The future looks bright for Miguel

On YouTube, I saw a video of the young Shirley Temple singing her signature song, On The Good Ship Lollipop. She looked every inch the quintessential precocious Hollywood child superstar. The Hollywood legend once charmed the world with her innocence, bedimpled smile and trademark ringlets. She will forever be remembered as America’s Little Darling. She starred in several films including Bright Eyes, The Little Colonel, Curly Top, Wee Willie Winkie, Heidi, The Little Princess, Since You Went Away, The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer and Fort Apache. On the Good Ship Lollipop was introduced in Bright Eyes (1934) and reportedly sold 500,000 sheet music copies. But Shirley knew when to let go and to move away from the glitzy spotlight after the deafening screams and applause started to wane. She had a thriving political career after Hollywood and became the US Representative to the United Nations, the US Ambassador to the Republic of Ghana, the first woman to be the US Chief of Protocol (during Pres. Gerald Ford’s term) and the US Ambassador to Czechoslovakia.

In the Philippines, the entertainment industry is teeming with young talented singers who amaze the public with their vocal prowess. We watched with bated breath the singing showdown of the four finalists of The Voice Kids: Lyca Gairanod (champion), Darren Espanto, Juan Karlos Labajo  and Darlene Vibares. A few years ago, Rhap Salazar emerged as a singing champion followed by Makisig Morales on the Little Big Star’s Little Division while Sam Concepcion and Charice competed at the contest’s Big Division.

Another promising young singer is making waves in the music industry. He is Miguel Antonio Vedanaigam, apl.de.ap’s 14-year-old protégé. Miguel is currently based in Singapore with his family. He was recently in the country to record and shoot his music video.

Miguel is a big fan of Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Celine Dion, Michael Bolton and Steve Perry. He enjoys diverse music genres — classical, rock, opera — and sings in different languages including Chinese, Hindu, Italian and Tagalog.

apl.de.ap and his 14-year-old protégé

He started his love affair with music at a young age. Ironically, no one in his family knew of his talent until he became a champion in 2010 at a singing competition organized by Qifa Primary School in Singapore. A family friend posted on Facebook a YouTube video of Miguel singing his winning piece I Dreamed a Dream (from the famous musical Les Miserables) and it went viral.

In 2011, Miguel joined the cross-continental talent search Born to Sing by award-winning music producer and songwriter David Foster. His video entry caught David’s attention and at the end of the contest, the young aspiring singer emerged as the champion of Born to Sing Asia. He was selected by David to perform at David Foster & Friends concert in Singapore.

Miguel launched his first Extended Play (EP) What is Christmas to You? in 2012 at Livewire, Marina Bay Sands. His debut album contains four tracks including the covers of Jackson 5’s Give Love on Christmas Day; David Meece’s We are the Reason; O Holy Night; and What is Christmas to You?, an original song written by Singaporean composer Karen Lim.

Miguel is slowly penetrating the entertainment scene abroad with live performances at various events including those attended by ministers, The President of Singapore, foreign dignitaries and the Philippine Ambassador to Singapore.

Last year, Miguel signed with BMBX (pronounced Boombox) to pursue a professional singing career. BMBX is a new Southeast Asian-based content and artist development and brand marketing company featuring the talent of Grammy award-winning producer apl.de.ap of the Black Eyed Peas.

apl.de.ap and Miguel first met in 2012 at a private event in Singapore. They met again last year and Miguel was invited to perform at the Rebuild! Philippines: A Benefit Concert held at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, USA. He sang a cover of Billy Joel’s Piano Man and Hope of One Voice, an original song written by Singaporean entrepreneur, Elim Chew of 77th Street and Cat Ong.

To improve his craft, Miguel currently trains with Australian Amanda Colliver, a renowned professional voice coach. He also plays the piano and guitar and recently began to write his own songs.

The future definitely looks bright for Miguel who looks forward to an exciting musical journey.