CEBU, Philippines — After winning Tawag ng Tanghalan Season 2 at 16 years old, Janine Berdin’s life took a detour as it made her realize that she is meant to be a performer, not just an artist and songwriter, as she had originally hoped.
Despite being unaware of what the music business would be like, the Lapu-Lapu City native still pushed for her dreams, whilst getting to know herself as a teenager.
“I guess because I was 15 when I joined [Tawag ng Tanghalan], and 16 when I won, I really didn’t have any idea how the industry was going to be. So winning the contest affected it a lot, kasi I wanted to be an artist, I wanted to be a songwriter but because nga I won the contest, my career took a different route,” Berdin said in a recent interview when she was in town to promote the Love Cebu Music Festival.
“So I had to go through being a performer, growing up also, getting to know myself. Parang nag-detour lang, but I eventually pushed for it, to be a certified songwriter and musician. Yeah, I learned a lot,” she said.
Obstacles
Despite her successes, Berdin admitted during the Love Cebu Music Festival press conference that language barrier has been one of the challenges she encountered as a Cebuano talent based in Manila. This made her first Tagalog songwriting experience difficult in terms of translating her thoughts and feelings into music.
“I think the challenge really is Tagalog does not come easy for us. And when I joined ‘Tawag ng Tanghalan’, I was 15 and I didn’t speak Tagalog.”
She added, “The first time I tried composing in Tagalog, I really had a hard time…my first Tagalog song with Adie, it was a challenge for me.”
With these experiences, the 22-year-old encourages everyone to express themselves openly in music in all languages. She also revealed receiving comments about being a Bisaya performer in Manila, but she did not allow these to discourage her. She wants to prove to those who discriminate that they are not “Bisaya lang.”
“Everyday, I face it [discrimination]. I live in Manila and I see it all the time. There are even those who say ‘Hala Bisaya mani siya, nganong mag English-English mani siya.’ Lami kaayo isulti ba na ‘Maayo man mi mu-English mga taga Cebu.’”
“Lami kaayo ipamukha ba, but dili na maiwasan I think because naa gyud mga tao who believe in stereotypes. I think we should not let ourselves get affected by close-minded individuals.”
She also believes in being true to one’s self and not allow discrimination to stop someone from achieving their goals.
“Also, we have to keep going and just try to achieve everything you want for our hometown, for our families, for ourselves…”
“So even if we see bad stuff about who you are as a person, parang dapat dili na mao ang reason nga you stop kay they’re too below and you really have to keep going for you to be up there, for you to make it,” she added.
First break-up
Berdin wrote her latest single “Alas Dos Na!!!” at the age of 15, around the same time when she joined TNT.
“Alas Dos Na!!!” is about the raging emotions of regret and self-blame that her 15-year-old self felt after breaking up with her “first boyfriend ever.” She recalls having second thoughts about releasing it because she was ashamed of going through that phase.
“I wrote it because I was super young and I just broke up with my first boyfriend and parang kanang feeling na murag ‘eww’ like ‘nganong nakipag buwag man ko.’ Like ‘Sayang siya na unta akong love of my life.’ So that’s why I wrote the song.”
Nevertheless, her first heartbreak song is now available on different music platforms, after she realized that someone out there might relate and empathize with her music.
The music video of “Alas Dos Na!!!” stemmed from her hobby of playing online games, featuring playful scenes and visuals of games she and her friends used to play.
“I had so much fun. I worked with Toothless, Direk Jonats. We were talking about my idea. I was just looking over our conversations from before, tapos yung mga memories nag-playback. So mao nang naay mga weird visuals na naa mi sa Tekken, or nag-Guitar Hero bigla kasi it’s like a nod to the games that we used to play together that I wished we played again,” she shared.
Berdin just signed a contract under UMG’s Island Records, under the same label with Juan Karlos Labajo, who will also perform in tonight’s Love Cebu Music Festival at Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino. Also in the line-up are their fellow Cebuano artists MRLD, Jolianne, Dom Guyot, Shoti, Jacky Chang, Wonggoys and Kurt Fick. — Kassandra Venice Broca