The singing celebrities once again croon, groove, and perform their way into the hearts of Filipino viewers through the third season of Celebrity Duets. The first elimination night took place last Saturday, September 12, which culminated in former beauty titlist and YouTube sensation Janina San Miguel's exit from the musical stage.

For two weeks prior to eliminations, the nine celebrity contenders—actor and concert producer Jomari Yllana, former beauty queen Janina San Miguel, topnotch fashion photographer Niccolo Cosme, award-winning actress and director Gina Alajar, celebrity fashion designer Maxie Cinco, cosmetic surgeon Mikaela Bilbao, successful entrepreneur Joel Cruz, Brazilian-Japanese model Akihiro Sato, and 2009's WBA Superflyweight champion Nonito Donaire, Jr.—have been getting a feel of the stage and learning from the judges' comments.

This time, however, all nine contenders were put under pressure, as they not only had to impress judges Direk Freddy Santos, Maestro Danny Tan, and Sea Princess Tessa Prieto-Valdez, they also had to put their best performing foot forward to win the votes of Filipinos nationwide.

The show kicked off ala Pussycat Doll-style, with lady dancers adorned in brightly colored clothes grooving to a "Hush Hush" / "I Will Survive" dance medley.  After the opening act, the time was ripe for the first batch of performances.

First to take the stage was veteran actress and director Gina Alajar, who was paired up with singing bombshell Evette Pabalan.  She and Evette grooved to the novelty hit song "Spaghetti Pababa" popularized by her partner's female group, the Sexbomb Dancers.

Gina, who collected praises from the judges for the past weeks, seemed to still up the ante with her Lady Gaga-inspired look, and chose to channel the femme fatale aura, complete with an exclamatory "Aw!"

Musical director Danny Tan was awestruck. "Gina, you're just a joy to watch perform," he complimented. "Palagay ko ikaw na ang bagong member ng Sexbomb Dancers," he told the actress. "Pwedeng-pwede," he continued. "Energy, performance level, grabe. Super super performer. Great performance."

Next was actor and now concert producer Jomari Yllan  and his duet partner Radha, who both went after the R&B-hiphop vibe with Black Eyed Peas' "I Got A Feeling." Radha profusely praised her partner Jomari and admitted that she didn't expect this kind of talent from the actor.

After the performance, Celebrity Duets Season 1 grand winner and present judge Tessa Prieto-Valdez called out, "What a duet! Oh my gosh, you rock, man! You so rock! I can see you in the finals!" She continued, "Ang galing mo. I think [in] this one, you blended so well. I can hear your voice, and you're opening your mouth already."

After Jomari's performance, cosmetic surgeon Mikaela Bilbao followed suit and took the stage with Viva Hot Babe Sheree. Singer Sheree seemed to think that their chosen song, Cher's "Believe," fit Mikaela to a tee, owing to the latter's sexy and strong personality. Both girls entered the stage in striking silver dresses, glitter and all.

"Wow, nabulagan ako do'n," admitted Direk Freddie Santos after the performance. "Parang dancing Christmas tree," he said jokingly. "Pero alam mo," he told Mikaela, "sa totoo lang talaga, nagulat ako kasi maganda 'yung blending ninyong dalawa. Medyo nasapawan mo lang talaga yung ka-duet mo sa tindi ng iyong kinang. Pero sabihin na lang natin na nanggaling 'yun sa iyong personalidad," he observed.

After the commercial break, three more contenders showed off what they got.

Fashion photographer Niccolo Cosme was first, with the Korean megahit, "Nobody," as popularized by the Wonder Girls. He sang the novelty song with partner Jolina Magdangal, who openly shared her initial nervousness about the performance due to Niccolo's perfectionist nature.

They pulled it off quite nicely, and Danny Tan seemed to agree.

"You are one of the better singers in this competition," he told the singing photographer. "You're also one of the more comfortable [contenders] on-stage when performing. Constructive criticism lang," he countered, "Sa sobrang taas ng energy mo, sometimes you tend to shout, so control lang. But the performance is great," he said.