Thursday, April 1, 2010

SING GIRL, SING!



By Wilhelmina S. Orozco

How do we let a singer sing and sing on though in pain? When we find a good singer it almost seems like a crime to have intermissions or even to have other people singing instead of her. This was what I had felt when I watched Girl Valencia do her gig at the Renaissance Hotel. She was hot, she was cool, she was warm, and all over. No one could ever dispute that she is in command of her craft. Yet, deep inside her she was trying to contain her pain because of which she lost an ounce of energy for singing.

Second to the eldest, Girl is daughter to Boy Valencia and Tess Ragaza. Her father is an inventor and now successfully selling his original hair grower product, EZ Grow in the many malls in MetroManila which is guaranteed to grow hair even on bald pates and thinning eyebrows.

Girl’s mom, Tess noted her inclination in singing while she was still young at five years old. She likes to narrate that Girl used to ape the singing style of chanteuse, Pilita Corrales at family gatherings whence she would sing in “liyad-liyad” style or bending her body backwards. “I used to hold only a hairbrush then and would sing ala-Pilita, ” said Girl. Her parents laughed at the sight of a toddler eager to act like a grown-up singing with gusto. Moreover, she is said to have a habit of humming a song, “ Hum daw ako ng hum. Siguro yun ang simula na magko-compose na ako.” (I used to hum a lot. Maybe that was the start of my ability to compose.)

Instead of a music course, Girl instead finished a communication course at the Ateneo de Manila University. However, the music bug bit her again after graduation. In 2002, She won an international award called the UNESCO Peace Prize for her piece, “Breaking Barriers” sang by a Japanese choir. The prize was not enough for her because the song had not been sung in the Philippines yet. “I produced a minus one to have it heard in the country. Vocal arrangement was done by Gino Torres, while the soloist was Ryan Cayabyab’s son together with the Ateneo Grade School. This piece must have encouraged the Jesuit priests to produce a full album which contained my own piece,” she said.

Another award of Girl is her Best Sound Track nomination for a piece entitled “Pangako Ikaw Lang,” sang by Regine Velasquez
which she composed for the film, “Tanging Mahal.”

Now a member of the Filipino Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers or Filscap, Girl is a noted singer and composer. However, when she attends the meeting there, one would see a different Girl from the singer at the Hotel Remonde. Instead, she is the backpacking “teenager” in sleeveless shirt, and sandals sans airs at all and chatting with fellow composers.

Actually, Girl experiences what other female night workers suffer from. “I have to look ordinary when I go out of the hotel after my stint because many times the pedestrians would whistle or look at me with lewd eyes as if I were a slut looking for dough,” said Girl.

Girl asserts that this shows that women having night jobs are really not that safe from prying eyes and predators and the authorities have to be alerted to provide them stronger security as women could be physically vulnerable all the time.

Learning the ropes so to speak – how to sing in public, much more so how to deal with the nitty-gritty of getting paid well are things imbibed through experience in this country. Each singer who has worked in show business would know that most of the time, academics do not prepare one to have a stable career nor get paid well at the beginning or even till the end of one’s contract, if there is any at all. But to Girl it was quite easy. Help for her to refine her singing career came so easily from the family and friends.

One time, she auditioned at a bar but was found to be ill prepared, although her singing voice was good for the place. Romy San Mateo, the pianist who auditioned her was generous enough to let her hang around at the bar where he was playing and in between intermissions would make her sing after just to acclimatize her to public attention. After each song, he would prompt her on and tell her how to improve her singing style. Through Romy, she learned how to be discriminating about the songs in her repertoire, how to sing with a lilt, how to jazz up a piece, and even how to deal with certain groups of customers in the hotel.

Apart from singing, Girl has learned a lot from her mentor. Her great sense of public relations make the customers feel comfortable with her, to the point of going up the stage and singing with her, whereas they would not do so readily. Actually she has captured the hearts of many who probably wish in their private moments to be a professional singer like her with an audience that truly appreciate her art and not just companion-to- the-bar friends to give her a moral boost.

At the open mike session, whereby any customer could sing a song, Girl would be standing by or singing along and providing a counterpoint or just plain second voice to the melody. Every second looks like she is enjoying the performance of the customer even if the person cannot carry a consistent pitch.

Girl is fully concentrated when singing dinner songs that allow people to eat and laugh heartily while she is up there onstage. Although the whole bar is reeking with smoke, still she would be found there entertaining musically or smiling away as if everything was so fine. Sometimes, some customers would laugh uninhibitedly after a bit of drinking but the noise from that circumstance does not bother Girl so much. To her such things go with the trade.

However, to this author, perhaps a rule should be put up at entertainment bars that respect for the singer should be accorded, foremost of which is not to smoke at that place as that could destroy the singer’s voice. Being able to pay for one’s dinner is not justification to disrespect the place and the singer.

Furthermore smoking should not be allowed at bars because it is really detrimental to the health of the smoker and the non-smoker. A singer fell into an illness when cancer struck her after singing for many years at a smoky bar. People would not attribute it to the smoke but studies have shown that nicotine strikes any part of the house, even the ovaries and could produce ovarian cysts or cancer itself due to its being a toxic substance.

Having a regular gig would not give Girl the lifestyle she wants. So she also goes into events organizing producing shows such as the one held at the Conspiracy bar, the “Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald,” and at the Exchange Bar, “Tribute to Frank Sinatra.” Being a great organizer with people skills, she gathered other singers to put up the show with her and was able to have standing room concerts, thus making a good business for the bar and for herself. Here Girl shows her business acumen, not only musical skills.

Girl has made her first album and is now preparing for the next. What is commendable about this is that she is a one woman over-all artist and businesswoman –when recording an album, she is the composer, singer, producer and distributor all at the same time. In this regard, she is able to control the kind of songs that will come out and the earnings that she will get, unlike others who are at the mercy of sometimes unscrupulous producers and distributors.

She has learned the trade well and needs another break in the international scene whereby her music has already been recognized. Sing Girl, sing!