MANILA, Philippines — Apart from belting out high notes, Jona wants to act on screen again now that she recently signed with Viva Artists Agency (VAA).
“Aside from singing that I’ve been doing for 18 years, I want to venture again into acting,” she stated during a presscon and contract signing at Viva office.
She felt that her interest to express herself through acting has returned and hoped to produce and write more original songs at the same time.
“Hopefully, when it comes to the digital aspect, I want to become more active and more open in terms of my personal life, especially to my fans who have been craving kung ano pong ginagawa ni Jona during my downtime or while not singing and performing on stage. Those are the things that I look forward to and of course, becoming more active again in the concert scene,” she added.
Jona told The STAR that she wants to jumpstart her acting projects through the musical genre because she feels more comfortable with the music aspect of it. “So that, at least, I won’t get culture shock because it’s been a while since my last acting stint and I haven’t constantly done acting workshops. So parang ayaw ko muna… ayoko sobrang mahirapan. That’s it for now.”
She is ready to take on new challenges in a gradual manner. “Para hindi naman po ako masyadong mabigla or maloka sa mga gagawin or feel the pressure. I want to do a musical movie or musical theme in any show, series or movie. Andun pa rin yung first love mo.”
The singer’s last acting assignment was with Glaiza de Castro in Cattleya: An OFW Story in 2014. Her first acting stint was in QTV’s My Guardian Abby (2005) followed by GMA Network’s drama series I Luv NY (2006) as Jenny de Castro where she was paired with fellow singer Gerald Santos.
“It was really a good experience,” she commented. “May mga clips nga po yung fans ni Gerald tagging me on social media. When I watched (those clips), parang ang cute. It’s a happy feeling to look back on those memories. That’s why I want to explore it again (acting).”
In the meantime, Jona is thankful and excited for the possible opportunities awaiting her at Viva. She remains a Kapamilya as performer at ASAP Natin ‘To but is now co-managed by Viva.
Jona rose to fame after becoming GMA’s Pinoy Pop Superstar first grand champion in 2005. Known as Jonalyn Viray, her real name, during her early music career, she changed her stage name to Jona when she transferred to ABS-CBN in 2016. She also had a brief appearance on TV5’s videoke singing show Sing Galing during the pandemic.
“I think I will retain my name as Jona because we will still continue kung ano yung na-build namin ng ABS-CBN’s Star Music,” she told this paper. “My core genre in music will also be the same na nagustuhan ng mga tao for a long time.”
What will change according to Jona is that they will add new elements to her music style. “I want to explore new tunes that will be incorporated in my new single or album so that I could reach new crowd, aside from my supporters who have been loyal to me.”
That would be her goal, continued Jona. “Tatak Jona pa rin in the way I sing but when it comes to (musical) arrangements, we will add new elements para magtunog bago. And hopefully to capture new listeners, crowd.”
Likewise, her image and branding as an artist will stay unchanged. She said, “I just want to be myself, (stay) as I am (and I) will not magpapaka-daring or whatever…Siguro po kung ano yung nararamdaman ko at the moment, yun lang po when it comes to image.
“But, of course, parang somehow I will go with the trend nowadays. But I won’t veer away too much kasi ayaw mo naman na hindi ka na makikilala ng mga tao, ‘Sino na siya?’ Yung ganun.”