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For the past 17 years, The Filipino Express has provided the Filipino American community the best news, arts and entertainment coverage from around the United States and the Philippines.
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 MANILA --- After an embarrassing exit from a televised talent search, this would-be overnight pop sensation learned to pick up the pieces.
When that big break came in, his trek to stardom became nothing short of phenomenal.
In less than two years, he achieved the impossible, a multi-platinum album not only in the Philippines but also in Indonesia, several commercial endorsements, and his first major concert at the venue of all concert venues, the Araneta Coliseum.
His beginnings were downright simple – singing in choirs, gospel concerts, and stage plays until that chance came to join the first season of ABS-CBN’s “Star in a Million,” a nationwide search for the next recording stars.
“I wanted to do a little theater after college since I liked ‘Miss Saigon’ and all that,” recording star and heartthrob Christian Bautista said. “Then ‘Star in a Million’ came in. My friends asked me, why don’t you try ‘Star in a Million?’”
The rest was history, so to speak. After taking the “Star in a Million” stage, his popularity grew. “The response (to my joining the contest) was great. Natuwa rin ako, wow, I get fans. (This made me) fall in love with singing,” Bautista said.
He never had formal training in voice and only relied on his passion for singing to improve his craft.
“I was just singing in the choir, sang rock songs when I was younger and performed in musicals after college,” Bautista said. “I really have no formal training. It may have been a mix of it all.”
After hurdling auditions, the eliminations and the initial stages of the “Star in a Million” finals, Bautista did not reach the last phase of the 2003 competition, eventually won by Erik Santos.
“When I lost in ‘Star in a Million,’ I thought it was the end,” said Bautista. “But then Warner (Music Philippines) came in and gave me the opportunity to start my career and get back up kahit natalo.”
Warner Music, a subsidiary of worldwide media giant Time Warner, saw through the debacle and recognized his potential. Despite the loss, the multinational record label signed him up.
His entry to the Warner stable resulted in his self-titled album that churned hit after hit and made him an instant pop sensation.
Songs like the revivals “The Way You Look at Me” and “Hands to Heaven” took the airwaves by storm and established Bautista as the new singing superstar. His next hits, “Colour Everywhere” and “Kailan Pa Ma’y Ikaw,” further made him a byword in the recording industry. Before anyone knew it, Bautista was nothing like the loser in the singing reality show but an established artist rising above the bumper crop of new talents.
His latest challenge was performing at the Araneta, considered the measuring stick of an artist’s drawing power; a test if indeed he or she had reached “star” status. “I was pretty much excited about the concert,” Christian reveals. “It was really an honor to perform here on my own, but I could not have done it without the support of my family, my management, ABS-CBN, Warner, and of course Dunkin Donuts. They all made this possible.”
The donut brand was exclusive sponsor of the concert, named after his huge hit “Colour Everywhere,” and had purchased all the concert tickets, which they raffled off to patrons in their outlets around Metro Manila for a chance to see the show.
Would-be concert attendees had to purchase dozens of donuts just to grab that elusive ticket. They didn’t mind of course, as patrons had even purchased dozen upon dozen of donuts just for a chance to get in. Of course, only the lucky ones did.
“I’m very much thankful to those who watched the concert,” Bautista said. “I know what they went through just to see me perform tonight (Friday). I appreciate their effort. I hope they were satisfied.”
All in all, the audience had every reason to be satisfied. There were some kinks and boo-boo’s common in an artist’s first breakthrough event, but at the end of the night, concert-goers got what they wanted – a “romantic balladeer” who outdid and took himself to the next level of his young and successful career.
The concert began with Bautista singing uncharacteristic up-tempo songs that thrilled the crowd. A medley of 70s to 80s disco tunes revved up the impatient crowd, who had to wait for an extra hour for the show to start. Bautista gleefully showed his worth as a performer, with his renditions of Lionel Richie’s “All Night Long”, DeBarge’s “Rhythm of the Night” and Shalamar’s “Night to Remember” starting the night right.
His version of Jesse McCartney’s “Beautiful Soul” again showcased his prowess as a balladeer, injecting his own magic touch to the chart-topping song. But what really started the enchanting night rolling, was his current hit, “Kailan Pa Ma’y Ikaw”, which he performed with the power, depth and sincerity rarely found among young singers today.
Bautista was obviously enjoying himself on the Araneta stage, with a medley of boyband hits featuring his first guest, the trio 17:28, who delivered their own catchy take on famous R&B ditties, such as the Usher hit, “Burn”.
He delighted the crowd with more renditions of pop hits, including Maroon 5’s “She Will Be Loved” and Billy Crawford’s “Bright Lights,” then impressed them with his medley of Frank Sinatra classics. Fans screamed when “Hands to Heaven” intro began to play after Bautista sang a series of songs with the word “heaven” on the title, such as Rick Price’s “Heaven Knows” and Bryan Adams’s “Heaven.” Bautista was more emphatic in his rendition of his blockbuster hit, originally sung by the 80s band Breathe, with an awesome interpretative dance number at the background.
Bautista’s next guest was Rachelle Ann Go, a 2003 champion of GMA-7’s “Search for a Star” with whom he is being romantically linked. Unfortunately, however, the chemistry did not show in the concert, despite their stirring duet, “You and Me (We Wanted It All),” another Sinatra classic. But they more than made up for it with their well-received collaboration.
Everyone was delighted with the performance of the Playshop Kids, graduates of Trumpets Playshop, which offers performance workshops to aspiring child performers. They belted out themes from blockbuster animated movies through the years, including “Beauty and the Beast,” “An American Tail,” and “Aladdin.” Bautista, of course, backed them up in their grand finale.
Christian then surprised the audience with his rendition of Soul Control’s “Chocolate”. Although he may not have gotten the popular dance right, his children performers, this time, backed him up to the last move.
But, what brought the house down was – quite expectedly – his rip-roaring sequence with Gary Valenciano, whom Bautista insisted to vouch for his “dancing talent.” Mr. Pure Energy did vouch for Bautista – but only for his “singing.” After Bautista performed “Di Bale Na Lang” with the latter’s signature moves, Valenciano then interpreted the same song, his best-selling record in the 1980s, the “Christian Bautista way,” which elicited warm cheers.
Valenciano also mesmerized the crowd with the song “How Did You Know,” which he recorded for the movie “Nine Mornings.” They also did a duet of the gospel songs “The Warrior Is A Child” and “Take Me Out of the Dark,” which is one of Valenciano’s earlier compositions.
Bautista ended the show with a medley of “OPM icons,” starting with Rico J. Puno’s “The Way We Were,” Hajji Alejandro’s “Nakapagtataka,” Ric Segreto’s “Give Me A Chance,” Martin Nievera’s “Be My Lady,” Ogie Alcasid’s “Nandito Ako,” and Raymond Lauchengco’s “So It’s You,” which he previously recorded as a theme song for the recent movie, “Dreamboy.”
But as the crowd made the beeline for the exit, Bautista exclaimed he could not finish the night without singing the hit that “inspired” the concert, “Colour Everywhere.” The crowd then hurried back to their seats, with a number of patron ticket holders rushing to the stage taking photos of Bautista with their camera phones.
Bautista’s final song, “The Way You Look At Me,” as expected, drew the loudest ovation and had even moved him to tears.
The show’s success largely hinged on Bautista’s talent, yet production value left much to be desired. The concert appeared to have been just an extension of a Sunday noontime show with less experimentation and more of tried and tested production formulas. Maybe a show of that caliber could have elicited more surprises, eye-catching numbers, and a wider repertoire of songs that could have further challenged his already recognized vocal skills.
Noticeably absent were the other songs in his multi-platinum album, which, as many people believed, deserved to see the concert stage – such as the Boy Katindig Band original, “Away From You.” Another missing link were the Josh Groban songs Bautista had been identified with that could have further electrified the crowd.
The two-hour show offered nothing new to set it apart from solo concerts of other artists thereby missing that chance to elevate Bautista beyond the current lot of fellow young recording stars spawned by the popularity of televised reality-based talent searches.
Despite its shortcomings, the concert nevertheless provided a fitting venue for Bautista to show his extraordinary talent and amplify that golden voice which captivated the nation.
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 MANILA --- Aiko Melendez, whose marriage with actor Jomari Yllana was annulled in 2003, is glad that he found a new love in Miss Denmark.
Yllana has been reportedly dating Danish beauty Thea Froekjaer.
“Jomari deserves to be happy. That’s his right,” Melendez said.
Asked if she wants to meet her ex-husband’s current flame, Melendez said “Why not?”
The actress said she has moved on, adding that she is happy now.
Melendez said that she is currently into a relationship with a certain Jonard Yanzon, 24.
The 29-year old single mom said she does not mind the age gap.
Yanzon is mature man who loves her son, Melendez said. “Andrei not only likes him but loves him,” she said. “Ang tiyaga niya sa bata,” she added.
Melendez met Yanzon in a bar. (MNS)
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 MANILA --- Claudine Barretto has been in Dubai for the filming of her movie with Aga Muhlach and John Lloyd Cruz less than a week and yet, she tells friends in a text message, she is already missing both Raymart Santiago, her fiancÈ, and Sabina, their adopted daughter, a lot.
“I want to come home soon,” she further stated.
This film with Aga and John Lloyd is of the three movies she plans to do before tying the knot with Raymart in January next year. Before leaving for Dubai, she started her new soap, “Ikaw ang Lahat sa Akin,” for ABS-CBN.
Claudine has made four soap operas in the past, “Mula sa Puso,” “Saan Ka Man Naroroon,” “Sa Dulo ng Walang Hanggan” and “Marina.”
She has done “Mangarap Ka,” “The Calvento Files,” “Anak,” “Pare Ko,” “Madrasta,” “Soltera,” “Dahil Mahal Na Mahal Kita,” “Got 2 Believe,” “Kailangan Kita” and “Milan.”
Claudine was 13 when she joined showbiz. She said that among the Barretto sisters (referring to Gretchen and Marjorie), she’s the one who really had the showbiz inclination. Thus, when talent manager Douglas Quijano saw her at a party and offered to make her a star, she immediately said yes.
Her first TV show was “Ang TV.” This was followed by “Home Along da Riles” and “Okidokidoc.
“I’m grateful for my past experiences both on TV and in the movies. I learned a lot from them,” Claudine said.
In an interview at the “Nasaan Ka Man” presscon, Claudine said that the one memory that would always linger in her mind is the death of Rico Yan, her former boyfriend.
“’Di lang masakit ‘yung nangyaring biglaan niyang pagkamatay, kung hindi ang mga iba pang bagay na lalong nagpasakit dala nga ng kanyang pagkamatay,” Claudine elaborated.
She is glad that everything has been resolved. She has had the chance to talk with Rico’s elder sister and she feels relieved that things have been ironed out between her and the Yans. She is praying that Rico is at peace. (MNS)
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