Kyla not your ordinary girl

The title of Kyla’s new album is Not Your Ordinary Girl and I agree. I must say that given her innate flair for R&B music which does not come naturally to Filipinos, she is certainly not ordinary. R&B, the dominant music in pop radio all over the world these days, is a distinctly American sound. As they say out there, you have to be born with the groove and there is something very pathetic about Pinoys who do not have the groove trying hard to sing R&B.

Kyla though is not one of them. Although her early days as a singer were given to birit tunes in competition with the other kids in That’s Entertainment, she was lucky enough to find her niche not long after and has the good sense to stick to what she does best: R&B. Keith Martin"s Because of You has always sounded like a winner for heartsick Pinoys but I do believe Kyla’s earnest rendition brought the song to the attention of even more people.

Because of You is one of the cuts in the Not Your Ordinary Girl album, which, given Kyla’s current status as one of the leading hitmakers, is a grand production of 15 songs, a number of them collaborative efforts with other artists. I do not understand the choice for the first single, a revival of Michael Jackson’s Human Nature. This is a very personal song for Jackson and while she sings it well, I do not think Kyla has the chops to relate to it and make listeners understand the angst and sense of disappointment inherent in the song. Not to worry though as there are other songs that might make good singles in the album.

Aside from Human Nature and Because of You, Kyla also covers oldies like Til They Take My Heart Away, If the Feeling is Gone, Make Me Whole, and Only for You, by Gary Valenciano. She grooves with rappers Jimmy Muna in the title track, PKSO in Hindi Mo Ba Alam and Thor in Something About You. Then there are the new compositions by Keith Martin, Someone to Love, When I’m with You and their duet, What More Can I Say, and by the rising young songwriter Jonathan Marcelo, Buti Na Lang.

Buyers of Not Your Ordinary Girl get a ticket to Kyla’s next concert. This will be held at Ratsky in Morato, Quezon City on Tuesday, June 15. So if you want to own the CD and also listen to Kyla for free, get your copy now.

1st Levi Music Festival

Those who have heard the finalists of the 1st Levi Music Festival can now vote for their favorites. Texters can send in their votes. One text equals one vote or download the ringtones of any of the songs in the competition. Each ringtone equals six votes. Every downloaded ringtone entitles the subscriber to 50 raffle entries. The promo is available nationwide to all Smart and Globe subscribers. Five lucky texters can also win P10,000 each in the draw to be held after the contest. Voting continues up to finals night on Tuesday, June 22. Text votes will comprise 30 percent of the score while 70 percent will be the decision of the specially selected Board of Judges.

To vote, you have to text: VOTE<space><KEYWORD> and send to number 2915. For example, if you want to vote for Ikaw, your text should read like this: VOTE L1 and then send to 2915. To download a ringtone of your favorite finalist, all you have to do is the following: for monophonic cell phones, text: TONE<space><keyword><space><name/address> and send to 2915. For example, if you want to download "6FT" your text should read : TONE L8 Tess Roxas 12 Libra St. QC. Change TONE to POLY if you are using a polyphonic phone.

Valid keywords for the finalists are: L1 — Ikaw by U-Turn; L2 — Time to Let Go by Ashley featuring Dexter; L3 — Ngumingiti-ngiti by Gladys and the Boxers; L4 — Sa ‘king Panaginip by Agatha; L5 — Hopeless Romantic by The Company; L6 — Baliw by Mark Bautista; L7 — Alam Ko, Alam Mo by Angelie Flores; L8 — 6FT by Anton Diva; L9 — Ok by Athena; L10 — Hanggang Saan, Hanggang Kailan by Ogie Alcasid; L11 — Ganyan ang Pag-ibig Ko by 17:28; L12 — I’m Sorry by Bituin Escalante.