MANILA, Philippines - A week before the grand finals on Dec. 15 and 16, Filipina Mau Marcelo is leading the pack in an online poll conducted on the official ?Asian Idol? website (www.theasianidol.tv).

Marcelo has 33.51 percent of the 970 votes cast up till the evening of Dec. 8. She is followed by Vietnam?s Phuong Vy, with 23.92 percent; Indonesia?s Mike Mohede, 20.62 percent; Malaysia?s Jaclyn Victor, 12.78 percent; Singapore?s Hady Mirza, 8.04 percent; and India?s Abhijeet Sawant, 1.13 percent.

Perci Intalan, ABC 5?s head of Creative and Entertainment Production, told Inquirer Entertainment that the result of the online poll was largely indicative of the contestants? current standing in the regional contest which is being held in Jakarta, Indonesia for the first time.

?Mau?s closest competitor seems to be Vietnam?s Phuong. Mike, on the other hand, was chosen by Indonesians in a contest among four local ?Idol? winners. I heard that Malaysia?s Jaclyn is a superstar in her own country, though.?

Voting system

?In sum, they?re all strong contenders,? explained Intalan who had seen the contestants? performance videos in the ?Road to Asian Idol? TV special, aired on ABC 5 last Saturday.

According to the web site, viewers will be asked to vote for two contestants to eliminate ?population size ? as a determining factor. It takes into account any potential national bias.?

The system was formulated by FremantleMedia, ?Idol? franchise holder, to ensure a level playing field.

It?s mathematical, Intalan agreed.

However, he disagreed with the strategy being proposed by some Filipinos in websites and blogs. ?To help Mau, they suggest that voters pick Mau as first choice and the weakest candidate as second. The thing is, we have no way of knowing who?s the weakest,? he clarified.

In the end, the ?Asian Idol? system renders the second choice as the more crucial vote, Intalan asserted.

He also cautioned Filipinos not to put Mau as their first and second choices because their votes would be deemed ?invalid.?

?If they only vote for Mau and leave the second slot empty, their votes will also be considered null and void,? he said.

Details on the voting have yet to be finalized, said Intalan.

Needless to say, Filipinos can course their votes through all the local cell phone companies, he related.

The contest?s web site also said that each county had been asked to send its own judge. An early list in Wikipedia named the following jurors: Indonesia?s Indra Lesmana, India?s Anu Malik, Malaysia?s Paul Moss, Singapore?s Ken Lim, Vietnam?s Siu Black and the Philippines? Pilita Corrales.

Intalan also told the Inquirer that last year?s ?American Idol? winner Taylor Hicks, ?Australian Idol? champ Guy Sebastian and Filipino band Rivermaya had been invited to perform in the regional tilt.