Two for Tagalized songs

MANILA, Philippines - He idolizes David Cook. She surprised even herself by “Tagalizing” Rihanna’s song Umbrella and coming up with a hit.

No, David Idol and Miss Ganda are not part of a loveteam. They are not even lovers in real life. Their only connection is their music and the company that is bankrolling their careers: Warner Music Philippines.

And while David Idol’s (real name: Lamberto Reyes Jr.) college course — Electrical and Communications Engineering — is not exactly the ideal springboard for a singing career, the college professor has a hit song to his name. Ikaw Lang ang Iibigin, his Tagalized version of Cook’s hit song Always Be My Baby, has people requesting the song on radio repeatedly. 

David Idol not only sings. He also writes songs, four of which have found their way in Christian Bautista’s album, Captured.

How did he do it?

“I started composing songs while reviewing for the board,” he recalls. Something in the complex mathematical equations triggered David Idol’s love for patterns — be they numerical or musical. And so was a budding songwriter was born.

None of his original compositions appear in his debut album, which contains 10 Tagalized songs including Ikaw Lang ang Aking Iibigin. But you still see the guy’s creativity in the way he translated all the English songs to Tagalog.

“I painstakingly worked on the songs, making sure they don’t lose their original substance. If anything, I add on the Tagalog version to make sure they don’t lose their original substance,” he says.

Miss Ganda (Chelo Nuñez), on the other hand, has a totally different story. If David Idol’s singing career was unplanned, Miss Ganda’s was not.

How can you go wrong with a musical arranger (Alvin Nuñez) for a dad and a violinist for a brother?

In fact, it was through her dad, a musical arranger for Warner Music, that Miss Ganda met the recording company executives who saw the potential in the petite St. Paul College Mass Communication graduate.

Dad may have introduced his pretty daughter to Warner. But it was Miss Ganda’s Payong, her answer to Rihanna’s Umbrella that clinched her a recording deal.

The song, also the carrier single of Hip Rap, her compilation album under Warner Music, has become so hot Miss Ganda herself can’t believe her ears.

“I just thought of doing a clean, fun version,” she says. “When I heard that it was already being requested by a lot of people, I didn’t believe it at first, until Warner Music Philippines called to confirm it. I’m really thankful and proud of my work.”

While Miss Ganda is proud of her work, one of her college professors was not. The professor frowned on the Tagalized hit and even warned students against doing a Miss Ganda.

The lead vocalist of Mannos just gives a wry smile as if saying, “Different strokes for different folks.”

It may be a cliché, but it’s true. You can’t please everybody, no matter how hard you try.

So she just focuses on her debut album, Hip-Rap, a compilation of Tagalized songs like Binibining Ganda (Beautiful Girl), Lampa (Clumsy), Sugat Sa Puso (Bleeding Love) and Wag Mong Pipigilan (Please Don’t Stop the Music).

Together, Miss Ganda and David Idol are spreading the gospel of Tagalized songs in a Padi’s Point bar tour in Novaliches on April 17; MOA, April 23; Alabang, April 30; Calamba, May 1; Araneta Center, May 14; Las Piñas, May 15; Dagupan, May 22; and Remedios Circle, June 5.

Miss Ganda’s former professor may not be pleased. But the vast majority will find it amusing and worth a go-see.