Blame it on the Bossa Nova

It always pays to be first. Sitti, dubbed as the Queen of Bossa Nova, never saw herself wearing that crown many years back, when she was singing standards in top music lounges. Until one day, her manager, Gary Trinidad had an idea. Why not try bossa nova? After all, there’s his music lounge-restaurant Star Tavern (formerly Stone House), where she can start her experiment.

Bossa then was uncharted territory. It was the age of acoustic singers, and before that, the bands.

Much to Sitti’s surprise, the experiment, as we know by now, clicked. And the singer whose name means Muslim princess junked her repertoire of standards and exchanged it for the syncopated beat of bossa.

One hit deserves another. Sitti’s debut album, Café Bossa, was a smash, earning double platinum and spinning off sell-out concerts, including one in Mandarin Hotel.

The follow-up album, Sitti... Love, from Warner Music Philippines, is certified gold. Sales reports from Tower Records and Odyssey Records paint a rosy picture. The album made it to the Top 20 countdown.

Now, Sitti is doing what hitmaking singers before her have done: crossover to TV. Host of the recently-concluded Studio 23’s Pinoy Dream Academy, she is headlining another reality TV show from the same network, Pinoy Big Brother, with Asia Agcaoili.

Sitti is also semi-regular on ASAP ’07.

You can’t blame Sitti (real name: Sitti Katrina Navarro Baiddin) if she’s taking her craft so seriously she’s learning Portuguese, the language of bossa.

"It will make my performance more authentic," she reasons out.

After all, contrary to what pessimists say, Sitti thinks bossa is not just a craze. She gives it a life span of two to three years more. That, anyone will tell you, doesn’t qualify it as a mere craze of whim.

No wonder singers as young as Sitti (she’s 22) have jumped into the bandwagon. A quick look at recording companies’ roster of artists shows more and more of them are turning to bossa.

Sitti is not at all threatened. She’s even happy for the genre. The more the merrier, she says.

But she herself admits she didn’t have a rosy outlook on bossa at first.

"I never thought it will click. I never even imagined myself singing bossa," she admits.

But here she is, preparing for a concert of bossa and more. Sitti topbills Bossa Rocks with guests Mo Twister (who will rap), Philippine Idol finalist Jan Nieto, Color it Red’s Cookie Chua, Imago’s Aia and The Dawn’s Jett Pangan on March 16 and 23 at Music Museum.

It marks Sitti’s return to the venue where she had a successful series last year.

"We will fuse bossa and rock," promises Sitti. "Mo will do a production number."

The DJ known for his controversial probing will ask forbidden questions which Sitti will answer in song.

Whatever the concert’s outcome, Sitti will hold on to her wish list. Two items on the list is a collaboration with Ryan Cayabyab ("he’s a legend!"). Another is for her album to be produced by David Foster, no less.

Big dreams, these. But for someone used to big surprises (she never imagined she’d be on top of the bossa heap, remember?), these dreams might just come true.