MANILA -- Singer Dulce appeared close to tears on "Tawag ng Tanghalan" on Saturday, as she tried to defend the controversial decision of her fellow judges to give a "resbaker" a bafflingly low score.

Dulce said that she and the other judges are just doing their jobs, and as much as they would like for each and every one of the contestants to move on to the finals, it is impossible.

"Kung hindi kayo [viewers] natuwa sa nangyari at kami [judges] ay minumura ninyo -- in behalf of all the hurados, hindi po ako hihingi ng tawad doon dahil po kinailangan pong mangyari ang dapat mangyari," she said.

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Last Wednesday, the judges gave the performance of wild card Mariane Osabel -- a cover of Whitney Houston's "Run to You" -- an abysmal 16.50% score. Many of the show's fans disagreed with the rating, which proved crucial as it ultimately led to Osabel being cut despite winning majority of the public votes for that day.

It forced one of its hosts, Vice Ganda, to appeal to the judges and ask for a statement explaining the reasoning behind the score, saying that the viewers' sentiments "had to be acknowledged."

On Friday, Ogie Alcasid, who acted as head judge for the episode, dressed up as a doctor and promised viewers that they never once manipulated any of the results.

This Saturday, Dulce was the one who addressed the issue and said, her voice choking: "Ako na mismo ang magsasalita in behalf of the hurados -- nasaktan kami sa lahat ng sinasabi against us."

She added: "Wala naman kaming magagawa. I just want to assure you [fans], especially Mariane. She is very good and she was my favorite. But it just so happened that on that day ng labanan, talaga lang mayroon isang aangat."

Dulce also said that Mariko Ledesma, the trans woman singer who defeated Osabel, deserved her win.

"Talaga naman lumaban ng husto si Mariko. ...Tanggapin natin," she pleaded, before pointing to the other remaining contestants and saying, "magaling kayong lahat."

Dulce made no mention of the 16.50% score, nor an explanation of the reasoning behind it. Composer Louie Ocampo, the head judge of the panel who gave the score, was not present.

FRIDAY'S RESULTS

Meanwhile, it was revealed that Ledesma and Jermaine Apil will be moving on to the grand finals of "Tawag ng Tanghalan."

They did so after garnering the highest average scores, getting 99.8% and 68.29%, respectively.

It was also announced that one more slot is up for grabs -- the winner of which will be determined in the coming week.