So what do Regine Velasquez and Roselle Nava have in common, besides being very good singers?
Well, a lot!
They're both conservative (probinsyana at heart) and yet they project a sexy-seductive image as songstresses are expected to (the element of sexiness enhances the appeal and impact of a song, doesn't it?). They can be flirtatious onstage but the whole act (yes, it's an "act") abruptly stops as soon as they step out of the spotlight. They seem to succumb to the temptation of being, you know, "playful," and at the same time are deathly scared of the, you know, "consequences." They can tease, all right, but that's the farthest they can do. It seems.
And both Regine and Roselle claim to be, uh, loveless. At 24, Roselle has had two "harmless" romances, first with Gio Alvarez for two years and then with a La Salle schoolmate for seven months. Now shuddering into her late 20s, Regine has had one big heartbreak but she has gotten over it, very beautifully, and she can now put her tongue out at "that guy" with a big triumphant smile and scream, "Belat!"
Funfare talked to Roselle a few days ago in connection with her first major concert called First Night, slated for April 14 (a Friday) at the Music Museum, with rapper Carlos Agassi and theater-actor-turned-movie-TV-star JM Rodriguez as guests. Wearing a tight-fitting blouse that thankfully didn't cover her shoulders, her tummy showing a bit, Roselle looked quite different indeed. She used to be manang-looking, from her hairstyle to her clothes, and now she's more "with it," dyed hair flowing, manners more relaxed and language less reserved and uptight.
She's still eating a plateful of Caesar's Salad like she was when I talked to her three years ago at Mario's Restaurant. Now at Aresi Restaurant, unable to finish her Caesar's Salad, Roselle was more engaging, making fun of Carlos (who pretended to be flirting with her) and participating in the exchange of light-green jokes among those on the table.
"I want people to realize that the child (first seen on the defunct ABS-CBN kiddie show Ang TV) they loved has definitely grown up," said Roselle, giving Carlos a sisterly hug (meaning, no malice). "I have matured and learned a lot of lessons in life which I now pour into my songs."
A bona fide member of Star Records' growing stable of talents, Roselle (who's actually turning 24 on March 25) has tucked up a degree in Marketing from La Salle but remains well-protected and, sometimes, carefully guarded by her parents, she being the only girl among three children (the two others are Jon-Jon, 22, and RJ, 16).
"Before," according to Roselle, "I kept on asking myself how I could give justice to songs about love and broken hearts. I would end up just imagining how it felt. But now, after having fallen in and out of love, I realized that imagination is not enough. I now feel my songs; I now sing straight from my heart, drawing emotion from (my reservoir of) experiences."
That was exactly the same thing Regine said at the presscon the other day at the Araneta Coliseum poolside for her R2K concert at the Big Dome on April 7 and 8, which she herself is conceptualizing and directing.
"Before," said Regine, "inaarte ko lang ang feeling ng aking songs; I just thought of other people's experiences. Now, the feeling that I put into my songs come from my own experience(s)."
The presscon doubled as a "mini concert" when members of the press egged Regine into singing, a cappella, some of her favorite songs. Very willingly, Regine first sang Ikaw and, to shouts of "More!," launched into One Love, later closing the free-wheeling and enjoyable open forum with a heartfelt rendition of On the Wings of Love, her personal favorite.
Somebody asked Regine how she felt being described as a "babaing bakla" onstage. The question didn't offend Regine who gleefully agreed that, yes, "Talaga namang babaing bakla ako," adding that she had a strong suspicion that in her previous life, "I was gay."
But that's as far as she would go as a "babaing bakla."
Asked further if she wasn't worried, having no boyfriend since she broke up with "that guy," she might end up "a dyke" or an old maid, Regine still laughingly answered, "I have no plans to be a dyke ... as if you can plan it! I'm straight and I can't imagine myself being attracted to a person of the same sex. Opposite sex pa rin ang type ko because I want to have children, plenty of them!"
But definitely not out of wedlock, the same thing Roselle doesn't want to happen to her, conservative and family-oriented both of them are.
"Gusto ko magkakamukha ang mga anak ko," said Regine, "with only one father. Ayoko naman ng iba-iba ang mga mukha. But if it happens," meaning getting pregnant out of wedlock, "I will gladly accept it. I won't ever resort to anything drastic. But I want my (future) children to grow up in a family because that's how I grew up -- in a family, with a family."
While having plenty of children is a future concern, Regine at the moment is pre-occupied with her R2K concert which is the biggest project her home studio, Viva Records, is putting up, complete with a billboard on EDSA (Guadalupe) worth P400,000 and Regine's wardrobe by Rajo Laurel costing more than P300,000. Add to that the production cost and Regine's talent fee (and those of other people involved in the project) and you can imagine how staggering the whole budget is.
"That's why I can hardly sleep these days," confessed Regine. "It's a big challenge for me to fill up the Araneta Coliseum for two days. (Capacity is about 17,000.) I get to sleep only at around 6 a.m. because I keep on thinking and thinking. I dose off and when an idea clicks in my idea, hayun, gumigising ulit ako."
Thus far, only very few artists have succeeded in drawing an SRO crowd to the Big Dome, including Nora Aunor, Paul Anka, Frank Sinatra, Martin Nievera and Zsa Zsa Padilla and the trio of Christopher Cross, Kenny Rankin and Rex Smith in the recent Reminiscing Valentine concert.
"Isn't it scary?" asked Regine who agreed to do it for, she said, "The challenge siguro."
Roselle didn't sing a single song (because the handful of movie writers who interviewed her probably didn't ask her to) at her Aresi presscon but Regine was in her element giving in to requests for "More, more, more!" at her own presscon.
By the time she was deep into On the Wings of Love, Regine seemed to be flying high, wrapped up in some beautiful journey on her own, coming to only when the enraptured press people gave her another resounding applause.
Amazing, these two girls. Loveless and yet enjoying their separate flights "on the wings of love."