MANILA -- Carl Malone Montecido, known as Bacolod City's blind balladeer, is still the defending champion of "Tawag ng Tanghalan."

He got his third win on Thursday with his cover of Freddie Aguilar's "Bulag, Pipi At Bingi," defeating challenger Willy Cordovales. Their scores were not revealed.

This is Montecido's second attempt at a semifinals slot. He first became the singing contest's defending champion back in October but lost after four straight wins, narrowly missing on a place in the next round. A contestant will need five straight in order to move past the preliminaries.

His life story was told in an episode of "Maalaala Mo Kaya."

Born blind, Montecido said he decided to join the singing contest again as he wants to continue serving as inspiration to people with similar physical disabilities.

Montecido, also a semifinalist of talent show "Pilipinas Got Talent" back in 2010, will return to the "It's Showtime" stage on Wednesday.