Is Kris Lawrence South Border's new singer?

“Controversial ‘tong kantang ito. Sana kung marinig niyo, ako nalang maalala niyo...,” was Kris Lawrence's good-natured introduction before launching into the R&B version of the George Michael original "Careless Whisper" at a recent show in The Terraces, Ayala. The notorious song is the carrier single of his latest album under MCA Music and ALV Music, "Moments of Love".

It may still be a farfetched request for Filipino listeners to no longer associate "Careless Whisper" with that video of a sexy star and a celebrity doctor gyrating to the 80's hit, but the singer dubbed as the country's  Heart of R&B is bent on trying. He wants people to think of his upbeat version instead of the national joke that the song has become.

"Careless Whisper" shot to notoriety early last year when a video circulated showing his former flame, Katrina Halili, and cosmetic surgeon Hayden Kho Jr. dancing seductively while the doctor is singing. They were rehearsing for the defunct GMA 7 talent search "Celebrity Duets" where both were contestants.

Before the controversy erupted, Kris says he already recorded the song and it was already chosen by MCA Universal to be his album's carrier single but that the album release was just delayed.

"She heard it a long time ago actually. When we were still dating, I had just finished recording the song. She never told me about any video with Hayden so I had no clue also. It was also my favorite song in the album. Even when we were dating, I played it over and over again," he says in a post-show chat with The FREEMAN.

After the Katrina-Hayden scandal surfaced, Kris persuaded his album producer to change the single at the last minute to avoid hurting his ex, but it was already too late. All cover songs for his album had been laid out since 2008.

Kris was attracted to the strong saxophone of the original "Careless Whisper" and says it is really one of his favorite songs from the 80's because "…it's just a very sexy song, it has a lot of emotion. I see a lot of people grinding whenever they hear it. It was also a good way to tap into the masa again."

Moments Of Love

Popular for his hits "Kung Malaya Lang Ako" and his rendition of "When I See You Smile”, Kris released his "Moments of Love" CD last year.

The 11-track album revived well-loved hits with a mainstream vibe such as in these duets with his friends: "I Will Take You Forever," (with Denise Laurel), "Right Here Waiting" (with Jay-R) and "All My Life" (with Billy Crawford). Also included are "Suddenly", "Honesty", "Your Song", "Now and Forever", "Without You", "We All Fall in Love Sometimes", "Just Tell Me You Love Me" and a bonus track which is Kris' original composition, "Moments of Love."

"I'm now promoting my third single, ‘Just Tell Me You Love Me’. Malapit na siya mag-gold," he says.

South Border

Kris also shared how he will most likely become the new vocalist of R&B band South Border. Jay Durias, South Border’s head, gave him a call one day to ask if he could jam with them. "He asked me if I wanted to have a session with them, so I tried it out, just see how it goes. Our first couple of shows was super sarap, the chemistry was great. So they wanted to talk about getting serious with it. Negotiations are not yet done, so nothing official yet."

Negotiations are not yet final because they are still ironing out how joining the band who gave us the hits “Kahit Kailan,” "Ikaw Nga," and "Rainbow" will affect his solo career.

"That's what we're working on right now. We're working on keeping my solo career and my name because over the years, my manager has worked really hard to keep my name as Kris Lawrence. And then by joining South Border, parang kakainin lang yung mga pinaghirapan ng manager ko. So that's what we're still negotiating.

"The part of me that wants to work with South Border is working with Jay because he is a musical genius. I believe in his talent and his passion for music. I believe that anything he writes will hit and I wanna be a part of that. I feel like I can learn a lot from him as an artist." 

Why not ask him to just write a song for you then? "People ask me that too. I write songs as well, so syempre, when I know I have a great song, I'm not gonna give it, I'm gonna keep it for myself. So if Jay has a really good song, he's gonna keep it for the band."

The grand winner of ABS-CBN’s “Star in a Million” Season 2, Kris had recently signed up with GMA-7 as an exclusive talent.