Tata Young is as pleasantly warm as this tropical city as she sashays on stage in a revealing black number and croons lines from her second album, Temperature Rising (Sony BMG). Her male back-up dancers – in shirts with v-shaped necklines that plunge to their navels, are just as kinetic. Bodies in black gyrate to the thumping beat; feet wildly stomping to the pulsating rhythm.
They only slow down when Tata changes gears and shifts to disco in Come Rain Come Shine. Paul McCartney didn’t have to utter a single word. The fact that he wrote a track in Tata’s album says how well-regarded she is in the former Beatles’ eyes.
"My Daddy is such a big fan (of Paul McCartney). I feel so glad being able tossing one of his songs," gushes Tata.
There’s no slowing down Tata that night, and many days and nights to come for that matter. No sir, the Amerasian recording star born to a Thai mother and an American father is not about to rest on her laurels.
Not even if Time Magazine put her on the cover in their study of successful Eurasians in Asia.
"I get depressed when I don’t work. That’s why my management makes sure I have work on my schedule. Or else I’ll go crazy," she reveals.
So work her butt off she does. The same energy that propelled her to beat 5,300 other children and emerge winner in a nationwide junior singing contest in Thailand at age 11 is now propelling Tata to an upward career spiral much higher than before.
She is not ashamed of the price she has to pay. "I sold my mind and soul to make it happen.
At night, her body ached from rehearsals and her throat was sore from all the songs she belted out. Not even the gloomy skies of London, where she recorded Temperature Rising, could dampen her spirits.
The tireless trouper went on with her recording and – lo and behold – the sky brightened up and gave way to sunshine that otherwise dreary fall season.
Tata is right: miracles do happen. That’s why she believes in them.
All you have to do is keep your eye on the ball.
"You have to have dreams and goals and make them come true. You have to work hard on it," she exhorts those who look up to her as a role model.
You also have to be yourself – warts and all. Damn the torpedoes. People will understand.
Tata may be Thailand’s biggest pop sensation. Her album may have hit the million-copy mark. Her works may have been proclaimed Music Video of the Year, Number One and Two Singles of the Year and Album of the Year (Amita Tata Young) at the Radio Vote Awards in Thailand. But she’s not afraid pull herself down from the pedestal and show everybody that she’s made of the same stuff as you and me are.
"I’m just a woman. I get broken-hearted all the time. The men break up with me all the time," she reveals.
And woe to the man who gets intimidated by her titles: Thailand’s Dream Girl; the Bangkok press’ Entertainer of the Year and Best Recording Artist of 1995.
They won’t even reach first base with her. Her man, in other words, must take her as Tata, the human being, not Tata the star.
Otherwise, it’s hello and goodbye.
Tata the human being is a revelation. She doesn’t have the heart to see a homeless dog or cat.
"I have 10 to 15 dogs. People just leave them in front of my house because they know I won’t abandon them," she relates. In fact, on the day of the press interviews, Tata was scheduled to pick up another stray cat.
Animal lovers, they say, are gentle people. And Tata, despite that liberated, independent stance, is turning out to be all jelly inside.
She also treasures her heritage. The Thai in her moves Tata to say, "I want to help the elephants. They’re such great creatures."
That will surely come in handy, especially now that these trademarks of Thailand are in danger of getting extinct.
"If I can really help the animal society, I will," she adds.
That altruistic streak did not happen by chance. It came after constant exposure to Oprah Winfrey, whom Tata looks up to as the "smartest woman in the world."
Tata gushes, "Oprah has done so many nice things to people. It’s just amazing!"
Tata thought of America’s Queen of Talk as she (Tata) stood there, giving 600 pieces of her CDs away to a group of people. This act of kindness warmed the cockles of Tata’s heart, not only because of its sincerity, but more so because "it’s something Oprah would do."
And although she finds the path Madonna is taking "interesting," Tata would rather be known for her own style, thank you. This means sticking to pop, the formula that propelled her first album, I Believe to 9x platinum status.
"I love pop so much," she explains.
But this doesn’t mean she can’t include other genres, like R ’n B and electro-funk into the mix. Tata did just that in her second outing, Temperature Rising. The cut Uh Oh, for instance, has an urban R ‘n B feel while Superhypnotic "will synchronize your heartbeat with the rhythm of the song."
The other first in Tata’s second album are two songs – I Want Some of That and For You I Will made just for her by Dianne Warren, whose music she has been listening to "since I was a baby."
You think she’ll stop there? No way! Tata just has too many new avenues to explore; too many rhythms to sing and dance to. If, along the way, people see her as a sex symbol, so be it.
"I don’t mind. I think every woman should feel confident about being sexy. She should say that out loud and men should be proud of it," Tata reasons out.
So it’s on with the show, jet lag or not.
Next time around, Tata would like to collaborate with other artists, ticking out hip-hop’s big names 50 Cent and Usher.
She doesn’t mind deviating a bit from the well-traveled path of pop by trying hip-hop. But please, leave rap out of the equation.
"I can’t do rap," Tata clarifies.
Songwriting is a brand-new world she’s learning more about. Tata has already written a song in Thai, and she’s not averse to exploring this novel terrain some more.
As for naysayers who think she’ll go the way of other pop stars whose career ground to an abrupt halt once marriage and motherhood came along, Tata has news for you.
"I’ll be a diva mom (a title her late mother used to hold) someday. I see myself doing what I’m doing even if I’m married," she says. That’s a promise to fans and a lay off signal to any potential husband with a chauvinistic outlook.
Speaking of promises, Tata has one more, especially to Filipino music lovers.
"I’m coming over to Manila!" she proclaims.
She’d better make good her promise. Temperature Rising may turn out to be not just the title of her album, but the effect her presence will have on pop-crazy Pinoys out there.