What Regine will do for love

MANILA, Philippines - Regine Velasquez has been working like there’s no tomorrow for the past three decades, you can’t imagine her slowing down. Well, she’s got news for you. She will — in the name of love.

No, it’s not because she and Ogie Alcasid have finally decided to tie the knot. It’s something close to that, though.

Ogie wants Regine to limit r out-of-the-country shows so they will have more time for each other. As it is, Regine admits they are so busy she and Ogie hardly see each other anymore. And when they do, it’s at odd hours of the day, like 3 a.m., when Regine visits Ogie on the set of his GMA 7 show Bubble Gang.

Ogie, on the other hand, brings breakfast to Regine’s house before she wakes up and faces the world.

“I used to be out of the country for two months to hold shows,” recalls Regine. “But now, three weeks abroad is long for me.”

It’s too long a time to be away from the man she loves.

“My priority is my relationship with Ogie. In fact, I feel guilty being this busy,” she admits.

So she makes it up to him by setting aside Saturday nights for Ogie and visiting the set of his TV shows.

“One time,” Regine giggles, “Ogie was dressed as Angelina (the spoiled brat character he plays on Bubble Gang). Imagine how funny Ogie and I looked while I was being sweet to him in his Angelina costume and pony tail look!”

That’s the least she can do for the man she loves. And Regine knows her mere presence in his tapings warms the cockles of his heart .

He knows that her schedule — like his — hardly leaves her ime to rest. Regine faces the cameras Mondays to Sundays, thanks to S.O.P. and Totoy Bato. Starting May 16, Saturday, she hosts the talent search Are You the Next Big Star? on GMA 7. Ogie is no longer her co-host. This time, it’s Keempee de Leon who will interview contestants before the show so he can ask probing questions from them .

Regine assures everyone not having Ogie around as co-host is fine with her. She welcomes the “different, exciting flavor” Keempee will bring to the show.

And since absence makes the heart grow fonder, Regine knows not having Ogie around as co-host will enrich their relationship. It will make her more excited to see him. She will have more stories to share with him, and vice-versa.

Not that they are running out of things to do together.

“I’m still excited to see Ogie,” coos Regine. “We have yet to clash. Our respective jobs are already stressful as it is. So we don’t exert pressure on each other.”

Pressure, however, is what Keempee feels, now that he’s hosting a show with Regine for the first time. He won’t make televiewers laugh the way he does in other shows. Nor will Keempee perform menial jobs the way she does on Kung Ako Ikaw.

But he welcomes the new challenge, knowing it will bring out the host in him to the max.

Pressure, too, is what the more than 10,000 hopefuls who joined the screening felt when they showed up for the required screening process. Only 150 of them passed the audition. From there, contestants will hurdle 15 weeks of grueling tasks, workshops and weekly live shows which will hone their musicality, pop star power, mass appeal and grace under pressure.

Judges are Pops Fernandez, Randy Santiago, Danny Tan, Mon Faustino and The CompanY’s Annie Quintos.

Text votes will also determine the winners towards the show’s grand finale, where the champion will take home a GMA exclusive management contract, P1-M cash from SM Supermalls and others.

In the end, though, it’s only the winners (there will be two — male and female) who can tell whether they will stay long in the business or not.

“After I won Bagong Kampeon,” notes Regine, “I was on my own. I didn’t have a spot on S.O.P. to start me off. It’s just my passion in music that saw me through.

And while today’s singing hopefuls have a greater edge over their predecessors like Regine, she still feels for them — their struggles, their fears and burning desire to win.

“I advise very young contestants to ask their parents what a song means if they don’t understand the lyrics,” says she.

They must also remember birit techniques don’t make a singer.

“That’s a common misconception,” Regine says. More impressive, she explains are performers who sing from the heart.

There you are, straight from the horse’s mouth. The voice of experience has spoken.