Ogie has the last laugh

How many different ways can one say I love you?

For someone like Ogie Alcasid, it seems so easy. His songs, even when stripped of melody, lyrics and notes, is often an ode to "love."

It may sound mushy, but for Ogie, the concept of his composition is always love.The challenge is how to give it a fresh approach.

Ogie doesn’t seem to run out of ideas on the subject. He has produced and written numerous love songs and hits such as Pangako Sayo, Mahal Kita Walang Iba, Bakit Ngayon Ka Lang, Kailangan Kita, Pangarap Ko Ang Ibigin Ka, among others.

Ogie is a musical genius. He has years of experience as singer and songwriter. He also has a string of great performers singing his compositions. Talents like Regine Velasquez and Gary V. have more than once sung his songs.

Yet, Ogie has remained humble despite the hits and dizzying fame. Aside from being a composer, Ogie is also an actor, comedian and host. In fact, he still has to deal with some people boxing him in as "the actor."

"I blame myself mostly," he admits. "I was doing movies and television. I had to double my effort to establish myself as a musician." On TV, Ogie is seen on Bubble Gang (GMA 7), I Robot (QTV) and SOP, where he is a singing host.

Ogie’s start in the music business may have been slow unlike some overnight singing sensations, and he is the biggest testament that in a fiercely competitive arena like the music industry, talent still prevails. His songs have always been described as simple and easy to listen to and memorize. Ogie admits though that at times he tries to be profound. "But I just can’t," confesses the songwriter. He is brilliant in his simplicity.

Ogie started composing even as a child. He was a playful kid and was often appointed activity master over his cousins. He would always plan the day’s activity, and, if he decides they catch a spider, they catch a spider.

Then one day, he decided he and his cousins write a song. Unfortunately, his cousins weren’t very much into the idea. But Ogie went ahead and wrote his first composition, Listen to My World — a song he then thought was great but now considers ridiculously funny.

Proud of himself for writing his first ever song, he went home and showed it to his father. While his sisters laughed behind him, his father surprisingly took a keen interest on his recently-discovered talent, "My father was never critical," he recalls. "From then on, writing songs has come naturally to me."

Ogie discovered he has the talent for singing when he was in third grade. In school, a teacher asked for someone to sing in class. And Ogie volunteered. A fan of Rico J. Puno, he sang a Rico J. original to the spirited applause of his classmates. (Ogie gets to perform with Rico J. in Forever After, Feb. 10 and 11 at the Araneta Coliseum. With them are Regine Velasquez and Ai Ai de las Alas).

Thus, when Ogie got home from school, he repeated his performance in front of his father. From then on, he became the Rico J. of the Alcasid Family. Thanks to Daddy’s unquestioning support and encouragement, Ogie is now one of the most admired singers and songwriters whose songs are now OPM classics.

According to him among the songs he wrote, Listen to My World, is the crappiest, Kung Mawawala ka, the most intense, and Pangarap Ko Ang Ibigin Ka, the sweetest. Mahal Kita Walang Iba is one of the many songs he wrote for a girl when he was a teenager. "My favorite is Pangarap Ko Ang Ibigin Ka because it’s like you have no other dream but to love that certain person," he muses.

The song was inspired by a scene in a Spiderman movie, where the lead actors were discussing how one knows if one is in love. The first two lines in the song which goes, "Tuwing ikaw ay nariyan, Sabay kong nadarama ang kaba at ligaya.." is inspired by that scene.

As a composer, Ogie says he doesn’t have a specific time nor does he need an inspiration to write songs. He doesn’t believe in "creating a mood" to compose one great hit. "You can be angry, you can be drunk….," he says.

He also advises aspiring songwriters not to be too critical of one’s work. "Just keep on writing," he says.