Regine Velasquez on success: You have to be passionate

MANILA, Philippines – Regine Velasquez is one of those personalities who has been in the business for years, and still being looked up to by every generation.

The secret to her success? Passion.

“If you have passion with what you do, I think ‘yon ang umaangat. ‘Yon ang tumatagal sa industriya,” she said about her staying power in the business, during the press conference for “Royals” on Tuesday.

A lot of talents today are being discovered through different talent-search shows or social media sites like YouTube.

Regine herself started by joining and winning different singing contests, but her win in “Bagong Kampeon” made her realize that she finally wanted to become a recording artist.

“So I won in ‘Bagong Kampeon’ and after that I had to work doubly hard pa. Kasi kumbaga hindi na ako nagko-contest, e, I wanted to be a recording artist na during that time. So I had to work really, really hard,” she recalled.

Unlike today, winners in talent search shows before were not promised of a contract either with a network or a record label.

However, these contracts, Regine believes, are not enough to make it big and stay in the industry for the long run.

“Now a days, even if you have the backing of the network, you still have to work hard. Parang I’ve noticed also na parang hindi porket you have the backing of the network is sisikat ka na agad. Hindi na rin pala gano’n ngayon,” she said.

“You also have to prove yourself pa rin to the people, to the audience, gano’n,” she added.

Regine's advice to the younger generation of singers is to “be passionate with what you do.”

“Kasi you really have to be passionate with what you do,” she explained. “I guess, kasama rin  ‘yon sa ibang work, kung saan ka passionate doon ka mas nagiging successful. I can’t remember who said it but, ‘God gave us special talents. All of us were given special talents.’”

So when you find yourself pursuing a career not lined with your college degree, Regine believes that it is because “yon ang passion mo, and you don’t realize na that passion pala is your gift. So it’s really up to us to find out what that gift is and you’ll be happy whatever it is you do.”

Regine will have a Valentine concert together with Martin Nievera, Erik Santos and Angeline Quinto. It’ll happen on February 13 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena and on February 14 at the Waterfront Hotel and Casino in Cebu.