How Xian deals with critics

He hasn’t been in the business that long but in the time that he has, Xian Lim has accomplished a lot. He’s appeared in successful teleseryes, box-office hit movies and even released two albums.

But several times over the last few months, Xian has found himself at the mercy of critics in social media, criticizing either his work like the quality of his hosting, his behavior, or a remark he made during a live show. Xian knows this is part of showbiz, and he tries not to be affected by it. He doesn’t mean to ignore his critics; in fact, he listens to them and has learned to take what they say constructively.

He knows he has bashers on social media but he doesn’t engage with them. “Sa totoo lang, hindi naman ako masyadong aware sa nakikita ko sa social media,” says Xian. “We cannot control what people say; even a five-year-old can write what he wants on social media. I just think that sometimes, maybe I’m being misjudged. I have no intention of offending anyone. I want people to know that approachable ako at masayahin akong tao. Maybe, I tend to come off too strong sometimes. Nasubukan ko na rin kasi ‘yung ako ang nag-e-engage, ako ‘yung unang kumakausap so baka ganoon ‘yung nagiging dating sa tao. But I’ve been taught by my parents to keep my head down and never speak unless you’re spoken to. Feeling ko, baka ‘yung tendency ko na ako lagi ang unang kumakausap, nami-misinterpret ng tao. Pero gusto ko malaman nila na approachable ako at hindi ako masamang tao.”

In the meantime, that he is learning to deal with these things, Xian is bent on improving his craft and developing his other talents, especially singing. Music is very close to Xian’s heart; his mother Mary Ann was a piano teacher and his first musical mentor when they were still living in the US.

Since entering showbiz, he has met other people, like Annie Quintos of The CompanY and Monet Silvestre of The Tux, who have been coaching and helping him.

One particular aspect of his musical talent that he has earnestly been working on is writing songs. On his latest album, XL2 under Star Records, he wrote three of the songs: Kung Di Sa Iyo, Alay Ko Sa ‘Yo and Iibigin Kita.

The fact that he has three songs in the album makes it an even more personal project for Xian who has been writing songs since he was 14 years old. “This album is a piece of me; parte ng buhay ko ang ibinahagi ko sa mga kanta ko dito. Ever since I was about 14, mahilig na akong magsulat at mag ‘free write’ na tinatawag. Whatever was in my mind, I would write it down.”

But it wasn’t until he starred in My Binondo Girl with Kim Chiu that he got the chance to really launch himself as a songwriter. “In Binondo Girl, kailangan nila ng sweet melody na tinutugtog ni Andy (referring to his character, Andy Wu) for Jade (Kim), so I wrote Ako’y sa ‘Yo Lamang.”

Whenever he writes songs, Xian sits at the piano, composes the melody and forms the lyrics in his head at the same time. “Pinagsasabay ko sila kasi kung hindi, nahihirapan ako.”

With the release of his album, Xian has fulfilled another dream. Now he’s hoping to go after yet another one, like maybe staging his own full concert at the Araneta Coliseum. “That’s what I’m praying for,” he says.