By George, Kuh’s got you!

He was the sculptor, they were the clay. George Canseco has shaped the careers of so many top singers today, a tribute to this talent as songwriter is not only well-deserved but long-delayed as well.

Canseco made Basil Valdez a star in the musical firmament with the gigantic hit, Ngayon at Kailanman. The composer turned Kuh Ledesma’s career around when he wrote the patriotic Ako Ay Pilipino for her. He put oomph into Zsa Zsa Padilla’s career and persona when, with eyes half-closed and a body language that spoke volumes, she crooned about forbidden love in Hiram.

Pilita Corrales bent her back to dangerously low levels while singing Kapantay ay Langit. And Dulce’s voice boomed with pride as she belted out Ako ang Nagwagi.

No wonder these singers – and others like Martin Nievera, Regine Velasquez, Leah Navarro and Sharon Cuneta – plus Lisa Macuja couldn’t say no when Kuh asked them to join Paano Kita Mapasasalamatan, a tribute to Canseco at the PICC on Nov. 19.

The date is auspicious, falling as it does on the first anniversary of Canseco’s death at 70.

It was meant to be all along. When Kuh’s negotiations for another show on that same date fell through, the name of George Canseco popped in her head. She owes him a lot, composing as he did, not only Ako ay Pilipino, but eight of 10 tracks in her self-titled debut album, that spawned monster hits like Dito Ba, Paano Kita Mapasasalamatan and Bulaklak.

And she knew her singer-friends felt the same. She’s right. Basil, whose first album Canseco himself composed, said yes on the spot.

He even shared anecdotes about his beloved composer.

"George would call me at 2 a.m. He’d ask me to write down the lyrics of a song he just thought about. Do you know, for instance, that the original lyrics of Ngayon at Kailanman went, Sa araw-araw ang pag-ibig ko sa `yo hiyas, lalong tumatamis, tumitimyas? As you can see, the last words of the two lines rhyme," Basil recalls.

And, in an account that would send shivers down one’s spine, he adds, "One time, George told me he saw the lyrics of Ama (an inspirational song included in the singer’s album) on a blackboard. George said the lyrics were dictated to him."

Ama delighted Canseco’s wife so much, she passed away three days after she first heard it.

The late composer may not have shown it openly, but his was an abiding spirituality that would manifest itself in his songs. Hence Ama, and lines in Ngayon at Kailanman that go, "Bakit labis kitang mahal, pangalawa sa Maykapal."

Kuh confirms this. "When I saw him in New York, I witnessed how touched he was after watching Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ," she reveals.

Canseco’s belief in things of the spirit is also seen in the yet-unrecorded love song Pakisabi. Basil, who plans to record it, says it’s dedicated to a girl a guy failed to express his love to until she passed away. Now, the bereaved guy wants to storm the gates of heaven to tell her how he feels about her. Thus the title Pakisabi.

The audience may not hear this song come concert day, but they will get to see how a new singer will render a Canseco song. The singer happens to be Christian Bautista, who will have his baptism of fire in the Canseco musical style.

Since she co-directs the show with Floy Quintos, Kuh plans to give the concert her personal touch by designing some of her guests’ clothes herself. They will, she says, be tailor made to fit the songs they will interpret. For Zsa Zsa’s Hiram number for instance, Kuh plans to design a dramatic red and black outfit that will capitalize on the song’s theme: passionate, forbidden love.

Twenty five years after she entered the business, Kuh looks back and sees the hand of someone who made her what she is now: George Canseco. He was not only her composer, he also turned out to be a friend she can show her real self to. That’s why she wants to thank him many times over. And now, she feels is as good a time as any to do so. The title Paano Kita Mapasasalamatan is most apt, not only for Kuh, but for the many other artists Canseco’s talent touched.