Dingdong goes back to the past

There have been loads of news lately about Dingdong Avanzado on the golf course both here and abroad. That Dingdong Avanzado Celebrity Golf Classic in Guam last week seemed like a major event.

This does not mean though that golf is the only thing that the pop singer is busy with these days. Dingdong still sings and he does it again with much flair in a new album titled Here to Stay.

The first thing that comes to mind while listening to Dingdong’s latest is that this must be his most personal album to date. I do not know how personal he gets with his music, but it is all there, in his choice of songs, the arrangements and most of all in his interpretation. The guy singing these songs has so much feeling inside. He is such a far cry from his dalawang beinte cinco lang days. And he gave off loads of doses to each of his songs.

Now, if a listener is familiar with the way Dingdong has conducted the comings and goings in his career these past 10 years or so, then the listener will find lots of things to associate with in this album. The songs included can bait the tabloids into coming out with volumes of truth and rumor culled from Dingdong’s very interesting past. But aside from mentioning that he performs Paalam Na most expressively in the album, I will refrain from dwelling with all that has happened.

The reason for this is it is just impossible to resist taking a tabloid take at Paalam Na because this was composed by Rachel Alejandro when she and Dingdong were a hot item. Rachel recorded the song and Paalam Na was one of her biggest hits. That Dingdong is singing it in Here to Stay must mean that he has laid aside this ghost and can look back with ease at the past.

Sana ang bukas ay parang kahapon, alaalang nataboy lang ng alon, he laments in the first cut titled Di Namalayan. But he ends the entire package with You and I were meant to be together, love is here, the waiting is over, in The Moment, which he wrote himself. In between his songs seem to give voice to assorted moments he lived through in the past. There is no title track but Here to Stay nicely sums up all his sentiments.

Other songs included are the old favorite I Don’t Want You To Go, new works like Love is Here to Stay, Keep the Love Alive, Magic of Love, Gone, Just Because, Ikaw, You’re Still Here and the Rey Valera classic Walang Kapalit.

If these songs describe how Dingdong feels nowadays, then I marvel at the kind of serenity and ability to be introspective he has acquired. Is this due to marriage, maturity or happiness? We do not know the answer but it has given depth to his singing and imbued his interpretation with intelligence. But who cares what the answer is? Whatever it is has made him a better singer and that is all that matters when you do an album.

Mandy Moore’s hit songs

We should thank our lucky stars that Regine Velasquez’s Dadalhin Kita remains strong in the playlists of local radio stations. Otherwise, all we will get from the airlanes is the sound of Mandy Moore. Pinoy fans are so enamored of the teen-aged pop singer that they not only made her movie A Walk to Remember a huge success at the box-office, they are also listening to all of her songs. As of the moment Mandy has three hit singles, all of them sweet love songs that echo the sentiments of her hit film. These are Cry, Only Hope and Someday We’ll Know.

The list of the top favorites among local music lovers is Cry by Mandy Moore; Dadalhin Kita by Regine Velasquez; Only Hope by Mandy; Without Me by Eminem; Someday We’ll Know by Mandy; A Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton; Evergreen, by Westlife, a new version of the Barbara Streisand hit from the soundtrack of the movie A Star is Born, used to excellent results in IS2PID LUV by Salbakuta; Brown Eyes by Destiny’s Child; If Tomorrow Never Comes by Ronan Keating of Boyzone; and I Love Rock and Roll by Britney Spears.