Where Gary got it

I knew where, rather from whom, Gary Valenciano got his knack for singing when his mom, the lovely Grimilda Maria Santiago (fondly called Mamita by the family), sang a part of Historia de un Amor during our interview yesterday. It’s the same song Grimilda is singing when she appears as one of the special guests on Gary’s two-night 25th-anniversary concert (Live at 25) at the Araneta Coliseum Friday (Nov. 14) and Saturday (Nov. 15).

“I’m singing only one verse of the song, though,” said Mamita, part-Italian and a native of Arecibo, Puerto Rico, who was a member of a Spanish theater guild for 15 years when she lived in the Philippines. “I haven’t been onstage for a long time and I’m not so sure of myself. I never performed with him, although most of the time I would be at the audience during his concerts whether here or abroad.”

Mamita has been living by herself in Orlando, Florida (where she drives her own car), these past 28 years after she and Gary’s dad, Vicente Calacas Valenciano (a chemical-mechanical-electrical engineer from Camalig, Albay, who studied in NYU), separated. She and Vic (also into photography) met and fell in love in New York.

“I came to the Philippines after I gave birth to our first child,” she recalled. (Gary is one of the five children.) “I was supposed to stay for only six weeks but I loved it here so I stayed for 25 years!”

She has been visiting regularly, this time specially to guest in Gary’s concert.

Any special significance to Historia de Un Amor that she picked it as her special number?

“Nothing, really, although I do find it very romantic and very sentimental. I wanted Gary to include a Spanish song in his repertoire and Historia de un Amor happens to be one of the most popular Spanish songs. When I came to visit about 10 years ago, sang the song to him so he would know how to pronounce the lyrics correctly...his Spanish is limited...and he recorded it.”

According to Gary’s wife Angeli Pangilinan, “Gary as a musical arranger, ‘flew’ or separated Mamita’s vocals from the recording and made it into a duet with him for his 2001 One-2-One album for Viva Records. It was like what was done to Unforgettable, the duet of Natalie Cole with her late father Nat King Cole.” 

Gushed Mamita (who looks very Gary V. especially when she smiles), “I was so surprised when I heard it. It’s so well-done! I really feel the lyrics when I sing it, especially the part about somebody who’s not with you anymore.”

For a while, Gary, then 15, lived with Mamita in the States but he was feeling homesick all the time.

“He was very unhappy. I would hear him cry in silence at night. I felt that it would be very selfish of me to keep him there so I brought him back to the Philippines. And then, he was discovered for showbiz...”

Today, Mamita said she has all of Gary’s CDs which she played all the time not only at home but also on her car player.

The Big Dome affair is a first for mother and son.

“It will be very memorable to me,” said Mamita, her beautiful, black Latina eyes turning misty a bit. “Of his many songs, I have three favorites: Ikaw Lamang, Kailangan Kita and Narito.”

(Note: Produced by GV Productions, Inc. and Manila Genesis Entertainment & Management, the concert is sponsored by, among others, The Philippine STAR. For ticket inquiries, call Ticketnet at 911-5555, Genesis at 721-4405 local 201 or Studio V at 726-4614.)

Notes on Karla Paula Henry, 2008 Miss Earth

Here’s a backgrounder on Karla Paula Henry, 2008 Miss Earth, the first Filipina to win the title (at the grand finals night last Sunday where she beat more than 80 hopefuls), courtesy of Francis Calubaquib and his fellow “beauty experts” Joey Cezeare, Gery Yumping and Felix Manuel (in New York working as a nurse):

• Born on May 25, 1986 in Limay, Bataan, to Nenet Genteroy from Bataan and Dennis Henry from Vancouver (where Karla’s predecessor, half-Filipina Jessica Nicole Trisko, also hails from).

• Went to Canada at age three and lived there until she was 13.

• Lived in Bicol but currently residing in Cebu where she’s taking up B.S. Tourism.

• Started modeling and joining pageants at 17 in Cebu where she works as guest service associate at the Marco Polo Hotel where she met “queen-maker” Rodgil Flores who encouraged her to join this year’s Bb. Pilipinas pageant. She lost and joined the 2008 Miss Philippines-Earth contest.

• Her national costume at the 2008 Miss Earth grand finals was designed by Renee Salud and her competition gown by Avel Bacudio.

What’s up?

• The much-awaited biggest sale of the year, billed as CD and DVD Rollback, will be held on Nov. 14, 15 and 16 (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) at the 10th floor of the building on 1487 Quezon Ave., Quezon City. There will be as much as 90 percent discounts on best-selling CDs, DVDs, VCDs and cassettes. The Rollback will continue at same venue on Nov. 22, 23, 28, 29 and 30; and on Dec. 5, 6, 7, 12 and 14. Sale is from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

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