MANILA, Philippines - Regine Velasquez said that her three-month-old baby, Nathaniel James, with husband Ogie Alcasid will have a special participation in the couple’s Valentine’s Day concert billed as Mr. & Mrs. A at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“Panoorin niyo, nakakatawa!” Regine simply says of what her firstborn Nathaniel James, nicknamed Nate, will be doing on stage with his famous parents.
Asked if baby Nate is already showing signs that he’s inherited from his parents the musical genes, Regine says, “It’s too early to tell. I know everybody is expecting for him to be a singer, if kung yun ang hihiligin niya, I’ll be so happy.”
“Pero kung hindi, and he wants to be an astronaut, I don’t care,” quips Regine, who also shares that her every day routine right now is being “a slave to my son. I’m breastfeeding him full-time.”
Is she open to having a baby No. 2 and so on? “I’ll be realistic. I never expected I’d get pregnant at my age (41). I’m not expecting but if the Lord will give us another one, why not? Like Nate, he is such a wonderful surprise.”
Meanwhile, Mr. & Mrs. A marks the first working appearance of Regine, who recently signed anew a two-year contract with her home network GMA.
It was Regine’s decision to return to the concert stage after giving birth last November.
“It was my idea to do the concert. Ogie even asked, ‘Are you sure, when you just gave birth?’ But I want to and that’s the whole idea, doing a concert now that we’re married and we have a child. I think that’s what makes it different and more exciting (from previous concerts). (Also, Ogie and I) haven’t been working in a concert together in a long while, yung last concert namin together, actually, di pa kami umaamin na kami nung time na yun. This time, it’s more personal. I hope that our audience will appreciate and like it.”
Asked if it was tough returning to her fighting form as a concert artist after giving birth, she says: “I’m thankful I did yoga before and after giving birth. Because singing is all about breathing. Actually, my tone now is more manipis, which means I can hit the higher notes.”
Among the guests on the Feb. 14 concert are Dingdong Dantes, Vice Ganda, Erik Santos, Kyla and Angeline Quinto, who has vocally called Regine as her main musical influence, and who at times has been described by the media as sounding very much like Regine.
Asked to comment on artists trying to emulate, if not copy her style, “I don’t think it’s being done on purpose. It so happened that they are capable of singing my songs. I’m more flattered more than anything.”
Speaking of fans, Regine also found one in American Idol’s David Archuleta, who is in town shooting for a TV5 teleserye.
“He did a recording of Ogie’s composition Nandito Ako. We went to the recording studio because he wanted to meet us. He’s such a nice boy. Parang mahiyain siya, para siyang na-stunned. I wondered why and asked him, how come you know me?”
David then related to Regine that he has long been a fan of hers ever since he saw a YouTube video of Regine singing Mariah Carey’s Butterfly. Since then, he has been on the lookout for more videos of her singing and has been researching about her. In fact, during his AI stint, he cited Regine as one of his musical influences in his AI contestant profile.
Regine praised David’s version of Nandito Ako. “Nakakatuwa. Parang Pinoy. I asked, who taught you, sabi ng road manager niya, no one. Pinakinggan lang niya nang pinakinggan. Nakakatuwa din kasi he also knows me and Ogie are actors, so he also asked advice how not to be self-conscious. But he’s enjoying (shooting the teleserye).”
(For details, call 911-5555 or visit www.ticketnet.com.ph. Or log on to starmediaentertainment.com.)