Regine’s third man

Much has already been said about Regine Velasquez dividing her time between two very special men in this season for lovers. There is actor and heartthrob Richard Gomez, with whom she stars in the movie Ikaw Lamang, Hanggang Ngayon. The Viva Films production opens in theaters nationwide today. There is the Songbird’s other Valentine’s Day date, American R&B balladeer Brian McKnight of Back at One fame with whom she is performing tomorrow, Thursday and Friday at the Araneta Coliseum in the Two for the Knight concert series.

What many seems to have forgotten is that there is another man, with whom the singer-actress has been sharing love songs for several years and who played a great part in her current success. This third man in Regine’s life is singer and songwriter Ogie Alcasid who composed the theme songs of her three most memorable films and with whom she shares the stage every Sunday in the variety show SOP.

Regine and Ogie started their careers at around the same time in the ’80s. They have been friends for ages although it was only a few years ago that Ogie’s potential as a writer of movie themes for Regine was fully tapped. So it was not too difficult for Ogie to come up with a new song for the movie Kailangan Ko’y Ikaw where she teamed up with action-hero cum heartthrob Robin Padilla. Writing the song was a breeze. Ogie took to his piano one late night and the next day had the song ready for Regine. As most of you already know by now, thanks in part to Ogie’s song, Kailangan Ko’y Ikaw became a giant success at the box-office with a big-selling soundtrack album.

As usually happens in the entertainment business, the same team of creative people was assembled when Regine got her next acting assignment, Pangako, Ikaw Lang with another heartthrob, award-winning actor Aga Muhlach. This time around though, Ogie chose not to write a new song. Instead he brought out one of his early works and his top favorite, Pangako because it is ideally suited to the plot of the picture. Lightning struck twice and once again Regine had a blockbuster at the box-office hit and another hit soundtrack album.

So when Regine got ready to do Hanggang Ngayon, there was no question at all that the theme song will be an Ogie Alcasid composition. She may change leading men every time but Ogie’s music stays. In fact, he and Regine upped his participation in the movie when they recorded the song Hanggang Ngayon as a duet. And unlike the two previous instances, there is no soundtrack album for the movie and neither is the theme song included in the Reigne album. It is instead one of the cuts in Ogie’s latest album A Better Man.

Ogie sings the song with Regine in the movie soundtrack but he is definitely not singing with her tonight at the Big Dome. Tonight is Brian’s night. To fully savor the message of undying love contained in his composition, check out his album. And do not be surprised if you hear that A Better Man, which also has Ogie’s solo hit Ikaw Sana, has already turned Platinum within these next few days. Public reaction to the song is overwhelming. It is not the number one selling Filipino tune in the country. ResAponse to the music video is also very enthusiastic.

All these are expected to double or even increase threefold once movie-goers get a look at the romantic picture beautifully photographed by director Yam Laranas. Richard is every bit the dreamboat and Regine is as cute as ever in her off-beat sort of way. The acting is competent all around and you will also thrill to the gorgeous Old World beauty of the City of Manila.

Top boy groups

Boy groups and pop tunes continue to dominate the local airlanes. Here are the top favorites of Pinoy listeners as of the week just passed: Drowning by the Backstreet Boys; Queen of My Heart by Westlife; Hero by Enrique Iglesias; Brown Eyes by Destiny’s Child; Superman by Five for Fighting; Everywhere by Michelle Branch; In the End by Linkin Park; What If by Babyface; Ghost of You by Michael Learns to Rock; and My Sacrifice by Creed.