Bea not bothered by criticisms

Manila, Philippines -  Not many young actors are as fortunate as Bea Binene who is given the opportunity to tread another career path that would help propel her showbiz career to another level. The 14-year-old Kapuso tween star is also now into singing as she recently clinched a recording contract with Galaxy Records and her debut album, Hey, It’s Me! Bea, distributed by PolyEast Records, is now available in record outlets and online for downloads.

Bea’s recent guesting in Eat, Bulaga! became instrumental in realizing her dream to be a recording artist. Galaxy Records execs were impressed with what they saw on TV and right away, offered Bea a recording contract.

But Bea is not one to pretend to be vocally talented even if she tells that she had her first voice lessons when she was two years old. In fact, she has no qualms about saying that she is not really a singer but dreams to be one when she was this tall.

“Tinutulugan ako ng teacher ko dati pero ngayon may album na ’ko,” says Bea who took up three sessions of voice lessons under Annie Quintos of The CompanY. “To prepare myself prior to the start of the recording.”

Despite the effort to make good at singing, still, there were some who already criticized her even before the release of her album. According to Bea, harsh comments like, “Bakit ka magkaka-album singer ka ba?” and “Ay kahit pang-Quiapo, hindi yan...” do not bother her. “Basta, abangan!” she said.

Proving her detractors wrong, her album climbed to the second spot of the music sales chart the week of Aug. 6 to 12 after its release in the market. Papa Dudut of LSFM 97.1, who was the host during the presscon, even showed a copy of the ratings to Bea. He also shared that the GMA 7’s FM radio station has been getting a lot of requests to play on air Bea’s rendition of Regine Velasquez’s Urong-Sulong.

Aside from Urong-Sulong and Hey, It’s Me (originally sung by Jamie Rivera), the five-track CD also includes a remake of Manilyn Reynes’ Sayang na Sayang, a solo rendition of Mahal Kita Walang Iba and a duet with Jake Vargas.

Asked if she’s prepared to take more criticisms, Bea replies, “Yes, I think everyone has haters and lovers. Those who do not love me won’t definitely see my effort but I think there are more (people) who love me than those who hate me. It’s normal for artists to be criticized and it’s fine with me, although kahit papano may hurt. But at least those critics took time out to listen to my songs at nag-effort sila na isipin kung ano masasabi nila sa kanta ko.”

Bea is grateful that GMA is behind her new undertaking. “I thank GMA for its support. It’s always been my dream to have my own album and to be given this opportunity is a great joy for me. I’m sharing this with everyone.”

Part of the album sales, Bea adds, go to Kapuso Foundation.

Bea is promoting her album via mall tours. She will be at Robinsons Imus, Cavite on Sept. 2 and SM North Skydome, Sept. 9.