An array of divas

Sharon Cuneta sings Both Sides Now for Magka-patid. Both Sides Now, one of the most enduring pop classics, is the theme of the motion picture that stars Sharon with Judy Ann Santos, Christopher de Leon and Dingdong Dantes. The Joni Mitchell composition is one of the cuts in Sharon’s album When I Love. It was chosen as the theme song because it embodies the various emotions in the life cycle that the character played by Sharon goes through, particularly in her relationship with her sister played by Judy Ann. The movie directed by Joel Lamangan is one of the entries in the ongoing Manila Film Festival.

Produced by Ben Escasa from Sharon’s own label MegaMusic, the album When I Love also includes Almost Over You, How Am I Supposed to Live without You, When I Love, Starlight, Mahal Pa Rin Kita, Give Cry a Try, After All, Fly, I Should Have Loved You and Doors.

Songbird Regine Velasquez has a new hit with Dadalhin Kita. The vastly appealing ballad composed by Tats Faustino is the latest single from the album Reigne. It is one of those songs that quietly but sure-footedly crept to the top while Regine was promoting other songs. These were Hanggang Ngayon, her duet with Ogie Alcasid from Ogie’s album A Better Man,which was used as the theme from the movie of the same title that she starred in with Richard Gomez and To Reach You, the first single release from Reigne. But Dadalhin Kita could not be stopped and it is now the number one selling song by a Filipino artist in the country.

The Platinum selling Reigne is Regine’s first studio recorded collection after almost two years. Aside from Dadalhin Kita and To Reach You, it also contains 16 tracks that pay tribute to Regine’s sweet, soaring singing style. These are This Time, Nasa Puso, Free Spirits, Long for Him, Sa Aking Pag-iisa, Perry’s Will, I Know, My Destiny, Bukas Sana, Nang Makita Ka, Let You Be, Could It Be, What You Are To Me, Tayong Dalawa by Trina Belamide and Sandcastle.

Pops Fernandez has a new album. Viva Records last week announced the release of The Way I Feel Inside, a new album set that brings the Concert Queen with producer Margot Gallardo and songwriters Edith Gallardo and Moy Ortiz, the team responsible for the hit albums of Aiza Seguerra. The result of the collaboration is The Way I Feel Inside, a collection of light romantic tunes that must be the most personal album Pops has done.

The Way I Feel Inside, the old favorite first popularized by The Zombies, opens and closes the album. In between are 11 new compositions that speak about the various stages of being in love. Pops sings about broken hearts, new loves, love that was not meant to be, questions about loving and losing and so many other emotions associated with romantic relationships. How Pops feels about these songs can be gleaned from the notes she wrote about each cut and which can be found inside the album cover. Kaya Pala, composed by Moy and Edith, is the first single release.

Zsa Zsa Padilla duets with Gary Valenciano. The divine Zsa Zsa is the featured guest in Gary V.’s rendition of the Ogie Alcasid composition Kung Mawawala Ka. The song is one of the cuts in the album One 2 One where Gary performs duets with special people who figure prominently in his life, Zsa Zsa being one of them. Kung Mawawala Ka is the second single to come out of the album. The first was the big hit Can We Just Stop and Talk a While, a new take on the famous Jose Mari Chan composition that Gary sings with pop princess Kyla. Zsa Zsa also recently released a solo album, the live-recorded In My Life. She is now getting ready to go into the studio for her next one.

The other guests in One 2 One include divas Sharon Cuneta with Somewhere, Somehow, Kuh Ledesma and A Long and Lasting Love; Jinky Vidal of Freestyle with Always; Vina Morales and Gusto Kita, Things are Not the Same with Lani Misalucha; Hourglass with Bituin Escalante; Ikaw Lang Pala with Pam G., It’s Okay with May Ann Casal-Soriano, Gary’s own mother, Grimilda Santiago-Ortiz who performs Historia de un Amor with him and the group Battery with Man I Am.