Testing showbiz waters

A new voice will soon be heard on the airwaves. It belongs to 18-year-old Fil-Am pop-R&B star Beatriz Jacqueline “Jayke” Reyes, who will soon be releasing a CD lite bannered by her remake of Paano Na Kaya, the hit song originally popularized by Bugoy Drilon.

Jayke, who was born and raised in Los Angeles, is now in Manila for good, in an attempt to make a go of her singing career. Her album is being produced by Arnold Reyes (no relation). It will be a combination of traditional birit songs and R&B hits. Jayke envisions herself as some sort of stylized Sarah Geronimo, someone who can sing and dance, who is as adept at ballads as she is at pop rock.

“N’ung bata pa ako, I really wanted to be like Sarah Geronimo,” says Jayke in Tagalog that still bears traces of an American accent. “Yung sumasayaw at kumakanta, ‘yun talaga ang gusto ko, being able to sing and dance at the same time. I really idolize Sarah as a singer and actress.”

Aside from Sarah, Jayke’s other musical influences include Beyoncé, Rihanna and Lady Gaga. She also looks up to Filipino-Mexican singer and American Idol contestant Jessica Sanchez. Her favorite Filipino singers are Regine Velasquez and Angeline Quinto. Among the male singers, she looks up to Gary Valenciano because he sings with so much emotion. “When I hear him sing, I can really feel the emotion, and it’s not fake,” she says. “Sometimes there are singers who perform, and either they don’t feel it or they pretend to feel it, but with Gary, it comes from the heart.”

Jayke is very excited about her album and the carrier single, which is already being played on leading FM radio stations. There are also plans for her to shoot a music video for the carrier single Paano Na Kaya, to be directed by GB Sampedro. The song is attracting a lot of attention, because it is a new attack on the R&B favorite, having it sung by a female singer. Soon, she will be making the rounds of mall shows and other venues to promote the single and album, which is expected to be released in June.

Having grown up in the US, Jayke realizes that she is at a disadvantage because she can’t speak Tagalog as fluently as other artists. But she’s working on it — she has been studying the language by reading books and komiks in Tagalog and listening to the news.

Although she hasn’t been part of the local entertainment scene that long, Jayke realizes what she is up against, being a newcomer. She knows how competitive the music scene is. Friends and her managers have told her that showbiz is a tough business, and that she has to be strong if she wants to succeed. “They said it’s important to be strong, because I used to be sensitive,” says the upcoming singer. “Pero habang tumatagal ako, I learned to be tough and I learned to be strong because the business is different here in the Philippines than it is in the States. I realized that show business is so different here, but I am learning to adapt.”

She knows that — the Philippines — is where she wants to be. She feels that this is where she is meant to be at this time. That’s why she gave up everything in the US to come home and launch a singing career. It was a big risk, but she knows that in the end, it’s going to be worth it.

Jayke got her start in showbiz in the US, taking acting classes, doing voice training with Seth Riggs (who also taught Michael Jackson, among other artists) doing commercials and auditioning for one show for Nickelodeon and another for the Disney Channel. “I was so close, but they said, ‘Sorry, we’re looking for someone who’s white and has blue eyes.’ I did all the auditions I could, I even did a musical. Then this opportunity to come to the Philippines came up, and my parents said, ‘Anak, ikaw ang bahala, you should choose.’ I chose to come here because at that time, I was thinking, ‘What if?’ I wanted to see what would happen.”

Now, Jayke is so close to fulfilling her dream. She wants to succeed, not just for herself, but for her parents, who practically gave up their lives in the US to come here and allow their daughter to pursue her dreams. Her mother is her constant companion here, while her father travels back and forth between the Philippines and the US, where he still has a business. But for all intents and purposes, he supports her 100 percent. Says Jayke: “My parents are okay with it. I’m fortunate and very lucky that they’re very supportive. Alam ko nahihirapan sila. That’s why I really want to give this my all, because they do everything for me, and they’ve sacrificed so much. They’re always there for me, wherever I go.”

Enjoy the journey, Jayke!