What Sitti wants for Christmas

The doomsday “prophets” are wrong — so far. Bossa nova has not gone the way bell-bottom and cargo pants have: to the attic to be recycled another day. The genre has endured, and its queen, Sitti still reigns supreme. In fact, 2008 is turning out to be another banner year.

“The year about to end is turning out to be a good one,” reports Sitti. “I had a concert tour in the US for the first time. My mom accompanied me in Las Vegas, California and New York. I performed with Joey Albert and David Pomeranz.”

Sitti won’t forget her New York stint, where a world-class jazz band backing her up. And for someone like Sitti, jamming with the best was pure ecstasy.

Sitti continues the momentum on Dec. 17, 8 p.m. when she mounts An Evening in December with Sitti at Music Museum with guests Christian Bautista and Richard Poon.

So happy is she at how things are turning up Sitti says she doesn’t even think about what people say is the pending demise of bossa.

“Bossa started way back in the `50s. There will always be a market for it. Besides, the more you think about the so-called demise of bossa, the more you become sad. If you so, it (the prediction) might just come true,” she explains.

The newly-minted Backroom artist also knows her voice has found a perfect match in bossa.

“There is something about singing it that soothes and subdues me, it quiets my inner thoughts. At the same time it allows me to play around, gives me freedom on how to approach every song,” the new Backroom artist explains.

This doesn’t mean Sitti will stay stuck in one genre. She’s willing to shift to others — standards, jazz, etc. — if needed.

Instead of dwelling on negative thoughts though, Sitti would rather think positive. One of them is seeing her dream of collaborating with Sergio Mendes and David Foster come true.

Another is celebrating Christmas the way she knew it as a child. Sitti can’t run out of happy stories to tell about the Christmas of her childhood.

“My high school friends and I would go caroling in our hometown in San Antonio, Las Piñas,” she recalls. “I was so happy earning P1,000 in two weeks. But I already forgot what I did with the money.”

Then there was the traditional Simbang Gabi, which she attended with the family. The time-honored noche buena came right after.

These, Sitti relives in her new CD, Ngayong Pasko (Warner Music), which has achieved gold status in less than a month. Here, she sings the staple carols : All I Want for Christmas, Winter Wonderland, Someday at Christmas, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, Grown Up Christmas List, Jingle Bell Rock, Boogie Woogie Santa Claus, etc.

Then she adds something closer to the Pinoy heart: the title track Ngayong Pasko. The song is as OFW as you can get. It speaks of yearning for loved ones far away this Christmas and Christmases past.

It speaks to the family-oriented Pinoy straight to the heart.

Sitti herself has her share of family concerns. She and her family were disturbed when an American stabbed her older brother right in front of the Las Piñas municipal hall. The family filed a case, which Sitti hopes will be resolved as a Christmas gift to her and her loved ones.

Sitti’s Christmas is far from cold this year. She’s also spending it with her businessman-boyfriend whom she met in one of her gigs. He remains anonymous though, since Sitti refuses to reveal his name. “He’s such a private person,” she explains.

And she doesn’t want to make what she calls a complicated situation even more complex.

For her Christmas wish, Sitti echoes what her colleagues usually want: More gold and platinum albums. And oh, she has one more interesting wish: A yellow Beetle.

“You see, I drive myself around the city,” she relates.

Sitti has been nice the whole year round. So she can very well dream of getting this gift, not only from Santa, but from herself as well.