Jennifer Hudson. Ora and Grimshaw voted to send Murray through to the semi-final while Fernandez-Versini and Cowell voted to send 4th Impact through to the semi-final. The result went to deadlock and Murray advanced to the semi-final which meant 4th Impact finished in fifth place. 2016–present: "The X Factor" Live Tour and singles. After their elimination from the "X Factor UK", 4th Impact received numerous offers to perform throughout the United Kingdom and in other countries. They appeared in several shows, venues and events in London and nearby cities. In early 2016, the group traveled  on their first official tour, "The X Factor Live Tour", co-headlining with Louisa Johnson, Reggie 'n' Bollie, Che Chesterman, Lauren Murray, Anton Stephans, Mason Noise and Seann Miley Moore. Polls conducted by the show's producers prior to the tour showed 4th Impact as the most anticipated act in the tour's lineup. A poll conducted after the tour named 4th Impact as the best act of the show. After the X Factor Live Tour, 4th Impact continued to perform in the UK and internationally, particularly in Dubai; UAE; Dublin, Ireland; Oslo, Norway; and Gibraltar. In April 2016, 4th  Impact returned to the Philippines to perform in the "1st Paradise International Music Festival", alongside Kanye West, Wiz Kalifa and other international and Filipino artists. Later that same year, the group announced their homecoming concert to the Philippines entitled "Invas10n", which also commemorated their tenth year as group. In December 2016, 4th Impact launched their "Invas10n Tour," with their first major concert held in the Philippines. They also traveled back to Dubai that same month for a repeat performance of their concert held in the city earlier that year. The group, with Star Music Philippines' backing, released their original debut  single entitled "Unleash The Diva" in January 2017. The song peaked at number 3 in iTunes PH and number 1 at Spotify's Viral 50 PH. In March 2017, 4th Impact traveled to Doha, Qatar to perform in a one-night-only concert. Shortly after, they announced the first international leg of their Invas10n Tour, to be held in New Zealand and Australia in August 2017. In August 2017, 4th Impact officially announced that their first album is in the works and is being recorded under Star Music. Later that same month, the group went on their international Invas10n tour  in Auckland, New Zealand and Melbourne and Sydney, Australia. In November 2017, 4th Impact announced that they signed with US-based Granda Entertainment and We R 1 Music Group and were in the process of recording an EP of original music. In early January 2018, 4th Impact announced that they had recorded the official theme song for the Star Cinema movie 'Ang Dalawang Mrs. Reyes' entitled "It's Not The Same Anymore". On March 21, 2018, Tony Valor, a US-based music artist, announced the international release of his single, "D' Nah Nah", recorded in collaboration with 4th Impact. On  December 1, 2019, 4th Impact performed at the 30th SEA Games VIP Opening Gala Night 2019 at The Tent at Solaire. On December 11, 2019, they announced that they would perform at the 24th Asian Television Awards to be held for the first time in the Philippines at the Newport Performing Arts Theater at Resorts World Manila.  This was telecast live across Asia on January 10, 11 and 12, 2020.