Regine Velasquez Not Scared Of Foreign Artists Like J Lo Who'Ll Compete With Her Silver Concert

REGINE VELASQUEZ won as the first grand champion in “Bagong Kampeon” in 1984 when she was 14. But she considers her guesting in “Penthouse Live” in 1986 upon the invitation of Pops Fernandez as the formal start of her career. It’s where she met Ronnie Henares who became her manager. She’s now celebrating her 25th anniversary in showbiz with “Silver”, a special concert to be held on November 16 at the SM MOA Arena. “Dapat last year pa ito, but then I got pregnant and went on leave for one year, so ngayon pa lang matutuloy,” she says.

What are the highlights of those 25 years? “First is when I won the grand prize in the Asia Pacific Singing Contest in Hongkong in 1989 singing ‘And I’m Telling You’ from ‘Dreamgirls’. That’s when I earned the tag Asia’s Songbird. I signed up with Vicor and my first album with them, ’19 Ninety’, produced the big hit ‘Narito Ako’, which became the title of my first concert sa Araneta. Naging big hit din that year ang duet namin ni Jomari Chan, ‘Please Be Careful with My Heart’. Sa movies, I consider it a highlight being paired with Christopher de Leon, Aga Muhlach and Robin Padilla at naging hit ang movies namin.”

Her “Silver” concert will be up against many foreign acts in November, including J Lo. “Wala na kaming makuhang ibang date. But I can promise we’ll give them a good show. Guests ko sina Janno Gibbs, Lani Misalucha at siempre, yung asawa ko (Ogie Alcasid) kasi malaki ang kinalaman niya sa buhay ko. Our director, Rowell Santiago, is preparing a lot of spectacular numbers. We’re spending millions para mapaganda ang show kaya co-prod ito with GMA Kapuso. Sa costumes pa lang, expensive na. We also have a 60-piece orchestra with Mr. Ryan Cayabyab and Raul Mitra as musical directors. I’ll be singing all the songs I recorded, including ones that were not released. Kasama yung little heard ‘Hindi Na Ayoko Na’ and ‘Ngayong Wala Ka Na’. You can get your tickets from SM Tickets.”