Manila Standard - March 31,
2000
Directing
Regine Velasquez : "
H e r s e l f "
by Mario Bautista
Regine Velasquez is on tenterhooks these days. "I can
hardly eat," she
wails. "It's my 1st time to be in a concert at the Araneta Coliseum.
I keep on thinking: Can I fill up the Big Dome? All my past big concerts
were at the Folk Arts Theater, which seats only 8,000. They tell me the
Araneta has 17,000 seats! To add to my tension, Viva, which is producing
it, wants it staged for 2 nights, April 7 and 8. I keep on telling them
that they can still change their mind." Regine is directing herself in
this concert.
"R2K The Concert" also celebrates Regine's 14th
year in show business.
She was only 16 yrs. old when she started singing professionally.
"Now, I'm 30, and I still haven't got a
mother-in-law," she jokes.
The eldest of 5 kids of Gerry and Tessie Velasquez of
Balagtas, Bulacan,
Regine was only 6 when she joined an amateur singing competition with Rico
Puno's "Buhat."
"They found it so cute that I was very young and
already singing so they
gave me a special prize. From there, I joined other singing contests in
Bulacan. When I won in a contest in Baliwag in 1984, I was sent as the
province's representative to 'Ang Bagong Kampeon.' I was a champion for 8
weeks, then during the grand finals, I sang George Benson's 'In Your Eyes.'
OctoArts offered me to record a single, 'Love Me Again.' I eventually did,
but the record failed to sell. I was then still using my nickname,
'Chona,' from my 2nd name, 'Encarnacion.' Pops (Fernandez) introduced me
to Ronnie Henares who became my manager. He changed my name to 'Regine,'
taken from my 1st name, 'Regina.'"
Ronnie transformed Regine from the provinciana Chona to
the more
sophisticated Regine. She took up voice lessons with Ryan Cayabyab and
performance workshops with Freddie Santos.
But it was Kuh Ledesma who had the instinct to take a risk
on Regine. She
produced the neophyte's 1st big concert at Manila Midtown Hotel, "Regine at
17." The rest, as they say, is history. Regine went on to represent the
Philippines at the Asia-Pacific Songfest in Hong Kong. She won the grand
prize. Back home, she produced one hit after the other like "Urong
Sulong," "Narito Ako" and a duet with Jose Mari Chan,
"Please Be Careful
With My Heart." On t.v., she was a mainstay with Janno Gibbs and Ogie
Alcasid on 'Triple Treat.' She also did a few comedy films for Viva like
"The Untouchables" and "Pik Pak Boom."
"I'd say that mine is like a Cinderella story,"
she says. "When I was
young, we were so poor that we didn't even have running water in our house.
We would fetch water from a neighbor's well. When I was singing then at
such venues as Circus Circus and Bernardo Bernardo's BB, I was happy to get
paid P300 a night and I'd be singing 2 sets of songs with 12 songs each.
Now, modesty aside, I can get 6 figures for a single performance. Apart
from our house in Meycauayan, Bulacan, we now have a house in Quezon City
so I don't have to go home to Bulacan every day."
She's also on a roll as a movie actress. "Wanted:
Perfect Mother" with
Christopher de Leon and "Dahil May Isang Ikaw" with Aga Muhlach were
both
big hits. She is now working on "Date With a Star" opposite Robin
Padilla,
inspired by the British film "Notting Hill."
"I'll be singing the theme song of the movie in my
concert," she says.
"I'll also be doing a medley of theme songs from my other movies, including
'Do Re Mi' and 'Honey, Nasa Langit na ba Ako?,' and more from my 'R2K'
album, like 'On the Wings of Love,' my personal favorite and by other
singers, like Mariah Carey's 'Butterfly.'"
This will be her most expensive concert to date.
"For my costumes, done by Rajo Laurel, of course, we
are spending P300,000.
We've also constructed a special semi-circular stage which will have no
backdrop so you can see from anywhere you are seated in the Big Dome. Our
musical director, Mark Lopez, has come up with some special arrangements
not only for me but for all my guests."
Her special guests in "R2K The Concert" are her
friends on GMA-7's Sunday
show, "S.O.P." with Ogie Alcasid, Janno Gibbs, Gabby Eigenmann and her
sister, Cacai, plus another Viva diva, Jaya.
Isn't she somewhat envious that Cacai, who's younger than
her, is now a
wife and mother?
"I'm not at all envious. I'm happy for her. The Lord
has already showered
me so many blessings that I have no right to be envious of anyone. They
ask me if I get insecure when new singers like Jaya and Lani Misalucha come
along. Not at all. There's room for all of us. I don't even want it said
that I compete with them. Because when you use the word 'compete,' it has
a connotation of envy.
I never had any suitor after Ariel (Rivera). I used to say
that I'd get
married at 25, but it didn't happen so maybe, the Lord is telling me that
it's not time yet because I'm the family's breadwinner. But, I do want to
get married and I know the right man will come along someday."
Some people say that she seems to be projecting the image of "babaing
bakla" (female fag) when she performs these days.
"That's okay. I guess it's
true. In my previous life, I must've been gay,
but I'm sure I was a pretty gay. By the way, I am guesting in my concert
an impersonator, Anton. I am really amazed because he's a man but he can
reach all the high notes just like me. Yes, we are performing together."
Manila Times - April 23, 2000
Regine Velasquez : "
On Her Concert and Her Loves "
by Boy Abunda, Jr.
Kris Aquino was raving about "R2K,"
Regine Velasquez' two-night concert
at the Araneta Coliseum. "Iba siya, Boy," Kris gushed.
"Iba talaga siya!" I whispered to myself
as images of the fledgling young
singer from Bulacan flashed in my mind. More than 200 amateur singing
contests, a persistent, driven father who would submerge his daughter in
neck-deep sea waters to train her for vocal combat, a modest home by the
river with a sari-sari store in Balagtas, Bulacan, a vulnerable smile that
almost concealed the unshakeable dream to be a big star.
Regine Velasquez filled up the Araneta Coliseum for
two consecutive nights
in her most ambitious concert outing. More than P300,000 worth of clothes
dazzled over 30,000 people who went to see the concert.
Bravo Regine! You deserve the spotlight and you
ought to be on center
stage. After all, you worked so hard in the wings for so long-and it was
never easy, I know-I was there.
I N T E R V I
E W W I T H R E G I N E :
Here
are excerpts of a conversation, which Kris Aquino
and I did, with Regine on 'The Buzz'-
Boy Abunda: Let's talk about the boys. Herbert Bautista, paano ka niya
niligawan?
Regine Velasquez: He's very sweet and he's the
sweetest guy na nanligaw sa
akin. He sends flowers and fruits. Like after the show
sa Sharon,
pag-alis ko, may kasunod ang van ko sa likod. Pag
dating ko sa bahay,
lalapit sa akin ang guard niya tapos sasabihin na
"pinabibigay po ni Sir
Herbert." Binigyan niya ako ng basket of fruits.
Di ba ang sweet?!?!
[laughs]
BA: Bakit hindi natuloy ang pagiging sweet ninyo?
RV: Awa ng Diyos, hanggang doon lang siya.
Kris Aquino: Nagkaroon ba ng lakas ng loob?
RV: Hindi!
BA: Did he say, "I love you?"
RV: He didn't.
BA: Si Anthony Pangilinan?
KA: Huh ?!?!
RV: Hindi siya nanligaw sa akin.
BA: David Celdran?
RV: Dito ako nabuko noon, eh! Same studio!
BA: Why?
RV: Salbahe kasi ang mga APO eh! I had the biggest
crush on David, ayun,
sinabi nila!
KA: What happened noong nalaman niya na may crush
ka sa kanya?
RV: Wala lang, ngumiti lang siya. Happy naman ako.
[laughs]
BA: Janno Gibbs?
RV: We were friends. Pero wala naman iyun.
BA: Mon Faustino? Huwag mong sabihin na hindi siya
nanligaw.
RV: Oo, nagpadala nga siya ng cake noong birthday
ko na may mukha ko.
Hindi ko naman kinain kasi sayang yung cake eh!
BA: Mark Feist?
RV: Hindi rin.
BA: Si Ariel Rivera?
RV: Iyan, nanligaw po sa akin!
KA: Siya na lang i-deny mo!
RV: Hindi po siya nanligaw sa akin! Ha ha ha !
Walang katotohanan po iyon.
KA: Ewan ko sa kanya! Ganito kasi iyon. Nagkaroon
kami ng
miscommunication. When I was in L.A., he called me up
twice. First when
he was in the airport to say that he was going to San
Francisco. Sabi ko,
'Why? Do you have a show?' Sabi niya he's going to
visit someone and then
he said he's going daw to L.A. tapos he asked me to go
out with him for
dinner. I said, 'Sure!' But by the time he got to L.A.,
I had left
already.
BA: Mahaba na ang buhok mo noon?
RV: Mahaba, hanggang doon! Ika nga ni Angelu, kulot
pa siya!
KA: Boy, may isa pang lalake na usap-usapan ngayon.
RV: Ang dami ko namang lalake!
BA: Sino, Kris?
KA: Kung si Mariah Carey daw ay dumaan kay Tommy
Mottola, ang tunog ni Boss
Vic del Rosario, how true na in-love daw siya sa
iyo?
RV: Wow! I'm so flattered! [laughs]. No, he treats
me like one of his
daughters. Ganyan lang, but I don't think na
reyna ako ng Viva!
BA: Halimbawa lang, ligawan ka ni Boss Vic?
RV: I don't know! Hindi ko alam sagutin iyan!
BA: Wags are insinuating a romantic relationship
with Kuh Ledesma. React.
RV: Wala lang.
KA: Nakaka-affect ba sa friendship ninyo?
RV: Hindi. Kasi wala naman talaga iyon eh!
BA: Let's talk about "R2K." Retoke daw
ang ibig sabihin nito?
RV: Kung meron man akong pinagawa sa mukha ko, sa
dami ng mga intriga na
iyan, eh mapapaamin ninyo ako; plus, kung meron man
akong pinagawa eh, wala
na kayong pakialam kasi pera at mukha ko naman ito. But
the thing is,
hindi mo ako mapapaamin ng hindi ko naman ginawa. If I
think I need to do
something with my face and body, why not? Puhunan
naming mga artista ang
mukha di ba?!?!
BA: If ever, ano ang una mong ipapagawa?
RV: Ito (while looking at her breasts). I need some kinda space here! Ha
ha ha!
KA: Let's bring up Coco Lee. Sana ikaw na raw ang
nasa lugar ni Coco Lee
kung hindi ka raw umalis sa Polygram.
RV: I think it was really her time. She was
discovered at the right time.
In my case, kung hindi para sa akin, hindi ko ipipilit.
KA: Malapit na ang birthday mo and you're turning 30. Boy, sa babae daw
milestone ang pag-te-trenta. What are you looking
forward to for the next
30 years?
RV: Hopefully, I'd be happy with my grandchildren
and husband.
BA: Describe Regine in one word.
RV: C
o m p l e t e . . .
Midi Playing : "Urgent" by F o r e i g n e r
