Zsa Zsa helps Zia make career moves

MANILA, Philippines - It’s common knowledge in the world of show business that when you’re a neophyte, you have to conform to widely-accepted conventions in terms of how you look and how you deal with other people, in order to cultivate a marketable image. Twenty-year-old Zia Quizon, a budding recording artist in her own right, would rather be the exception than the rule.

“I guess what people find refreshing about me is that I don’t care much about the pressure to conform because I am just an average girl who happened to end up with a music career,” says Zia, whose soulful and jazzy voice is behind the hit OPM track Ako Na Lang. She’s also in the radio airwaves as the singer of Magnolia Healthtea Powdered Drink Mix’s Everyday’s an Awesome Day! radio jingle.

The youngest daughter of the late comedy king Dolphy and Zsa Zsa Padilla, Zia describes herself as a typical girl who likes to sing, write poetry and music, cook and bake, and take care of her dogs.

Despite her showbiz pedigree, making a career out of music didn’t cross her mind at first.

All that changed when she sang in her father’s album Handog ni Pidol: A Lifetime of Music and Laughter. Since then, her foray into music has seemed all the more destined.

“When I was a baby, my grandfather and mom said that I used to hum to myself,” she says. A fan of Jason Mraz, John Mayer, Regina Spektor and Billie Holiday, she also plays piano and guitar and keeps “weird” African musical instruments in the house.

She’s also a health buff in the sense that she always goes for healthier options in life. Her role as brand ambassador of Magnolia Healthtea Powdered Drink Mix, her first endorsement deal, fits well into her healthy lifestyle.

“I’m really excited with this endorsement because I’m a tea drinker and I like going for healthy choices,” she says. “Not a lot of people know this, but I used to be obese. Now I just want to make decisions that are good for my body.”

Magnolia Healthtea Powdered Drink Mix, which comes in apple, lemon and mango flavors, is a thirst-quenching and flavorful drink that has polyphenols, which are anti-oxidants inherently found in tea, which have stress-relieving properties and have positive effects on the immune system. The brand is also fortified with 100 percent energy-boosting Vitamin C.

When it comes to healthy decisions about her career, she says she can always count on her mom, Zsa Zsa Padilla, whom she fondly calls “mommyger” (mommy plus manager).

“She is a really good stage mom. And she is the best ‘mommyger.’ Her maternal instincts come through for me because she knows how the showbiz industry can be. She is very protective of me in that sense,” Zia says.

The hard work seems to be paying off. With a self-titled album and a regular TV gig in ABS-CBN’s ASAP 2012, Zia says she is lucky to be doing the things that she loves to do, every day.

With a music career already off and running, would Zia also be the next fresh face in acting for film or TV? “I don’t really have any concrete plans to start acting soon because I’m a very inhibited person. But I’m a never-say-never type of person, so I don’t know, maybe one day I might get curious.”