Jose Mari Chan, the voice of Christmas

What are the symbols we associate with a Filipino Christmas? The parol, noche buena, the Misa de Aguinaldo, simbang gabi, gifts from ninong and ninang and in recent times, these have come to now also include the voice of Jose Mari Chan. Ever since the iconic singer-composer came up in 1990 with the album Christmas In Our Hearts with the phenomenal hit song of the same title, Christmastime in the Philippines also came to mean listening to Jose Mari sing about Christmas.

Christmas In Our Hearts was the first Christmas song I heard this year and that was two months ago. That is how excited Pinoys are by Christmas. And just like what happened last year and the year before that and before that, etc., I once more brought out my Christmas albums to cram in as many listening times as I could this year, a lot of them with the wonderfully produced Christmas In Our Hearts. Every song in this album is a gem. No wonder it became the biggest-selling album in Philippine pop music history.

A year ago, Jose Mari came out with a companion piece to Christmas In Our Hearts. This is the album Going Home To Christmas. It was an even bigger package, fully loaded with 22 cuts and 19 new compositions. Obviously made with so much love, it is a joyful collection that embodies the Filipino Christmas tradition of being home with family, no matter where one is, for the Holidays.

Jose Mari says this so well in his own composition, Going Home To Christmas. “I need the warm embrace of cool December/ and all the love that I have known/ I’m goin’ home to Christmas and to family/ where the heart resides forevermore/ I’m goin’ home to Christmas and to family/ where the love light hangs by the door.” This is how many Filipinos who must spend the Holidays away feel as they think of the sights, sounds and smells of Christmas back home.

In keeping with the spirit of spending Christmas with the family, Jose Mari’s four children and one grandchild make their appearance in the album. Michael, Joe, Liza and Franco sing of their Yuletide memories in the sweet, new original Christmas Moments. Then there is Song Of The Firefly that he composed as his duet with his granddaughter Ramona Isabel, Bunag Chan. Of course, Liza, who made a huge splash recording Christmas In Our Hearts with her Dad, gets an extra duet with him, Let Love Be The Gift.

Of course, being in love on Christmastime makes the occasion doubly romantic. More so if it is about a love that has weathered with the years. A Christmas Song For You expresses this sentiment. “Our kids they have all grown/ we’re on our own/ like how we used to be/ but Christmas is family/ that’s how it will always be/ For all our years to come/ you’ll be my present ‘neath my Christmas tree/ and all I ask of you/ is keep on loving me.”

It is a tall order for any album, even one also by Jose Mari to try to surpass the massive sales and popularity of Christmas In Our Hearts. But Going Home To Christmas sets its own scene and just like home, it creates a loving, special place that we would all want to visit every year.  

Other highlights of the album are Pagdating Ng Pasko, which is Jose Mari’s very first recording in Tagalog; Pinoy Na Christmas, a lilting Pinoy carol performed by The CompanY; Come Let Us Adore Him, adapted from the Intermezzo of the opera Cavalleria Rusticana; and December 25, a heartfelt Christmas greeting sang as a duet with Cris Villonco.

Celebrate Christmas with Whoops Kiri

Now what is the song by which Pinoys will be dancing to celebrate the Christmas Season?  No, it is not Gentleman or Blurred Lines or Harlem Shake. It is Whoops Kiri, a song popularized by the pop-rock band Fruitcake some years ago. Whoops Kiri would have languished, forgotten forever and ever had not comedian and TV host Vice Ganda brought it back to life. 

I do not know how Vice came to recall the song. It was just that one day, he was out there in the TV variety program It’s Showtime dancing to Whoops Kiri. Everybody followed suit and soon Pinoys everywhere were also dancing to Whoops Kiri. Who cares if it is an old song? We have a hit and it is lots of fun, just right for Christmas parties and most of all, it is all Pinoy.

So if you want to celebrate Christmas with Whoops Kiri, check out the album Whoops Kiri Merry Christmas as performed by Jolly Peeps. This CD features Whoops Kiri and other current hits interspersed with popular Christmas tunes. So you get Whoops Kiri with Jingle Bells, Twelve Days Of Christmas, Jolly Old St. Nicholas, Silent Night, O Holy Night and Auld Lang Syne. 

There are also Just Give Me a Reason by Pink; Feel This Moment by Pitbull and Christina Aguilera; Titanium by David Guetta; Clarity by Zedd; Harlem Shake by Baauer; and Gentleman, popularized by Psy.