She dares dream big - DIRECT LINE by Boy Abunda

This young singer is driven and passionate. You can feel it a mile away. "I wanna be a superstar. I want to be famous all over the world," unabashedly declaress Jella. At 21, Jella swears she’s ready for stardom. But she knows there’s more to it than just dreaming about the big time.

Like many singers, Jella’s story is that of a girl with big dreams. Born in Bacolod City, Jella, an only child who survived a major lung operation at only two months old, knew she was musically inclined when she began singing at age four in school days. At six, she was studying piano. At 14, Jella became a lead singer of a band that performed in hotels. She then divided her time between school and music.

In 1993, Jella joined and won the grand prize in the Nationwide Search For Musicmate sponsored by Yamaha Philippines. As Musicmate, she became Ambassador of Goodwill for Yamaha. She appeared in TV shows, did corporate shows and sang in bar tours for the whole year. After fulfilling her duties as Musicmate she joined another band as lead vocalist. While singing, she pursued her college education and finished a course in Public Relations at the Philippine Women’s University.

In the late ’90s when the internet was fast becoming popular, Jella got wired. She designed websites and composed songs. She was known as webdiva-pop queen on the Internet. She has also written an article on the plight of Filipino workers in Hong Kong in Philwomenian where she was a contributor.

As a passionate music advocate, she again formed another band, the 7th Element. However, the group’s ideas were never pursued. Jella decided to concentrate instead on doings an album. The album entitled Jella, is a fusion of pop, rock and blues. Anesthesia, the first song in the album has been featureds in one of the most popular radio stations, RX 93.1, and even in the US (mp3.com teenadviceonline.org WHFC 91.1 FM college radio of Harford College, Maryland). It has received good reviews. The album is currently looking for a recording company to release it. If you’re interested, get in touch with us. And we’ll hook you up with Jella.

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European pop sensation the Spice Girls is now sporting a new look, a new sound and new-found maturity. After embarking on solo endeavors, Emma, Mel C, Victoria and Mel B are back together with Forever (released by Octo Arts EMI), which features two of today’s hottest singles, Holler and Let Love Lead the Way (which has one of the most spectacular music videos to date).

The two hits are just the tip of the iceberg as the new album features a lot of great songs bound to hook avid pop music listeners. The track Right Back at Ya is solid proof that the girls haven’t lost a step with other popular female artists that have sprouted with the Spice Girls‘ emergence. Other cuts in the album include Weekend Love and Time Goes By.

Other highlights of Forever includes the electrifying Tell Me Why, the Latin-flavored Wasting My Time, the retro-sounding Get Down With Me, the groovy If You Wanna Have Some Fun and the ballads Oxygen and Goodbye.

Though Spice fans would surely miss the "girl power attitude" the Spice Girls have popularized, listeners will surely welcome the new "woman power" that pervades the album.

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Ariel Rivera broke into the recording industry 10 years ago with Vehnee Saturno’s Sana Kahit Minsan. This was the first single released from Ariel‘s self-titled debut album under BMG Records.

The audience’s response was overwhelming. Hit after hit followed and soon, Ariel was offered to join ‘Sang Linggo NAPO Sila as one of the hosts and was asked to star in various hit movies.

Ariel’s debut was followed with five more albums - Simple Lang, Paskong Walang Katulad, Photograph, Getting to Know and Aawitin Ko Na Lang - all multi-platinum record achievers, spawning a string of hit songs establishing Ariel as one of the most formidable acts in the music industry.

Now, a decade and a year hence, Ariel’s musical career is compiled in a new album - an anthology of his musical journey and a tribute to his success. Called Ariel Rivera’s Greatest Hits and released by BMG Records, this album contains 10 of his best loved songs: Sana Kahit Minsan, Sa Aking Puso, Simple Lang, Ayoko na Sana, Minsan Lang Kitang Iibigin, Photograph, Getting to Know Each Other, A Smile In Your Heart, Without Your Love, Wala Kang Katulad, Tunay Na Ligaya and Mahal Na Mahal Kita. There are also two new cuts - Maari Ba? and the carrier single Habang Buhay ay Ikaw.