Gary V gears up for 2014

MANILA, Philippines - 2013 proved to be a bountiful year for Gary Valenciano, who is celebrating his 30-year anniversary in showbiz.

Gary, who got a Hall of Fame Award from MTV Awards at 40 and from other award-giving bodies like Myx Awards, Anak TV Seal and FAMAS, kicked off his anniversary by renewing his contract with ABS-CBN.

On TV, he remains to be one of the flagship artists of ASAP. He also spiced up his ’80s dance hit Eto Na Naman as the official theme song of the network’s sister cable channel Jeepney TV, with a new arrangement by son Gabriel. Gary was also named as the official ambassador of the 20th anniversary of The Filipino Channel (TFC).

In the recording field, Gary received recognition from the 26th Awit Awards with his 12th Best Performance by a Male Recording Artist trophy and the Best Ballad Recording trophy for his rendition of Walang Hanggan. His album Gary V Sings Just For You bagged the Best Engineered Recording award for his version of Send In The Clowns. He also recorded Pananagutan, the official theme song of Honesto, Huwag Ka Lang Mawawala and Kailangan Ko’y Ikaw for the teleseryes of Judy Ann Santos and Kris Aquino, respectively.

Gary toured Europe with son Paolo in Switzerland, Ireland, Wales and Norway. In Abu Dhabi last year, he drew a crowd of 20,000 for the pre-show of Formula One, which surprised the British organizers of the sporting event. He also sold out the Coral Springs Theater in Miami in December.

Gary treated his fans with the throwback musical event Tuesdays With Gary at the Teatrino that ran for an unprecedented 14 performances. Most of which were sold out. Fans had such a hard time procuring tickets to the series.

Gary shared the spotlight with son Gab in the viral Super Selfie video on YouTube. The father-son tandem was praised by the international community and was featured on national TV in the US, most notably in Good Morning America, Right This Minute, and various international online sites like Mashable, Buzz Feed and Yahoo! OMG and even on TV Patrol Weekend and The Ryzza Mae Show. The video has now over 1.2 million views on YouTube.

 With the arrival of 2014, Gary is gearing up with the release of an inspirational CD, a trip to Tacloban as UNICEF national ambassador, and  a series of performances in the US, Australia, Canada, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. He will culminate his 30th year with a two-night concert at the Araneta Coliseum in April.

“A lot of fans have been consistently requesting for a lot of songs that I rarely perform. It’s mostly the songs that I used to sing in the ’80s and ’90s,” says Gary. “Maybe I’ll perform some of their requests but right now we are just in the planning stage. A lot of things can happen and after 30 years in the industry, I can truly say that anything is possible. There are so many wonderful projects to look forward to this 2014.”

Gary is also a spokesperson for M Lhuillier, Hope in A Bottle and Aficionado.