Marlisa Ann Punzalan (born 1 October 1999), also known simply as Marlisa, is an Australian singer. She won the sixth season of The X Factor Australia in 2014, aged 15, the youngest contestant to have won the show. Punzalan subsequently received a recording contract with Sony Music Australia and released her debut single "Stand by You", which debuted at number two on the ARIA Singles Chart and was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association. This was followed by the release of her self-titled debut album Marlisa, which debuted at number six the ARIA Albums Chart and was certified gold. "Stand by You" was nominated for the ARIA Award for Song of the Year in 2015.
Early life Marlisa Ann Punzalan was born on 1 October 1999 in Sydney to Lito and Andrea Punzalan. Her parents emigrated to Australia from the Philippines before she and her older brother Martin were born. Punzalan lives at Gledenning, Sydney. She began singing at the age of three. In 2013, Punzalan auditioned for the seventh series of Australia's Got Talent but did not make it past the audition rounds, and also attempted to audition for the first series of The Voice Kids, but exceeded the age limit by one month. Before entering the sixth season of The X Factor Australia in 2014, Punzalan was a student at Mercy Catholic College in Chatswood and a regular performer at charity events, eisteddfods and RSL competitions. After becoming the winner of the sixth series, Punzalan left high school to become homeschooled and focus on her music career.
Career 2014: The X Factor Australia In 2014, Punzalan successfully auditioned for the sixth season of The X Factor Australia, singing "Yesterday" by The Beatles. She received a standing ovation and four yesses from all four judges and progressed to the super bootcamp round of the competition. For the first bootcamp challenge, Punzalan was placed into a group with three other contestants from the Girls category to perform a song together for the judges. Punzalan made it to the second bootcamp challenge, where she performed "Never Be the Same" by Jessica Mauboy to the judges and a live audience of one thousand. She then progressed to the home visits round in New York City and performed "I'll Stand by You" by The Pretenders in front of her mentor Ronan Keating and guest mentor John Legend. Keating later selected Punzalan, along with Sydnee Carter and Caitlyn Shadbolt, for the live finals—a series of eleven weekly live shows in which contestants are progressively eliminated by public vote.
After the eliminations of Carter in week five and Shadbolt in week nine, Punzalan became the last remaining contestant in Keating's category. During the semi-final week, she landed in the bottom two for the first time with Reigan Derry and performed John Farnham's version of The Beatles' "Help!" in the final showdown. After the judges' vote went to deadlock, it was revealed that Punzalan received the most public votes and was put through to the grand final. During the grand final decider show on 20 October 2014, Punzalan was announced as the winner of the sixth season, becoming the first contestant from the Girls category to win.
Performances on The X Factor
ShowThemeSongOriginal artist(s)OrderResult AuditionFree choice"Yesterday"The Beatles N/AThrough to super bootcamp Super bootcamp 1Group performance"Burn"Ellie GouldingThrough to super bootcamp 2 Super bootcamp 2Solo performance"Never Be the Same"Jessica MauboyThrough to home visits Home visitsFree choice"I'll Stand by You"The PretendersThrough to live shows Week 1Judges' Choice"All by Myself"Celine Dion8Safe Week 2Legends"Paparazzi"Lady Gaga8Safe Week 3Decades Challenge"Hopelessly Devoted to You"Olivia Newton-John10Safe Week 4Top 10 Hits"It's Oh So Quiet" Björk3Safe Week 5Latest and Greatest"Let It Go"Idina Menzel1Safe (5th) Week 6Rock "Nothing Else Matters" Metallica4Safe Week 7Judges' Challenge"Try"Pink2Safe Week 8Aussie Week"Super Love"Dami Im4Safe Week 9Killer Tracks and Curveballs "Titanium" David Guetta featuring Sia2 Safe "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" Judy Garland6 Week 10(Semi-final) Power and Passion"Girl on Fire"Alicia Keys2 Bottom two (3rd)"Impossible"Shontelle6 Final showdown"Help!"The Beatles2Saved via deadlock Week 11(Grand Final)Audition song "Yesterday" The Beatles1 SafeDuet"Never Be the Same" (with Jessica Mauboy)Jessica Mauboy8Winner's single"Stand by You"Punzalan5Best Moment"Titanium"David Guetta featuring Sia1Winner
2014–2017: Marlisa After winning The X Factor, Punzalan's debut and winner's single "Stand by You" was made available to download on the iTunes Store. She also received a recording contract with Sony Music Australia. Four days after release, "Stand by You" debuted at number two on the ARIA Singles Chart. It was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association for sales exceeding 70,000 copies. "Stand by You" also peaked at number seven on the Singapore Singles Chart and number 21 on the New Zealand Singles Chart. An official YouTube audio of "Stand by You" published on the same day of the winner announcement help garnered interest on the single which triggered the debut at number 29 on the Billboard Twitter Real-Time Emerging Artists Chart. Punzalan's self-titled debut album, Marlisa, was released on 7 November 2014 and features studio recordings of selected songs she performed on The X Factor. It debuted at number six on the ARIA Albums Chart and number 11 on the New Zealand Albums Chart. The album was certified gold by the ARIA for shipments of more than 35,000 units and was the 83rd best-selling album of 2014 in Australia.
In late 2014, Punzalan performed two concerts at Rooty Hill RSL Club to thank her local fans. In December 2014, Punzalan and other Australian singers recorded a cover version of Kate Bush's "This Woman's Work" under the name "Hope for Isla and Jude", and released it as a charity single to help raise funds for two siblings who suffer from the rare disease Sanfilippo syndrome. Their version debuted at number 79 on the ARIA Singles Chart. To celebrate the Philippines' 117th Independence Day, Punzalan released a Filipino version of her second single "Unstoppable" in the Philippines on 12 June 2015. Her third single "Forever Young" was released on 6 November 2015. In 2017, it was speculated that Punzalan had been dropped by record company Sony Music. She is no longer listed as an artist on the company website.
2018-2021: Brave In June 2018, Marlisa released "Thank You", her first single in two and a half years, on the ABS-CBN Film Productions label.
In March 2019, Marlisa released her second studio album, titled Brave.
2022-present: cover EPs In 2022, Marlisa signed with Osetero Limited and has since released several cover EPs.
Artistry Aside from singing, Punzalan also plays the piano. She cites Eva Cassidy and Jessica Mauboy as her musical influences.
Discography Studio albums + List of studio albums, with selected chart positions and certifications Title Album details Peak chart positions Certifications AUS "This Woman's Work": "Forever Young": NZ Marlisa Released: 7 November 2014 Label: Sony Music Australia Formats: CD, digital download 6 11ARIA: Gold Brave Released: 15 March 2019 Label: ABS-CBN Film Productions Formats: Digital download, streaming — —
Extended plays + List of EPs, with selected details Title Details Volume One Released: 3 June 2022 Format: digital Label: Ostereo Volume Two Released: 22 June 2022 Format: digital Label: Ostereo Volume Three Released: 18 November 2022 Format: digital Label: Ostereo Volume Four Released: 9 December 2022 Format: digital Label: Ostereo Volume Five Released: 2 March 2023 Format: digital Label: Ostereo Volume Six Released: 17 March 2023 Format: digital Label: Ostereo Volume Seven Released: 8 September 2023 Format: digital Label: Ostereo
Singles + List of singles, with selected chart positions and certifications Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album AUS NZ SIN "Stand by You" 2014 2 21 7ARIA: Platinum Marlisa "Unstoppable" 2015 — — — rowspan="2" "Forever Young" 72 — — "Thank You" 2018 — — — Brave "Steel" (with Moophs) — — — "Brave" (featuring Markus) 2019 — — — "You Are the Reason" 2023 — — — "—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released in that country.
Other charted songs + List of non-single songs, with selected chart positions Title Year Peak chart positions AUSPeak chart positions for X Factor performances on the ARIA Singles Chart: "Nothing Else Matters": "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and "Titanium": "Yesterday": "Nothing Else Matters" 2014 87 "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" 93 "Titanium" 96 "Yesterday" 67
Music videos +List of music videos Title Year Director(s) "Stand by You" 2014
Awards and nominations Year Type Award Result 2015 ARIA Music Awards Song of the Year ("Stand by You")
References
Further reading
External links
Marlisa Punzalan's Journey – Audition to Grand Final