Christian focuses on acting

MANILA, Philippines - There’s a wealth of vocal talent in the country, but not a few have observed that there’s a dearth of TV programs to showcase singers these days.

For Christian Bautista, who recently renewed a two-year contract with GMA 7 amidst some of the network’s singers transferring to the competition, told The STAR, “I guess it’s seasonal; every channel has its (own) plan. As a singer, I miss singing of course, but I’m in a good position because I’m the only one left sa GMA na male (singer). So, eventually, when the next show comes, I have more spots (laughs).”

He added, “That’s also my plan — (it’s) what they call the Blue Ocean strategy,” referring to the business term where organizations look for ways to work in an environment free of competitors, “if most of the singers move to ABS-CBN already then I will stay. So, I get to sing and do more projects at GMA. And they’ve been giving me a lot. One of my reasons really when I moved to GMA (in 2013) was to act and I’ve had a lot of acting and hosting projects.” Christian is currently part of the reboot of Encantadia as Apitong (a character originally played by John Regala). He is also set to do a talent show on the Kapuso station.

Nevertheless, Christian believes that the lack of avenues for singers is just a phase. “I’m looking at it this way: Now, GMA is more on comedy, so (if you notice) even the soaps are light because of the audience — there are stages as to what they want. Like in music, sometimes people like acoustic, sometimes rock, then ballads, then they go back to acoustic, then covers… Hinahanap din ng channel kung ano ang gusto ng viewers, and now it’s comedy. It’s a great time for comedy and all these comedians, who have been waiting for so long. I remember when I was in high school, it was all comedy — Palibhasa Lalake, Ober Da Bakod — but singing will never, never go away. I will be singing theme songs, in GMA regional and international tours. The TV landscape may be changing right now but music will never go away.”

In fact, The STAR caught up with Christian on the sidelines of the recent Cebu stopover of the Smart Brokada road tour, which promotes the latest offerings of the mobile broadband brand under Smart Communications. Christian helped drum up Smart Bro’s “best deal for iPad Mini 2,” the media release stated, as it offers the package of an “iPad Mini 2 for P599 per month and which comes with 1.7GB monthly data. This is just an additional P300 to the monthly service fee of Smart Bro Plan 299. The offer comes with free 1.1GB of video streaming on YouTube, iFlix, Dailymotion and Vimeo for the first three months.”

As the newest addition to the Brokada (the roster of celeb ambassadors including TV host Gretchen Ho, beauty queen MJ Lastimosa, among others, for Smart Bro), “I get to travel, eat and sing, which every singer wants to do,” Christian said.

It’s only fitting for Smart Bro to tap Christian as endorser not just for his fan base but also because he is one responsible and Internet-savvy celebrity.

Christian graces the Cebu launch of Smart Bro’s ‘best iPad Mini 2 plus mobile broadband’ package offering at the Café Breeze of Bayfront Hotel Cebu. Photo shows the singer-actor (rightmost) with fellow Smart Brokada, beauty queen MJ Lastimosa (leftmost), and Gary Dujali, marketing boss for consumer broadband, Smart (standing). Photo by Yasunari Ramon Taguchi

“I know how important and how powerful (Internet and social media) is in connecting with your fans, but because I’m an introvert, there are times that it’s hard for me to express myself. So, I try to balance the things that I say.”

These include what he wants to share about his personal life. For one, it took almost a year before the media got wind of his non-showbiz girlfriend because it was a conscious effort on his part not to post anything about their relationship.

“I’m very proud of it,” he said.

Now that he has decided to be open about it, he’s not one to shy away from questions. “We both love doing sports. We love to travel. We love food,” said Christian, who also revealed that they became a couple during a date in a fastfood restaurant. “Yes, hahaha! Simple lang. It’s been very good so far.”

Internet has also changed his music “because I get to promote it on social media. If, for example, every Sunday ka nakikitang kumanta, sa social media, nakikita ka every day... It’s also a good thing because you can access the music of your idol.”

He also harnessed online power for Who is She To Me, his first single digitally released in the United Kingdom last December 2015 and aired over such UK stations as BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2.

“I’m just thankful that, at least, nakapasok ako sa No. 44 (on UK iTunes). It’s a project that I really initiated. I looked for contacts to record the song in New York and released it in London,” said Christian who got to work with international musicians like Christian de Walden who has produced hits for Engelbert Humperdinck and Anne Murray. “Mahirap siya kasi first of all, I’m based here, then umaasa ako sa producer ko to share it there on social media. So parang to really make an impact, I really have to tour there, if given the chance.

“Hopefully, I can do it again. I want to do a follow-up but I need to find the right song and right video.”

Another project in the pipeline is an album. “I’m producing it myself, personally crafting the songs, so I’m a bit nervous about it. I don’t play music, so I’m really guiding the producers (on what I want to achieve). It’s going to be all originals.”

Christian reiterated, however, that his focus at the moment is acting via the primetime soap Encantadia.