Truly Pinoy at first Blush

MANILA, Philippines - They are culturally and musically diverse. But the members of the all-girl super group Blush sing in harmony from hitting the first note to reaching the last. They make a unique sound that speaks of unity in diversity.

“What’s interesting about us is that we have different influences,” says Angeli Flores of Blush. She is the only Filipino in the multi-cultural group along with Victoria Chan of China, Natsuko Danjo of Japan, Ji Hae Lee of South Korea and Alisha Budhrani of India.

“The Japanese is into hip-hop and rap,” she continues. “The Korean’s type of music is ballad and has high vocals. I think most of our (songs) have Indian influences. You know, there’s a bit of chanting. The Chinese is into ballad. Among her influences is Celine Dion. I love Alicia Keys and Natasha Bedingfield.”

Blush is a first of its kind showcasing Asian talents and music for the world to see and appreciate. Last year, the brains behind Blush made a stopover in Manila to short list potential singers. Thousands showed up at The Manila Peninsula. But only five were handpicked to fly to Lotus Academy in Hong Kong. They attended an intensive sing-and-dance training. The girls were grouped into two. They performed in front of recording artists like Lea Salonga, Karen Wok and Jonathan Wang in the finals. Angeli’s group sang and danced Walk On By while the other girls worked their pipes with Kiss. The judges met privately for the deliberation. After grueling rounds of elimination, Angeli was chosen to be the Filipino voice of the group.

“It was our managers who chose the name Blush,” she says. “And it was only in the finals when we learned that name. We were introduced as Blush. They wanted something feminine, catchy, sweet, cute and easy to recall.” It is a sing-and-dance group. We have recorded songs. From there, we’ll pick the carrier single. The music of Blush is current pop. We want to reach out to everybody, from kids to adults.”

YWith Victoria Chan of China, Ji Hae Lee of South Korea, Alisha Budhrani of India and Natsuko Danjo of Japan

Blush gave the local press a sample of its music by performing songs like Holding On To A Dream, Make You Blush and Undivided at a recent Manila presscon. They were also joined by the executives from Farwest Entertainment which serves as window and ticket to Hollywood for talented Asians.

How is it working with the group?

“My first week was difficult because of the language barrier,” Angeli replies. “Others don’t speak English. It was difficult to communicate and I had to adjust to everybody because of cultural differences. But I learned to get by since we were together every day. That helped me learn and understand them better.

“What’s so good about the people behind Blush is that they are open, and consider us family. They would inform us that somebody sent a song and listen to our opinion. That’s the scenario before we record each song.”

Is there a lead vocalist for Blush? The answer is none. Angeli says, “It all depends on the song.”

What is Angeli bringing in to the Blush sound? “Filipinos are open to music,” she replies. “So we absorb different styles. Filipinos are good singers.”