Howie D in town for Sarah CD launch

Howie Dorough planed in from Los Angeles very early in the morning of Sept. 23. “There was nobody at the airport,” he recalls. It turns out the PAL flight arrived one hour ahead of schedule. “But it was OK,” he counters, “I didn’t mind. I already liked the place. It reminds me so much of Puerto Rico and we had this great snack on the plane of chicken in rice porridge. It was delicious.”

This is Howie’s third time to visit the Philippines and all those previous ones were with his group, the biggest selling boy band of recent times, The Backstreet Boys (BSB). The first one was during the Asian promo tour for the launch of their first album right before they exploded as a worldwide phenomenon. The others were for concerts, with the most recent one only three years ago.

Howie or Howie D, though is on his own this time around. He is on one of his occasional sabbaticals from the BSB. “I will literally start climbing walls if I do not have anything to do back home.” In Howie’s case, something to do means performing or recording or anything that concerns being a singer or an actor. So in between his stints with the group, he indulges his passion for music with solo efforts or duets with other artists. “This is something I love to do. It is not just a job. I cannot think of doing anything else.”

Howie was born in Florida of an Irish/Scottish/American, father, Hoke Dorough and a Puerto Rican mother, Paula Flores. The Irish and the Scott only come out when he does not shave his beard or when he drinks beer. The Puerto Rican is there all the time and that must be why he is considered the Latin heartthrob of the BSB. He sings most of the ballads and has a gorgeous falsetto which you can hear in Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely and I Want It That Way.

He was already into performing even as a child, most notably in an Orlando production of The Wizard of Oz and as the Little Drummer Boy in the Christmas Belen at Disneyworld in Florida where he grew up. He was a teenager when he and some friends auditioned for a “manufactured” boy group. They say “manufactured” when a band is not like The Beatles, who started together as a band, but are like the Monkees wherein the members were sourced from auditions and then told they were a group.

Howie though had two friends who also made the BSB, AJ McLean and Nick Carter. There were two other guys, but things were not working out well for them as a group. They were replaced by Kevin Richardson, who was discovered through the auditions and then it was Kevin who brought in his cousin, Brian Littrell. That happened way back in 1992 and they have been the Backstreet Boys ever since, with over a hundred million albums sold and with some solo efforts on the side.

And that is why Howie is in town. The Backstreet Boy graciously agreed to do a duet with Sarah Geronimo for her new album Just Me titled I’ll Be There. Produced by Christian de Walden of Hollywood, the new original is a composition by Al Taveel and Pamela Philips-Oland, the same team that did one of the most successful duets in pop music history, Too Much, Too Little, Too Late by Johnny Mathis and Denice Williams.

“I do something like this whenever I have the time,” continues Howie. “I also recorded with the Gospels. So when I was asked to sing with Sarah I said yes.” Howie met Sarah for the first time last Tuesday. They recorded I’ll Be There separately. De Walden did Sarah’s vocals in LA, then he hopped a plane to Florida where Howie did his. The result is now the first single out of Sarah’s album.

“I liked Sarah instantly,” says Howie. “She seems to be very sweet and humble and she did a good job with the song. I am looking forward to working with her.” Work with Sarah means meeting the local media and doing interviews, shooting a music video for I’ll Be There, taping some spots for MYX, performing the song on A.S.A.P. ‘08 on Sunday and then following this up with an appearance at the SM Mall of Asia’s Music Hall.

It seems like a lot of work but not for Howie who just adores performing and helping newer artists like Sarah. Besides, this trip also allows him to give vent to his other passion, traveling. “I didn’t get to see much of the Philippines the times I was here,” says Howie who has always been curious about this country. His mother’s best friend and his godmother is Filipino. “So I might be able to do that this time.”

It is also a honeymoon of sorts for Howie and his bride, the lovely Leigh Boniello. They were married last December but Howie had to tour with the BSB for seven months. They also suffered through the death of his father last June. So Manila, despite some work to do is an overdue vacation. “We are looking forward to enjoying ourselves here,” he says. The prospect that they will looks good.