Tawag ng Tanghalan alumnus Froilan Canlas admits even he was surprised that MAK Entertainment Services got interested in him and signed him as one of its talents.
“They (Ferdie Mak and Debbie Mak of MAK Entertainment Services) are probably heaven-sent. God allowed that I met them at the time I needed help,” said the third-place winner of It’s Showtime’s Tawag ng Tanghalan during the press conference cum contract signing held at H Café and Events Place in Quezon City last Saturday.
Froilan somewhat lost his passion for singing since 2019 and just decided to focus on teaching. “I didn’t know why I lost the drive to sing but it was probably due to depression because my mother got sick. She was going in and out of the hospital in the latter part of 2019. I had to take care of her and it somewhat drained my savings,” he shared.
It was his mom who inspired Froilan to go into singing and make career out of it. His mom, who had a good singing voice, helped put food on the table thru singing in weddings, and even in funeral masses.
With the help of MAK, Froilan hopes to fulfill his dream of having a hit single that he himself composed as he is packaged as a singer-songwriter. In the online concert of Sheryn Regis that was produced by MAK, he launched his self-penned second single titled “Stalker” and the music video that featured Ronnie Alonte and Loisa Andalio.
Another dream of his is to be part of a concert of OPM icons Regine Velasquez, Martin Nievera, Gary Valenciano and Ogie Alcasid whom he looks up to as performers.
“I am very excited with the plans of MAK for me. The owners of MAK are the parents of a student of mine in an online singing class. I met them through the TNT Boys because they were looking for the coach of the group.”
While the pandemic majorly affected his gigs, Froilan said in a way, it opened the door for him to get clients for his online classes. He was also doing online streaming via the KUMU app. He would sing for one or two hours and viewers would give him virtual gifts that can be converted into cash.
Sometimes his content in KUMU has him teaching about the music culture. Froilan finished a four-year-degree course on Asian Music at the UP College of Music.
On the advantage of joining a contest like “Tawag ng Tanghalan”, he shared, “For one, a lot of people get to watch you. After the contest, you get a lot of followers. You get to meet people who in way or another can help you in your career. There is also a disadvantage. The people get used to hearing you sing contest songs and when I do gigs, they expect me to sing similar belting songs as well. That was not my genre when I joined TNT. I just adjusted to it because I need it for the contest.”
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The fans of Megastar Sharon Cuneta are eagerly awaiting her entry as guest artist in “FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano.”
This is one of the surprises of FPJAP as the action-drama series marks its sixth anniversary. It is said that Coco Martin will welcome Sharon when they hold a press conference to announce the Megastar’s participation.
Many fan groups of Sharon on social media are waiting for the formal announcement of her appearance on the show. They are likewise curious what her role in the long-running series will be.