A different life for Maria Aragon

MANILA, Philippines - Fame truly has its way of turning things around. Take the case of Maria Aragon, the 11-year-old Fil-Canadian whose name rings so many bells after her rendition of Lady Gaga’s Born This Way on YouTube turned into a hit. She now spends most of her time attending to various singing engagements that brought her to places outside of Canada.

But Maria finds no reason to complain even if it means less time with family and friends and failing to go out to relax. She will endure the rigors for the sake of her singing career that continues to blossom these days.

“My life changed in a way that I don’t have a lot of time to do what normal kids do like spending time to play with friends,” says Maria who recently flew in from Canada to record SM Mall’s latest Christmas jingle. “You have to be a lot more careful but I guess, it has been a really big honor for me since I always wanted to be a singer and I’m really grateful for all the support that my family has been giving me. I’m also thankful to my fans.”

In return, Maria uses her talent to help alleviate the hardships of street children. Her debut album under Star Records, for example, contains a Tagalog ditty, titled Kung Bubuksan Mo Lang Ang Puso, dedicated to the street children of the Philippines. She hopes it will urge everybody to try to make a difference by helping the underprivileged.

 “Now that I have already reached my dream, it really feels good to help the street children.”

In fact, Maria is the ambassadress of Couples for Christ’s scholarship program ANCOP (Answering the Cry of the Poor). She recently attended the ANCOP Global Walk where she sang its theme song One Hope, One Dream.

“All the money from it will be used for the children’s education — for them to go to school,” Maria states. “They should study well. Education is really important. Even though I get invited to (perform) in the Philippines, I still focus on my school work. I bring my books wherever I go.”

Asked if she’s willing to try acting, Maria answers, “I’m focusing on my singing right now but if I’ll be given the opportunity, for sure, I might look into it. I’m just into singing now.”

Anytime soon, Maria’s voice will be heard all over SM malls as she is tapped to be the official voice of SM Christmas. She will be singing a remixed version of SM Christmas Chrisms Bop. Music arranger is Juan Miguel Salvador who has nothing but praises for the young singer.

“Maria is so talented, disciplined and easy to work with,” Juan Miguel shares. “She listens a lot. During rehearsal and recording, I keep asking her, ‘Are you tired?’ Kasi paulit-ulit yun.”

“I didn’t feel tired at all,” assures Maria.

“From the rate of 1 to 10, I give her a 10. She’s so professional,” Juan Miguel adds.

Meanwhile, Maria will sing the Philippine National Anthem in the Manny Pacquiao-Juan Marquez boxing match on Nov. 12 (Nov. 13, Manila Time).

“I recently visited the people from the National Historical Commission and I practised Lupang Hinirang with them. They said that my singing was alright but I still need to practise more so I can get the Tagalog diction right. That’s why I practise every day,” she relates.