A suklay sent Katrina off to stardom

There is just no telling what may happen after you upload a certain video on the web. Perhaps a like or two from your friends. On the other hand though, even the most trivial of these can result in enormous life-changing repercussions. Take the case of what happened to young power singer Katrina Velarde.

Katrina or Kat had developed the habit of taking video selfies of herself while performing just to make sure she is doing things right. One day, about two years ago, she decided to do one while getting ready to go out. Since she was then combing her hair, she struck a pose with her purple suklay or comb as her pretend microphone and sang her heart out before her phone. Then she uploaded the video into the Net and forgot all about it.

But there were people who saw it and liked what they saw and heard. So, they shared the video among their friends, who in turn, also shared it with theirs and with others. It came to a point that after all of the sharing everywhere, Kat’s video had amassed millions in views and she had become known as the Suklay Diva. She had become the hottest singer in town, because of that comb. Though she is still wondering how it all came to be, Kat is happy, even ecstatic that after years of trying, her dreams are finally coming true. 

Kat told her story before her regular set at the packed Music Hall on Metrowalk in Ortigas last Wednesday. Her fans never miss her gigs and that night was special because it would be her last at Music Hall for a long time. 

“I am the fourth of six children,” relates Kat. “I grew up poor in Solis, Tondo. My father is a carpenter and my mother made Sampaguita leis. I used to help her out earning P2 per piece. But I learned how to make more money singing later.”

It was Kat’s mother who noticed that her daughter could sing. “My mother told me that when I was around three years old, I would sit close to the speaker of the radio and sing along. Later on, I moved to singing videoke at our neighbor’s house. That was when she told my father I could sing. I was five years old when I joined my first contest.”

Being a “kontesera” (contest regular) like Nora Aunor and Regine Velasquez gave Kat her first taste of success. “I joined everything, sa mga fiesta sa mga barangay, sa mga probinsya.  There was even a time when we rented a place in Batangas during the fiesta season and I went to contests from town to town. I always won so I earned well. The people were very generous.”

Winning amateur contests stopped when Kat, then 16 years old joined X-Factor Philippines. She did not win that one but it gave her the break she needed to appear on television and get gigs as a professional. She also met pop star Gary Valenciano who mentored Kat’s group. Though his mentor duties ended with the show, Gary V continued to give valuable advice and guidance to Kat. She also signed up with Genesis, who is in charge of Gary’s management and then later with Viva Communications. 

It was around this time that the petite Katrina’s Suklay Diva video materialized on the web and turned her into one hot ticket. Now she gets standing-room only gigs like that one at Music Hall where audiences are in awe over the way she is able to take on any song and then make it her own. Beyoncé, Regine Velasquez, Jessie J, etc. Kat does them all but Suklay Diva style.

She has a hit song out, the Philpop finalist Tama Na, and is working on her first album. Then there is her first solo concert on Feb. 1, 2019 at the New Frontier Theater in Araneta Center, Quezon City.

“Gusto ko sana sa maliit na lugar lang,” she says. “But then I feel so grateful na maraming naniniwala sa akin and they think that I can pull off a big concert. I have to work very hard.”

The show is titled SiKat Ako. She is now sikat indeed. Well, it is all because of that comb. But thank heavens she has the flawless pipes to merit the diva tag.