Happy for Anton Diva

The arrival of Anton Diva in the local music scene should give the organizers of the Awit Awards something to think about. And it will be a lot of thinking! Should they decide to nominate Anton for his/her work in his/her self-titled CD, they will be in a quandary of where to categorize him/her. Will it be for Best Performance by a New Female Artist or for Best Performance by a Male Artist? The answer will be very interesting.

Not that an Awit Award really matters. The bottom line in the music business is still the hit song and the more an artist makes, the better for everybody. So whether he/she gets an Awit nomination or not is immaterial. Judging from his/her initial release, I am sure that Anton’s vocal efforts will be richly rewarded.

The CD produced and released by Vicor contains only three songs but Anton acquits himself/herself very well in each of them. These are covers of I Love You Boy, the big hit by Timmy Cruz composed by Mon del Rosario, the Odette Quesada composition Ayoko Na Sana and Melissa Manchester’s We Could Have It All plus music minus ones of the songs, in case anybody wants to try singing like Anton.

That is not much but the arrangements by Nino Regalado for Boy and Ayoko and Marc Lopez for We Could Have It All sparkle and Anton’s singing, which often sounds a lot like Regine Velasquez with fuller tones, is bright and expressive. Besides, it cannot be denied that these well-chosen oldies have not lost their appeal and still charms the listener.

The other thing that makes this album special is that one cannot help but be happy for Anton Diva. The former Engineering student from La Salle was once content just to be able to sing and accepted stints from wherever and whenever they came. But real talent never stays hidden and Anton was soon the talk of the lounge circuit as somebody who can give local pop divas a big run for their money. The guy/girl sounds even better than most of them do.

The recording debut came when 6 Feet, a composition by Yman Panaligan was named one of the finalists in the Levi Songwriting Festival. Hard put to find a female singer with the extraordinary vocal range and attitude for his demanding entry, Yman tapped Anton to perform the song for the commemorative CD. 6 Feet is one of the standouts in the Levi album. It also turned out to be one of the top finalists in the contest and the sensational video directed by Martin Aviles which of course features Anton, won the grand prize in the video competition category.

Anton now has his/her very own CD. I wish he/she gets to record more songs in the future so that more people will be able to admire his/her remarkable singing voice.

Ngayon at Kailanman

Here is one more new album from Vicor, Ngayon at Kailanman a tribute to the late George Canseco, who died last Nov. 19 at the age of 70 from complications from liver cancer and diabetes. The record company was home to the famous composer for many years. He wrote and recorded most of his most memorable songs while working at Vicor during the late ’60s, the entire ’70s and the early ’80s. So it is but natural for Vicor to release its own Canseco collection to pay tribute to the great composer and in the process make these classic recordings once more available for us.

The two-disc set is made up of the versions by the original artists of Canseco’s most famous works. Among these are Rain by Boy Mondragon; Kapantay ay Langit by Pilita Corrales; Ngayon at Kailanman, Hanggang Sa Dulo ng Walang Hanggan, Kastilyong Buhangin and Kung Ako’y Iiwan Mo all by Basil Valdez; Saan Ako Nagkamali by Tillie Moreno;

Kailangan Kita by Leah Navarro; Ako ang Nagwagi, Ako ang Nasawi by Dulce; Dito Ba? and Bulaklak by Kuh Ledesma; P.S. I Love You, Dear Heart, High School Life, Langis at Tubig, My Only Love, Forgive and Forget, Dapat Ka Bang Mahalin, Friends, and Sa Hirap at Ginhawa all by Sharon Cuneta; Saan Darating ang Umaga by Raymond Lauchengco; Sinasamba Kita by Rey Valera and others.

For those who like to sing, and who don’t in this musically-gifted country of ours, a lower-priced version of Ngayon at Kailanman is also available.