The team-up is full of the stuff that a movie fan’s dreams are made of. Songbird Regine Velasquez and Piolo Pascual are finally together in one movie and they have recorded a soundtrack to go along with it. The picture is Paano Kita Iibigin and they play unlikely lovers who find romance while trying to straighten out their lives. The story not much different from others they have done before but because it is the much awaited pairing of Regine and Piolo, you can bet that movie-goers will be lapping up every bit of it.
Helping to build up the excitement is the music. Regine and Piolo do not really sing in the picture but their voices will be heard doing a number of songs in the background to enhance important sequences. These are included in the recently-released soundtrack album.
Although better known as an actor, Piolo has also emerged as a competent singer with some success in the theme song department. You doubtless recall tunes like Till There was You, Ikaw ang Buhay Ko and Kailangan Kita, which were recorded by Piolo for movies he appeared in. So you can be sure, Piolo, the singer will make the most of this chance to record with Regine.
The Songbird’s expertise with soundtracks has been proven several times over. Nearly all of Regine’s box-office hits have soundtrack albums that also became big sellers and spawned very popular theme songs. There was You are My Song from Wanted Perfect Mother where she co-starred with Christopher de Leon; Kailangan Ko’y Ikaw from her first team-up with Robin Padilla; Pangako Ikaw Lamang with Aga Muhlach; Hanggang Ngayon with Richard Gomez; and Pangarap Ko ang Ibigin Ka where she reunited with Christopher.
Nearly all of those themes were composed by Ogie Alcasid and it was also Da Pogi who wrote Kailangan Kita which was recorded by Piolo. So although the gossip columns may say otherwise, it is really no surprise at all that Ogie was asked to come up with the soaring, sentimental title song for Paano Kita Iibigin. Arranged by Mon Faustino, the song is featured in three versions in the album, solos by Regine and Piolo and the duet that you have been hearing everywhere these days.
Nice work everybody. The theme song is one you can count on to add a goodly sum to the box-office take of the picture. I also hope the attention it will generate will bring to focus the other songs in the soundtrack. These are not just ordinary songs. Regine who is also the producer of the album insisted on an all-Pilipino repertoire of originals that she chose herself.
The cynical souls out there, who believe that Filipino pop music is stagnating because of the stranglehold by the rock bands, should listen to these songs. These are from new and established composers and show signs of having lives of their own beyond Paano Kita Iibigin. All that singers and producers have to do is find the songs. Regine made the effort and look at what she came up with.
The lullaby Tahan by sisters Regine and Cacai Mitra and the lighthearted Lalala by Richard Poon are particularly enchanting. There are also My World with You by Nino Regalado; Manhid by Isha Abubakar; With You by Cacai and husband Raul Mitra; Muling Magmamahal by Jonathan Manalo and Cynthia Roque; Angel Eyes by Mark Manansala; and Sana Nga by Trina Belamide.
The big kick in the CD does not come from any of those new works though or from the theme song. Instead you get it from the irrepressible Regine’s version of the Eraserheads’ classic Pare Ko. With a perky arrangement by Nino Regalado, she takes the song out of the kantos into the world of the papables. Pare Ko is now the theme for all those involved with all the impossible Papas out there, like Papa Piolo, perhaps. Listen and you will find that Regine can also dish out leche with gusto.
All of you out there who want to see Regine and Piolo perform these songs from Paano Kita Iibigin in person, you can catch them at Market! Market! on May 25; Glorietta in Makati, May 26 and SM Sta. Rosa, May 27.