The Triumph of Billy the Kid

We blinked and when we looked again, the cute little boy in knee pants and suspenders was gone. Instead, we see a handsome young man with the same friendly smile that won a thousand hearts as much as did his singing/acting talent so evident even at the tender age of 3.

He’s now known only as Billy Crawford (find out as you read on why he dropped "Joe" from his name), for which he’s popular among teen music fans (especially) in Europe and the US.

So what has Billy been doing since he left the Philippines with his mom and stepfather to start a new life in the States (in Texas, before they briefly moved to New York)?

We got glimpses of Billy only from foreign magazines that have been giving him generous play-up.

Billboard Magazine called the first two singles from Crawford’s eponymous debut album "highly original" and declared that he was "overwhelmingly talented." His new single "exceeds anything our favorite boy bands have handed out." The magazine also noted that Crawford, "while only 16, is suave, confident and shows a precocious talent for songwriting, glorious singing, and moving through some pretty serious dance steps. Anything less than fully-realized success would be just plain daft." Spin Magazine admitted: "Butter-throated seventeener Billy Crawford rocks an album of pop grooves older than he is like each is a new power generation and we were all born yesterday." And CD Now raved, "The irresistibly-catchy first single, Urgently in Love, featuring Nona Hendryx on backing vocals, is funkier than anything in the Backstreet Boys’ dreams."

Since the first album, Crawford has been a blur of activity. He achieved double-platinum status with the theme song to Pokemon: The First Movie. He co-starred alongside actor John Lithgow on the album Ogden Nash and The Christmas That Almost Wasn’t, which benefitted the National Theater of the Deaf. He also completed a string of dates with ’N Sync, another tour with 98 Degrees and Monica, as well as a mall tour of his own. Yet Crawford is refreshingly unspoiled; he confesses that his "goal in this whole career is to buy a really nice house" for his parents.

His second album Ride is due for release this month in Europe and the Philippines. The rest of Asia will follow soon after. His first single off this album is the upbeat and danceable track Trackin’. The album consists of 12 all new and all-original songs, with a few of the cuts penned by Billy himself.

The good news is that Billy is playing a major role as a possessed boy in The Exorcist Prequel, with no less than Liam Neeson in the lead role.

Billy was here for his Christmas vacation which he had to extend when he broke his jaw while confined in the hospital for a respiratory ailment. He took advantage of his homecoming by promoting his hit song Trackin’, released as a special CD with two other songs by BMG Pilipinas, Inc. which is also the distributor of his new album (Ride). Here are excerpts from a Conversation with Billy Crawford:

How did you break your jaw?

"I was in the hospital with pneumonia. I was walking out of the bathroom when I passed out. I don’t even remember where I hit my jaw. I passed out! You know, head rush. That’s what I got – head rush. You stand up and you sort of go blank? That was what happened to me. When I came to, hayun, wasak na ang aking jaw so the doctors had to fix it."

Will it affect your singing?

"Hopefully, not. I hope not! I bit my tongue when it happened pero mabuti na lang hindi naputol. That’s why I had to stay longer here."

Wouldn’t it hamper your work in The Exorcist?

"I don’t think so. Shooting will probably start months from now pa. They’ll have to wait for the availability of Liam Neeson who’s still finishing another movie."

How many of you auditioned for the role?

"I don’t know how many but there were many of us. The auditions took 15 weeks. First, they took a VTR of me ... to see how I look on the screen. And then I met the casting agent and had to go back again for more picture-taking. Pagkatapos, may reading pa kami. We read lines from the script. The next time they called me, we had some screen tests. John Frankenheimer was there. I was made to act out two scenes from the script and they were filming the whole process."

Where were the auditions held?

"Throughout the world. Thrice in New York and the other times at a studio in L.A. which the company rented purposely for the auditions."

What were you made to do?

"Well, in that scene, I was trying to convince Fr. Merrin that there’s no God. My character was trying to confuse Fr. Merrin. I was trying to destroy his faith."

Where will the movie be shot?

"All over – in UK, Spain and a little bit of Africa."

Is the character you’re playing new in the story?

"I think so, I think so! Remember (in Exorcist I) when Father Merrin went to Egypt in the opening scene and he said he performed a three-month exorcism in Africa? I take off from there."

Is it true that the producers were initially looking for a Black actor to play the role?

"Yeah, that’s right. But I guess they changed their minds because, you know, people might start saying, ‘Oh, why do Black people have to be possessed?’ So they changed their plan. My character is pretty much a non-believer but he’s not an anti-Christ. My character is the possessed guy."

How did you get into the auditions?

"It was my manager who worked it out. They were looking for kids between ages 15 and 19. My manager thought I looked ‘evil’ in my picture (shown in Page 33) and the producers kind of got interested in how I looked. In the end, there were only three of us left from the hundreds who showed up for the auditions. Who were the two others? I didn’t know, I don’t know! They didn’t tell me who."

Were they, perhaps, big names?

"I don’t know. They wouldn’t tell me. Everything was kept secret. If they were big names and I knew, they would have probably intimidated me. I kept on asking them who the other two were and they told me, ‘Don’t worry about them, don’t worry about them! Just think of yourself.’ So I stopped asking. "

Have you met Liam Neeson?

"No, I haven’t yet but I was told that he already said yes to the project. He’ll be playing Fr. Merrin, the younger of the two priests. I think Ryan Philippe (star of Studio 54) will also be in the movie, cast as a young priest."

Speaking of exorcism, what’s this rumor that German Moreno and you have "exorcised" each other from your lives? ("Kuya" Germs has been a mentor, more like a father, to Billy Joe since their That’s Entertainment days.)

"Of course, there’s a little tampuhan. Kuya Germs was asking me to guest on his show (GMA’s midnight special Master Showman) but I begged off because it was hard for me to sing because of my broken jaw. I think Kuya Germs didn’t understand that. You know naman si Kuya Germs, matampuhin. And then he saw me guesting on a Channel 2 show (The Buzz), so nagtampo siya. But things are okay now. Kuya Germs has done a lot for me and my career. He’s not just a kuya, he’s like a tatay already. He’s not my manager but everytime I need something, Kuya Germs is always there for me. Ako naman, out of respect, I’m always there everytime he needs me – except when I broke my jaw."

How do you react to people who can’t seem to believe that you’re now a grown-up? You know, for them, you’ll forever be the cute Billy Joe Crawford in short pants and suspenders, with bangs framing your face.

"I guess some people are disappointed to see me because I’m big now... I stand 5’10.5"... and I’m skinny. It’s funny but when I stroll around Megamall, people would ask me, "O, anong nangyari sa’yo? Bakit tumangkad ka? Bakit nangayayat ka?’ I’d tell them, ‘Kasi, beinte na po ako.’ But it’s touching the way people remember me as a little boy with fondness."

How long ba have you been away?

"Oh, seven years, eight years. Medyo matagal-tagal na. I left a little boy and I came back a grown man. We live in New York but the Philippines will forever be my home. In New York with me are my parents (mom is Filipina and dad is American). I have two half-brothers, both studied here and are now working. My father (Jack Crawford) is a journalist. He travels a lot and I hardly see him, so it’s pretty much my mom and me."

Didn’t you have any regrets turning back on your career right when things were, you know, coming up roses?

"I went (to the States) purposely for school. We first went to Midland, Texas, six hours away from Dallas. I wanted to just hang out for maybe two years, something na hindi ko nagagawa dito, and live just like any normal, typical boy."

Why did you decide pala to drop "Joe" from your name?

"My agent and manager thought that the name Billy Joe is too ‘country,’ so they decided to just call me Billy – Billy Crawford."

So how did you get back into showbiz (in the States)?

"There was a convention in Texas and there was a talent show. I joined the contest and that’s how I met my manager, Vicky Frankmano. I sang I’ll Be There (by Michael Jackson) and the response was ... good! I won in my category (ages 12 to 14). After the show, Vicky approached me; she was one of the judges. I told her to talk to my mom and my mom asked me, ‘Would you like to get into it again?’ Although I was studying, I had time to spare, so I said, ‘Why not?’ That’s how I got back into showbiz."

I understand that you started making a name in Europe before you did back in the States. How did it happen?

"That was the decision of my manager – to market me first in Europe... in Paris."

Oh, yes, I saw the write-ups about you, bongga! The magazines there (Europe) talagang played you up in color spreads ... in the centerfolds. Since you stayed in Paris, you must speak French fluently now.

"Yeah, I do. Now I speak three languages fluently, including English and Tagalog. And a little Spanish."

How were you marketed in Europe – as a Latino?

"As a Filipino, of course! I’m proud being a Filipino."

Was it hard penetrating the international (music) market?

"Hard? Oh, yes, it was! I had to compete with big-name international artists such as Jennifer Lopez, and also with the local (French) artists. I had to go around France – to Cannes, to Nantes, not only Paris. Remember, I was an unknown, starting from scratch."

How did you finally get a break?

"They saw my video and they played it a lot. The video was for Trackin’, my first single. Trackin’ eventually got into the Top 10, staying there for about 25 weeks. And then the articles started coming out in French magazines (Le Monde, etc.). It was unbelievable! I also had to promote that song in other countries, like Germany. I’m about to start shooting the video for my new single, When You Think About Me, maybe also in France. I have already rehearsed for it. From France, where I’m staying for about a month, I’m going to L.A. to start shooting the movie (The Exorcist)."

What was the last movie that you did here (as a child actor)?

"Taong Gubat, I think, sometime in 1994. I did several others, like Lost Command (as the son of Bong Revilla) and Pahiram ng Isang Umaga (directed by Ishmael Bernal, as the son of Vilma Santos, playing a woman dying of cancer, and Gabby Concepcion). I was also in Isang Dakot na Bala (with Rudy Fernandez)."

You were very young when you joined showbiz...

"I was three years old. I started in commercials (Pepsodent, etc.). Before I turned five, I was already in That’s Entertainment where I was parang mascot. I grew up in That’s under the guiding hand of Kuya Germs."

What about your love life? Do you have any?

"I was dating... I used to have a girlfriend, but only for a while."

Don’t you have any girlfriend now?

"None."

What sort of girls do you prefer?

"Those who are hard-to-get. Nakaka-challenge sila, di ba?"

You’ve been coming and going, shuttling between the Philippines and the US and/or Europe. Where really is your home?

"The Philippines. My grandmother is here and so are my relatives. That’s why everytime I get a break from work (abroad), I come home to relax and unwind. Home is in the heart, it’s true. Home is where your heart is."