Songbird Conquered the Carnegie Hall

By Crispina Martinez-Belen
Manila Bulletin
November 20, 1991

Regine Velasquez delivered an outstanding performances at the Carnegie Hall in New York, considered to be one of the world's most coveted performance venues.Her special guest was Ray-An Fuentes. The concert billed as "Narito Ako sa New York," was a roaring success that earned three standing ovations from the discriminating audience composed of Filipinos and Americans.

She sang "Urong-Sulong" and "Narito Ako" plus "I'm Your Baby Tonight" "Greatest Love of All," "You'll Never Walk Alone," "We Can Work It Out," "Someday" and a Barbara Streisand medley and romance medley with Ray An Fuentes and a lot more. She earned rave reviews from the critics."Narito Ako Sa New York," is a production of Lemar International, Inc. composed of Dr. Ramon Legarda, Redentor Martinez, Dr. Rosario Ojeda-Legarda and Alicia Ojeda-Legarda.

That voice behind 'Voices'

By Ivy Lisa F. Mendoza
Manila Bulletin
October 3, 1991

Of course, you must have already heard how that voice came to be. Years upon years of honing by joining at least 200 amateur singing contest (70 percent of which she won); the already famous "underwater training" resisting pressure while singing with half-body submerged in water: vocalizing while tightly curled up on a sofa, thus applying force down on her powerful diaphragm.

Of course, you know that only Regine Velasquez was trained this rigid way.What started out as a small voice belting our on makeshift stages during town fiestas, Regine now joins another big voice in local entertainment industry, Martin Nievera, in a concert aptly titled 'Voices' slated Friday and Saturday, Oct. 4 and 5, 7:30 p.m., at the ULTRA.

A harmonious blending of lung power, that's what people can expect from the Nievera-Velasquez collaboration, as 80 percent of the show will feature all-new duets from tandem. Martin and Regine will render their respective versions of "The Greatest Love Of All," the song closest to both their hearts. There will also be song swapping - Martin will croon to "Narito Ako" and Regine to "Ikaw Ang Lahat Sa Akin."

Regine credits her training to her omnipresent father Gerry, "Mang Gerry" or "Tatay Gerry" to showbiz denizens.

"I was not aware that my father had a career plan for me, and all those things that we had been doing are towards one goal," Regine says, "Everything was part of a plan, to train her until she is ready to turn professional," explains Mang Gerry.

Regine recalls the hardships she would go through as her father's obedient daughter."We would go to as far as Pampanga, walk miles and miles wearing high-heeled shoes just to reach the stage. I won some, lost some. But if I lost, I never felt bad, especially when I knew that there was cheating. Basta alam ko I was the winner because I did my best," Regine avers."Her training was patterned after boxer Rocky Marciano's.

Ang sabi ng marami crude daw ang training niya dahil sa backyard lang ginagawa. Pero still, lumabas pa rin siyang magaling," Mang Gerry says. This thus justifies his mean sofa training Regine, an issue that has become a laughing stock in the industry.

But Mang Gerry doesn't mind at all. They do the laughing, he and Regine takes the raves and the earnings. Now as everyone can see, father and daughter are reaping the fruits of their efforts. Regine is slowly but surely getting up there, if she's not up there yet - a plum prize in an international singing contest, hit records, solo concerts such as last year's "Narito Ako" at the Folk Arts Theater, and this year, a combination which even top singer Celeste Legaspi describes as a team tandem.

The day after "Voices," Regine flies off to the Big Apple. The little voice from rustic Bulacan is out to conquer Carnegie Hall. Lemar International, the New York-based outfit which also presented Gary V. last year, banks on Regine to perform to a full house come Oct. 11. Performing with Regine are Ray-An Fuentes, with Louie Ocampo as the musical director.

Regine comes of Age

Crispina Martinez-Belen
Manila Bulletin
July 15, 1991

Regine Velasquez undeniably is the hottest concert artist of the '90's, others already call her "Concert Queen." Like the proverbial desert flower, she waited for the right time to bloom. According to Joyce Villanueva, personal manager to Regine, "Napapanahon na si Regine. Kung baga dati manibalang pa lang, ngayon hinog na."

Just how 'hinog' she is, people will get to see her new concert titled "Regine In Season." The concert promises to reveal a side of Regine seldom seen on stage. With a repertoire that is basically young and upbeat, Regine takes a step away from her established image as a standard singer. It is interesting to note that the title of the concert may be considered by some to be misnomer. Because unlike the common connotation of maturity and seriousness, which usually follow the phrase in season; The concert transforms Regine from a sombre singer to a more upbeat, more youth oriented performer.

Amazingly, her hidden side is more natural to her than her than her current image. For Regine is really still a kid at heart, not withstanding her 21 years. Through she projects an air of sophistication and poise on stage that is more a product of packaging and image building. In fact, talking with Regine in person, you are not apt to recognize her as the voice behind the hits "Narito Ako," "Promdi" and "Urong-Sulong."

Regine slips in and out of that mantle of sophistication easily but it is very evident that the girl from Bulacan is much more comfortable with the simple life she leads than with the act that she has to put up on stage. And probably for the first time her fans will be treated to a glimpse of the real Regine, loose, fancy free and certainly young.

Regine has been in the industry for several years and is considered a veteran. But uncharacteristically like a veteran, she still is given to bouts of insomnia whenever she has major concerts. "When the day for my concert, 'Narito Ako' was nearing, I really couldn't sleep. Alas quatro pa lang gising na ako," she enthused.

For the nth time around, Regine and Louie Ocampo are working together in a show and as such their close rapport is certain to produce another mega success.

Joining Regine in her July 20 concert at the ULTRA are Hotlegs and other queen concert and Regine's very close friend Ms. Pops Fernandez. Having Pops as guest is also a novelty and that is unusual for a female singer to have only a female guest in her concert. And to have two of the most talented concert artists in the country in one show is truly a treat.

Regine in Season, in essence, is timeless.

Regine in Season

By Ivy Lisa F. Mendoza
Panorama
July 14, 1991

Big things began to happen to pop singer Regine Velasquez when she cut her hair short. Shorn of shoulder-length tresses and looking very much like a young boy, the girl with the big voice had beaten Hollywood actress Demi Moore to the close-cropped look by about two years. Regine stresses his point by pounding a finger on the table.

"I was ahead of Demi," she says, her big brown eyes widening and gleaming impishly. "People began to notice me when I cut my hair. I don't know why. Para bang, suddenly they discovered me, found out I could sing, and started watching my shows."

Some people were even surprised they liked Regine. First attracted by her new look, they were mesmerized by her voice-powerful vocals that wrench the heart and wring the soul. Regine's voice, too. Had been heard ahead of Mariah Carey, the American pop singer known for her gut-tearing ballads.

Most pop stars seem to play around with their locks: from peroxide blonde Madonna turned brunette; Irish rock singer Sinead O'Connor first sported a Mohawk before she finally went bald; even Pops Fernandez has occasional forays with her hairstylist and had been the first among the local stars to wear very short bangs before she combed her hair into a '60s fly away.But Regine's mane is not her career's main thing. She claims she cut it out of frustration and not as a concession to fashion.

"I cut my hair when my 18th birthday concert was postponed," says Regine, now 21. "A foreign group would also be performing on the same dates and (my producers) thought I should back out. Hindi man lamang ako pinagbigyan. Dahil sa frustration ko, nagpaputol ako ng buhok."

A star usually has a trademark look, and Regine found hers after losing a concert date. The short hair revealed all of Regine's gamine features - the wide eyes, clear skin, elfin smile, and upturned nose. It lent her sophistication beyond her years, transforming a gawky, scrawny kid into a woman onstage. It also made dressing up easier for her. More important, the boyish bob-look found a bigger audience for her.

Last year, Regine sold out her first major concert at the Folk Arts Theater heralding her arrival as an important pop artist and elevating her stature among pop goddesses Kuh Ledesma and Zsa Zsa Padilla. Her single "Narito Ako," a remake of the Maricris Bermont original has since become a double platinum record. She may have backed-out from the possible plum role of Kim in the London musicale "Miss Saigon" but Regine is convinced she's made the right choice."I couldn't see myself as Kim," she admits. "Parang hindi bagay. With my short hair, siguro one of the soldiers pa. But seriously, I didn't want to leave my career here. Sayang naman ang aking pinaghirapan dito."

This July 20, Regine performs at the ULTRA for a bigger stage and a bigger show called "Regine in Season." And she's scared.

"The Folk Arts Concert was my first. Fine, napuno. But part of that was probably the people's curiosity about me. In fact, when we were planning that show, I felt sino ba ang manonood nito? For my lounge shows, I feel confident of my audience. I know I have a market. They say I get the AB crowd. Ang CD ang problema ko. Hindi ko alam kung naabot ko na sila.

"Regine In Season," says Regine, will show her different moods as a singer and artist. Her material will mostly be new, and the concert designed on a concept of evocative of the season.These days, Regine admits to being careful with her shows and insists to meticulous preparations to the mounting of her shows. She would rather be taken seriously as an artist rather than a pop star and claims that she still doesn't feel like a star.