Mla Bulletin | Regine Velasquez hopes for 'Fantasy' to help reverse revivals trend

by Jojo P. Panaligan
December 4, 2010, 2:12pm

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MANILA, Philippines — Singer Regine Velasquez hopes to revive the public’s interest in original Filipino songs by devoting half of her 2-CD set, “Fantasy,” to new compositions by celebrity songwriters including Chito Miranda, Janno Gibbs, Isabela Ledesma, Robin Nievera and Nyoy Volante.

Velasquez acknowledges that since this is her last album prior to marrying singer-songwriter Ogie Alcasid later this month, she wanted “Fantasy” to be special.

“Kaya nga double CD ito. I want the people to have songs that they are already familiar with but at the same time, I want for this album to signal the return of original songs,” she told Bulletin Entertianment and other members of the press at the album launch tendered by Universal Records.

Though she did not say it categorically, Velasquez must’ve realized that in order to sound fresh, she needed to work with young composers or at least those whom she had not worked with before. Ogie helped her out by talking to most of them; going as far as following up on the submission of songs via email and helping out decide on those that made the final cut.

“Si Ogie ang kumausap kina Chito, Nyoy…ang nakausap ko lang sa mga yon para hingian ng kanta ay si Isabela and Robin,” she said.

Some of the notable originals in “Fantasy” are “True Romance,” which utilized clichés and even a line from a Julia Roberts movie; “OK Lang Ako” with its straightforward lyrics that amplified its core message all the more; and “Fairy Tale” that picks up in the middle when the drums kick in.

The covers that stand out are “Sana’y Laging Ganito” (first done by Karylle), “Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop” (Landon Pigg), “Without Me” (Claire Marlow) and “Papa Don’t Preach” (Madonna).

“We purposely did not choose an all-hit covers list because we didn’t want that group of songs to be stronger than the originals. Yung mga songs na gusto ko sanang irevive pero perfect na, di ko na inattempt gawin kasi baka masira ko lang,” said she.

“Fantasy” comes in two packaging (colored and black and white) each of which has a set of postcards of Velasquez taken by photographer Mark Nickdao.

Asked if some of the songs reflect her current state of mind especially as the wedding draws near, Velasquez said that if these do, it wasn’t intentional.

“May isa o dalawang kanta lang sa mga yon na inisip namin ni Ogie that those would be nice to go with pictures of us together. May mga nakita kasi kami sa Internet na collage na gawa ng mga fans pero ibang music ang gamit. Ogie and I thought na maybe it would be nice kung meron ding songs namin na original na pwedeng gamitin for that purpose,” said Regine.

Other tracks in “Fantasy” are “You Don’t Know” (the promotional single), “Been Waiting,” “Always,” “This Time,” “S.M.I.L.E.,” “Funny One,” “Walang Iba,” “Fantasy,” “All My Life,” “I Go Crazy,” “What About Love,” “You And Me,” “Love Will Keep Us Alive” and “Dying.”

Source:
http://www.mb.com.ph/node/290859/regine-vela