Lea Salonga Shares Advice To Young Singers, Opens Up On What 'Insults' Her

Multi-awarded international singer and thespian Lea Salonga wants to see “a real commitment to the craft of singing” in today’s generation of singers.

Lea cited Regine Velasquez – whose training in singing included her father submerging her in neck-deep water to strengthen her lungs – as an example, telling Bulletin Entertainment and other members of the press in an interview after the music video shoot for TV5’s “Kanta Pilipinas” last Jan. 11 that it’s exactly “that kind of discipline, that kind of dedication, that kind of wanting to protect whatever you’ve invested in your voice. It’s a commitment.”

She also pointed out that some singers may have made singing “look so easy”; however, she explained, “But that’s because there’s hours, there’s years of perspiration, before the moment of making it look easy.

“So that’s something that the new generation of any artist has to realize, that there’s going to be a lot of perspiration, a lot of frustration, a lot of rejection. That there’s a lot of making kayod first before you get that moment in the sun,” she said.

Lea stressed that hard work continues and “never stops” beyond that “moment.”

“So just because you win the contest doesn’t mean that you can relax. It means that your hard work, it’s just actually going to start,” said she, adding that singers should also strive to build a good reputation if they want to remain in the business.

Lea gives her opinion on off-key singers, denies ‘dissing’ Anne

In the interview, Lea was also asked for her opinion on certain celebrities who are non-singers but goes into professional singing.

She began, “I have to think very carefully before I answer because I don’t wanna hurt anybody’s feelings. But I need to sort of protect the occupation, ‘cause I am a singer and I consider myself a singer. I consider Regine Velazquez, Charice, Rachel Ann Go, Sarah Geronimo, Zsa Zsa Padilla, Zia Quizon… those are singers.”

She continued, “On the one hand if somebody, for purposes of self-promotion, puts out an album and it’s well-produced naman, then it’s okay. That’s fine, I guess. I get offended when somebody who clearly cannot sing represents himself or herself as a singer. It’s like you’re just insulting me and every other singer that makes a living out of singing and working hard at honing their craft.”

Prior, Lea was asked which singers, with whom she hasn’t performed before, would she want to share the stage. After Lea enumerated big names such as Lani Misalucha and Bituin Escalante, someone mentioned Anne Curtis' name. Recall that Anne, a self-confessed frustrated singer, released an album last year followed by a sold-out concert held late last month at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Laughing, Lea said, “Anne Curtis? No. I’m sorry.  No offense to her, but you said what singer… Anne admits herself that she’s not a singer, I have to give her that. I congratulate her for the concert…”

In a later part of the interview, the Tony and Olivier award-winning Broadway star explained, “The thing about Anne, I can’t get mad at her because [she says] ‘I’m not a singer, I’m an entertainer!’ So I can’t get angry at her. And she doesn’t represent herself as a singer. She had a dream to one day do a concert in Araneta Coliseum, she made it come true. And everybody that went that I know said that they had a great time.”

Lea did clarify that what she “gets angry at” is “when somebody who clearly has no voice to speak of and massacres every single song that they get their hands on fancies themselves a singer and thinks they can make a career out of it."

“Then I would feel insulted. Severely insulted,” she stressed.

But apparently, her pronouncements about off-key singers in general plus the mention of Anne’s name caused InterAksyon.com to put up an article purporting that Lea “dissed” Anne’s singing. As of this writing, said story cannot be viewed anymore on their website but can be viewed in full through a search engine’s cache feature.

To this, Lea reacted on Twitter on Sunday that she “didn’t diss or attack” Anne but maintained that she “[has] strong opinions about off-key singers.”

“Anne herself doesn't identify as a singer. I respect that and said so today [in the interview],” she said.

Lea then told the public to “find out exactly what I said in full and in context,” reiterating her stand about non-singers.

“There are people calling themselves singers without the talent to justify it, taking away business from those that rightly deserve it.

“That is what burns me, and is insulting to all singer-craftsmen, gifted artists that work so hard and need to be heard and patronized,” she posted.

As of Sunday morning, InterAksyon.com already rectified itself through the story, “InterAksyon.com was out of tune, apologizes to Lea Salonga, Anne Curtis.”

Lea shoots music video for ‘Kanta Pilipinas’

TV5 is poised to launch its very own reality singing contest, “Kanta Pilipinas” soon. Although Lea has been tapped to sing its theme song and star in the accompanying video, she said that her participation in the actual show is “very limited” due to “previously scheduled engagements.”

However, Lea is open to becoming a mentor even for a week or so.

“That would fit in with the existing schedule that I have. So that’s a possibility. We will see, we’ll have to figure out that all out,” she said.

Meanwhile, director Raffy Francisco explained the concept for the music video.

“Basically it’s Lea inviting a lot of people to join in singing. Parang she’s the Pied Piper, so to speak. People are joining in and Filipinos are joining in. We’re shooting here in a chroma studio because it’s very motion graphics [laden], so we can get a lot of stock footage from up north all the way up to Davao. It’s nationwide.”

The nationwide search for "Kanta Pilipinas" will begin this month, and will be open to all Filipinos aged 14-30 years old.

By JULIEN MERCED C. MATABUENA

mb.com.ph

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