Ms. Pilita Corrales topbills Halad 2010

“Asia’s Queen of Songs” Pilita Corrales will headline Jose “Dodong” R. Gullas’s HALAD 2010, an unforgettable evening of Cebuano classics and cultural showcase come January 13, 2010 at the Grand Ballroom of the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel in Lahug. She will be joined by fellow Visayan divas Dulce and Raki Vega, together with the most awarded homegrown choir, University of the Visayas Chorale.

Pilita Garrido Corrales was born in Cebu City in 1939.

After completing her studies at the Colegio de la Inmaculada Concepcion in Cebu, she left for Spain to study music. In 1958, Corrales began her recording career after arriving in Australia for a brief period. She then became the first woman to make it to the Australian pop charts with a local recording called “Come Closer to Me.” Because of such, she was catapulted to stardom in the Victoria Television circuit, with her first hit single, “Come Closer to Me,” included in a collection wherein she’s billed as one of the Grand Dames of Victorian Radio and Television.

According to a Wikipedia entry about Corrales, she holds the distinction of being the first female artist to top the Australian pop music charts long before famous Aussie pop stars Helen Reddy, Olivia Newton-John and Kylie Minogue. She also recorded at least 3 LPs in the late 1950s to the early 1960s: Pilita with Arthur Young; Pilita tells The Story of Love; and This is Pilita under Astor Records. As one of the pioneers of Australia’s early TV years, a street was in fact named after her in Victoria. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) recently featured Corrales and several pioneering female artists in Australia in the 2nd episode of the highly acclaimed TV special, Love is in the Air.

Corrales returned to Manila during the mid 1960s to pursue a career in the Philippine music industry. Her Philippine career began when she hosted a radio program La Taverna over DZPI where she sang Spanish songs and played the guitar. She performed regularly in stage shows at the Manila Grand Opera House. Subsequently, her reputation grew and during her international stints, she has performed with internationally acclaimed artists like Sammy Davis Jr., the Beatles, Bob Hope, Pat Boone, Frank Sinatra and Julie Andrews. She also appeared in movies, most of them musicals.

Her film debut was a lead role in the 1968 film Miss Wawaw and was followed by 11 films for the next two years. Corrales later recorded songs in Spanish in the early 1960s as well as songs in English, Tagalog and Cebuano during the 1970s under Vicor Music Corporation. Her multi-awarded TV program at ABS-CBN, An Evening with Pilita (1965-1972), is widely considered as one of the benchmarks in Philippine broadcasting history.

Corrales frequently performed for Seeing Stars with Joe Quirino in IBC-Channel 13 after the martial law years where she demonstrated her range as a gifted performer of Spanish, English, Cebuano and Tagalog music. Aquarius Record Philippines produced a compilation of Pilita’s Spanish songs in CDs like Noche de Ronda, Vaya Con Dios. Her signature song A Million Thanks to You was translated in seven languages. She eventually recorded songs composed by Filipino composers like Danny Holmsen, George Canseco, Willy Cruz, Ryan Cayabyab and several others. Under Vicor Records, Corrales interpreted numerous Filipino classics and introduced them to younger audiences.

Corrales first met Canseco in Your Evening with Pilita (aired on pre-Martial Law ABS-CBN) as a guest in the composers’ portion of the show. For the show Canseco brought with him “You’re All I Love.” Canseco later wrote Filipino lyrics for the song, which became “Kapantay ay Langit,” the first song Canseco sold to a record label in 1966. The song was first recorded by Amapola for the movie theme of Kapantay Ay Langit starring Marlene Dauden and Eddie Rodriguez. The song won for George Canseco and Amapola the Manila Film Festival award for best song of the year. The song did not fare well commercially, because Amapola had left (for her U.S. concert tours) and the song was not promoted properly, according to Canseco during an interview with a national daily. But when Pilita revived the song, it turned into a classic and defied trends and time. “The song,” Pilita had said, “was included in my album Philippine Love Songs Vol. 1, which was released in the early 1970s.”

Through the personal invitation of Sammy Davis Jr., Pilita became the first Filipino to sing in Caesars Palace. In her concert in Caesars Palace, Las Vegas during the late 70s, Pilita sang Spanish, English, Cebuano and Tagalog songs, all conducted and arranged by Ryan Cayabyab.

After receiving a 1965 Philippine Citizen’s Award for TV as Best TV Female Performer, Pilita went on to receive Cecil, Aliw, Tinig and Awit and several other awards for her performances and lifetime achievement. In 1990, she received a Merit Award from the FAMAS Awards. In 1991, she was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Philippine Association of the Record Industry (PARI) for bringing Filipino musical artistry to international audience. She also holds the distinction of being the first Filipino to win in an international music festival by bagging the Best Performer Award during the 1st Tokyo Music Festival (1972) where she bested numerous international artists including the highly-regarded Olivia Newton-John.

These days she operates Pilita, a restaurant-bar in Greenhills named: PILITA’S, one of Manila’s prime commercial districts. She is also a highly-acclaimed host and comedy actress on Philippine television. With over 135 albums to her credit and an international profile with many appearances in Asia, the Middle East, Australia and North America, she still maintains the high regard of peers as well as the younger generation of Filipino singers, and enjoys a reputation as one of the Philippines’ most celebrated singers.

In 2006, Corrales was selected by Associated Broadcasting Company (ABC Channel 5) and FremantleMedia to be one of the celebrity-judges for the first-ever nationwide search for the Philippine Idol together with composer Ryan Cayabyab and rapper Francis Magalona. She was a judge in the first Asian Idol held in Indonesia, representing Philippine Idol.

Catch Ms. Pilita Corrales at Halad 2010 come January 13 at the Grand Ballroom of Waterfront Cebu City Hotel in Lahug. Tickets are available at Dunkin Donuts outlets, JRG Building along Gen. Maxilom Avenue, The Freeman office, University of the Visayas MIS Office (Colon), UV Mandaue and UV Pardo. Proceeds of the concert will go to the Poor Clare Monastery in Tayud, Lilo-an. Major sponsors of the concert are Waterfront Cebu City Hotel, Alcordo Advertising, The Philippine Star, The Freeman and Banat News and NBG @ Fahrenheit Café.