How to spot a singing star

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine sent me a message on my cell phone asking me to text him my landline ASAP. Thinking he was going to give me a pasalubong (isn’t that very Pinoy?), I lost no time sending to him via text my PLDT number, which he immediately dialed.

But to my disappointment, he didn’t make that call to give me any imported stuff from his trip. On the contrary, he was asking for a stateside favor.

It turned out that he met a woman in the US – a Fil-Am girl, actually – who wanted to sing. "Who’s stopping her? Let her sing!" – was my tart reply to him.

He brushed aside my sarcasm and proceeded to ask me to turn this woman into a singer here in the Philippines – like I had a factory that manufactures singers.

When I told him that I didn’t know the first thing about turning singing hopefuls into divas, he didn’t believe me. He thought that just because I do a weekly show on TV, I had invincible powers within the entertainment industry. He even gave me a deadline: His lady friend would be flying in from the US in September – which means I should have started working things out by middle of August.

It’s almost halfway through the month and I’m starting to panic because I have a deadline to meet – set by my friend and his aspiring singer friend according to their convenience. I’d appreciate it if anyone could lend me a handbook on how to turn singing hopefuls into professional chanteuses. Please send it to me before this aspiring condesa blows into town next month.

This ultimatum set by my friend (sometimes I just want to curse the day when friends were invented) really started to make me seriously ponder on the qualities that set the singing aspirant apart from other singing wannabes.

The answer to my question finally came when I accepted an invitation to sit as judge in the Saturday night program Search for a Star on GMA 7 (this talent search is co-produced by Viva TV).

Every week, there are always three contestants and on that evening that I sat as judge, all the aspirants were girls in their teens.

Contestant No. 1 is 19 years old and sang Sana’y Wala Nang Wakas, a song that I don’t particularly like. Actually, I like all Willy Cruz compositions – except for this one. No, it’s not a horrible song – not at all.

But as Regine Velasquez, who hosts the shows, correctly pointed out, maybe I’m just tired hearing it in amateur competitions. (I would really be impressed if somebody sang it in a talent search Mutya ng Pasig, a really difficult and challenging piece.)

And then, it wasn’t really just the song. Contestant No. 1 also lacked force in her voice. But otherwise, she sang quite well and was very sophisticated in her ways. (She turned out to be a singer in the club strip.)

Contestant No. 2 was very impressive. Only 14 years old, she had fire and passion in her singing. Regine, in fact, was rattled a bit when I described on camera Contestant No. 2’s singing as malibog. When I said malibog, however, it wasn’t within the context of sex. Although I have to say that among the contestants, she had the most sex appeal and this prompted Regine and I to joke that maybe I wasn’t looking for a singer, but for a bold star.

Contestant No. 3 also had a fine singing voice, but – as resident judge Arsi Baltazar pointed it out, the girl "needs to improve her diction."

My quarrel with Contestant No. 3, however, has something to do with the fact that at age 17, she was still just a wisp of a girl. Neneng-nene – as we would say it in local parlance.

My suggestion – which I so tactlessly suggested in the presence of her parents – was to get a boyfriend, fall in love and get hurt. Maybe that could put some maturity into her singing.

All three girls actually sang well and had wonderful singing voices, but in the end, we chose Contestant No. 2 because she had the most oomph in her performance – in the way she moved, even (I found out later that she had joined last year and lost and wept bitterly over her defeat).

So there was the answer to my question. In this country dotted by Karaoke joints, almost everyone can sing. But it is not enough to have a good singing voice. In order to succeed as a singer, you need to put force in your voice and have fire, passion and maturity in your performance. And though you need not have the best-chiseled face in the world, you need sex appeal and yes, libog, to make it in the entertainment profession.

After serving as judge, I also tried to play a game of psychoanalysis with the three contestants in my head: Observing their individual personalities, maybe they can provide a good material for a Fe-Esperanza-Caridad type of trilogy.

Contestant No. 1 – with her sophistication – would most likely end up as a trophy wife. She’d make a good politician’s spouse who could sing at her husband’s campaign sorties.

Contestant No. 2 would definitely make it big as a singer and even as an actress. But I’m afraid she may end up a wreck because she has too much passion in her and I don’t think that’s very healthy in the psychological makeup of a person.

Contestant No. 3 – the vestal virgin, girl-next-door type – would probably just marry and live a simple life. She’d probably forget about singing – except maybe in the parish choir. But away from show business and the numerous frustrations and heartaches it brings, she’ll be the happiest among the three.

Yes, there is bliss away from the cruel entertainment profession and I cannot for the life of me understand why this aspiring lady singer from the US would want to come over and face all the hurts and disappointments that await most singing hopefuls. But it’s too late. The last I heard, she has bought a ticket to Manila – all set to conquer the local singing world.

Good luck to her.