Regine Velasquez Interprets Songs From the Movies 
by Edmund L. Sicam

WHEN Regine Velasquez was initially approached to do a concert of songs 
from the movies, she hesitated. She was worried there wouldn't be enough 
material for an entire performance. But when she looked at the list of 
possible titles, she was astonished at the amount of material that was 
available.

So, the Songbird launches a series of concerts on the movies on Nov. 9 at 
the Music Museum. She will be at the same venue on Nov. 10, 16, and 17.
She moves over to Onstage, Greenbelt on Nov. 23 for the rest of the series. 
Other shows are on Nov. 24, 30, Dec. 1, 7, 8, 15, and 16.
Musical direction is by Raul Mitra.

Entertainment writers immediately teased Regine on her choice of musical 
directors (Raul is married to sister Cacai). She defended her choice, 
saying Raul is a competent musical artist, someone she has worked with on 
past projects, including albums and movies.

She did admit that she wanted to give her brother-in-law a break and she 
was in the best position to do that for him. Was it the same for Cacai, 
who's with her on GMA's "SOP"? In her sister's case, Regine said Cacai got 
into the show ahead of her.

Recently, Regine embarked on another show biz-related project: She produced 
an album featuring Gabby Eigenmann, who's better known as an actor. She 
said she wanted to spread her wings and do other things besides singing, 
the field in which she started. We kidded her, half seriously, that she 
should try stand-up comedy, that is, without musical numbers.

She felt challenged by the idea but wondered whether people would laugh at 
her jokes. We countered that she made people crack up with her adlibs 
during her musical spiels in her concerts. She said she was funnier when 
she was not trying to be funny. In the case of concerts, she found it easy 
to kid her audience with her deadpan delivery.

We asked her if she felt pressured by the successes of her last three 
movies with Aga Muhlach and Robin Padilla, which were big hits. She 
answered in the affirmative but she said that, when she is in front of the 
camera, the idea never enters her mind.

We complimented her about her physical appearance — she looked quite fit. 
Then she told us that there was a time when they were doing her movie with 
Robin Padilla that shooting had to grind to a halt because of her weight 
problem. Vic del Rosario told her that she had to lose weight before they 
could resume shooting.

So swallowing her pride, Regine buckled down to shedding excess poundage 
and, with the help of a sensible diet, diet pills, she was down to her 
fighting weight in two weeks' time. Dieting is really a chore for Regine, 
who feels deprived when she needs to give up her favorite food. She 
explained that, after a hard day on TV or before the movie camera, she 
wants to reward herself with lots of food. So, when she had to go on a 
diet, she felt like she was being punished.

One thing about Regine: She ‘s very open about discussing topics that an 
artist ordinarily would not dwell on. We have yet to talk to a show biz 
personality discussing his or her weight problem in such detail.

That's probably what endears Regine to her fans. She's someone who is on 
top of a pedestal for fans to worship, but a friend whom they can relate 
to. The same informality shows in her concerts, where Regine is not a diva 
to be adored but just a simple person one can talk to.

  " Cut! Cut! "

" That's not how you sing a movie! "

Phil. Daily Inquirer, Nov. 3, 2001

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