Controversial contestant Kedebon Colim ended his journey on “The X Factor Philippines” on Sunday after the judges decided to send him home, hopefully ending weeks of constant criticism and ridicule on social media for the Cebuano contestant.

Kedebon found himself in the bottom two despite finally hitting the right notes during Saturday’s performance show, staging a showdown with the group Daddy’s Home for the judges’ approval.

Daddy’s Home performed Stevie Wonder’s ballad “Lately,” while Kedebon chose Enrique Iglesias’ “Hero” as his survival song.

It was Kedebon’s own mentor, Martin Nievera, who cast the deciding vote to take out the “X Factor” hopeful from the contest after Pilita Corrales and Gary Valenciano opted to save the group Daddy’s Home instead.

“Before I say anything and I make my decision, I want everyone to know, in front of us right now are people searching for a dream. How do you weigh a dream? There’s a person smaller in number and in size who has gone through so much hate. I admire you Kedebon, you’re my hero. Your fans will be with you till the day you die. Don’t ever lose your spirit,” Martin said.

“If there’s anyone here tonight who’s gonna send you home, I’m gonna bring you home. Kedebon, it’s time to go home, boy.”

Host KC Concepcion called Martin’s decision “brave” and told Kedebon that she’s going to miss him.

“First of all, I want to thank my God,” Kedebon said when asked of his reaction. “Top 6, grabe hindi ako makapaniwala. Sobrang na-prove ko na nothing is impossible talaga. I really thank sa mga sumusuporta sa akin at bumoboto. Hindi talaga ako makapaniwala na binoboto niyo ako.”

Kedebon is the first contestant of Martin to be eliminated.

“Kedebon, ang dami mong fans dito. Everybody loves you. And to all those who now consider themselves bashers and haters, you survived all of them,” Martin told Kedebon.

“And to all of you who did the bashing and hating, shame on you.”

Even after his exit, Kedebon was still the most discussed contestant on social media, with “Bye Kedebon” among the top trending topics in the Philippines on the micro-blogging site Twitter.

“Bye Kedebon. Best. Decision. Ever,” said Gerald Santos.

“Bye Kedebon. Grabe naiiyak ako. TEARS OF JOY! Hahaha,” said Arjay Caysip.

“Goodbye Kedebon! Finally!” wrote Ace Alemania.

“With all due respect Mr. Nievera, WE’RE NOT HATERS. We are just rooting for good singers. In the first place, you should’ve not let Kedebon in,” said Ahzen Martin.

But there were also people who were sad to see him go, with many in the Pagcor Theater crying for Kedebon, including fellow contestants Allen Sta. Maria, Jeric Medina and KZ Tandingan.

“There’s no room to hate Kedebon. He made it there, maybe to help his family and do his passion. I dont see anything bad about it,” said JC Franco on Twitter.

“Don’t hate Kedebon, he’s just a dreamer,” said John Cando.

abs-cbnnews.com