Change of image, change of heart

MANILA, Philippines - New year, new look. That’s what Jay-R seems to be telling everyone he saw at the launch of his new album, Jay-R Sings OPM Love Classics recently at Linden Suites.

Gone is the smooth pate fans and followers would see all the time. In its place is a crop of hair that make people wonder why he chose to change his looks.

Turns out Jay-R did it in the name of a slight image change.

The guy people baptized Prince of R&B now wants to be known as “The Prince of Soul.”

“Soul connotes more maturity,” he explains. Thus the new look.

Girlfriend Krissa Mae Arrieta, newly-crowned Bb. Pilipinas International, has no complaints. After all, he’s the same guy she agreed to go steady with nine months ago.

And she’s the girl Jay-R always thought had the makings of a winner even if she herself didn’t think so.

“She’s very humble,” Jay-R sings his girlfriend’s praises. “She didn’t expect to win. In fact, she auditioned for the contest at the very last day. But I knew she’d make it.”

So the first thing he told her after she was crowned was, “I told you so!”

Her victory has not changed their relationship in any way.

“She has remained down-to-earth, family-oriented. She adapts to her surroundings well,” relates the proud boyfriend.

Jay-R realizes they will have less time for themselves from now own. He’ll be busy promoting his album, hosting the GMA dating game Take Me Out and Party Pilipinas, which replaces the noontime show S.O.P. She’ll be neck-deep in rehearsals, photo shoots, personality training activities.

J ay-R is confident though, that their busy schedules will not take a toll on their relationship.

“Two people who really love each other will find time for one another. Spending even just 10 minutes with her makes me happy,” Jay-R says.

He knows that the risk of drifting apart exists because Krissa Mae will be exposed to a lot more people and places during her one-year reign. But it’s a risk Jay-R is willing to take.

“I know there will be intrigues,” he admits. “We can’t tell the future. So I’m taking it one day at a time. I don’t want to tie her down. If she wants to broaden her horizons, that’s fine with me, as long as it will do her good.”

Broadening one’s horizons could also mean acting on TV or in the movies. That sits well with Jay-R, too.

What’s not fine with him, though is Krissa Mae going sexy, which he knows she will never do.

“It does not fit her beauty queen image, which is supposed to be conservative,” muses Jay-R. And even if her reign as beauty queen is over, he doubts if Krissa Mae will go sexy since “it’s not in her personality.” The sexiest she can get, he adds, is wearing the kind of swimsuit she stunned the crowd with during coronation night.

Music, however, is a different story. Jay-R believes in Krissa Mae’s music taste (Lady Gaga and Black Eyed Peas) and talent so much he is producing a dance album for her under his outfit, Homeworks Records. He even plans to appear as guest in her music video.

Meantime, our Romeo singles out his take on Basil Valdez’s Sana Ikaw Na Nga as the one he’d like to dedicate to his girlfriend.

Jay-R knows Krissa Mae’s new title has many perks, but it’s also fraught with temptations and intrigues. By this time, he’s used to all of them. But not, Krissa Mae, he says.

“I will just advise her to ignore them,” he says.

Now you know why Jay-R sings those love songs with so much more passion. He has his lovely girlfriend at the back of his mind.

This early, he’s crossing his fingers GMA 7 will allow him to tape his shows ahead of time so he can fly to wherever Krissa Mae must go to represent the country in the Miss International pageant. By tradition, he knows the pageant will be held in a nearby country, not in some faraway place like Africa, where the Miss Universe is often held.

“It will be easier on the pocket,” Jay-R says.

Given his feelings for Krissa Mae, you know Jay-R is downplaying things. He will go to the ends of the earth and spend a fortune if need be, to support his beloved.

This makes him not just the Platinum Prince of Soul, as Universal Records puts it. He’s also the pillar Krissa Mae can lean on and learn a lot from.