Champions on tap for Valentine’s

MANILA, Philippines — There is something interesting going on in this year’s Valentine season. What do you know? The Champions are hogging the spotlight. Most of you are familiar with them. They were the young, aspiring singers who emerged from nowhere to dominate the singing contests that began to proliferate during the early 2000s.

The craze started in the United Kingdom. Pop Idol was the first. Then there was Star for a Night. Then the U.S. of A. joined in with American Idol and suddenly there were other shows like The Voice and other countries were on board with their own reality singing competitions. Think Canadian Idol or Hong Kong Idol, or French Idol, etc.

Hereabouts it was Viva Television that pioneered the revamped version of the amateur contest with its local edition of Star for a Night over IBC-13. Then ABS-CBN joined in with Star in a Million. Out of those shows came the group of talents who became known as the Champions.

Leaders of the pack were Sarah Geronimo, Rachelle Ann Go, Christian Bautista and Mark Bautista. Fresh out of the TV contests, they were introduced to the concert stage and after several successful local shows were sent out on tours around the U.S. of A. and other countries where they acquired a huge fan base.

Some 15 years later, it feels great to know that those kids have established themselves in very successful singing careers. In fact, they are among the biggest stars of this year’s Valentine concert season.

Set to open the informal musicfest tomorrow, Feb. 1, are Christian, Aicelle Santos and Mark in 1 For 3 at The Theatre in Solaire. Those who will be watching can rest assured of an evening of beautiful music from internationally famous performers. That is how far these singers have come.

Christian was a finalist in ABS-CBN’s Star in a Million search. He did not win the title but his singing career got off to a very good start with a massive hit in The Way You Look at Me. Since then, he has recorded more big-selling songs, appeared in the movies, on TV and on stage. He is also now a big pop idol in Indonesia and Thailand.

Mark was another loser in the Star for a Night contest. But he also got his share of hit songs, I Need You was his No. 1 seller. He has done films, television and the theater. In fact, he played the lead role of Pres. Ferdinand Marcos in the London West End and Seattle USA production of David Byrne and Fat Boy Slim’s Here Lies Love.

Rachelle will be at the Marriot Ballroom on Valentine’s Day in her first Manila concert after conquering London as Eliza Hamilton in the London edition of the phenomenal musical Hamilton. She is returning to Les Miserables in the West End in March, but before that, she is treating her local fans to her remarkable artistry in her solo show.

Then there is Sarah Geronimo, the first champion, who was the winner of the Star for a Night competition. She will be at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Feb. 14 and 15 in Unified, where she will share the stage with Regine Velasquez.

Sarah is one of the country’s biggest stars with films that set records at the box-office and a big number of big-selling songs. Her latest hit, Tala, is fondly referred these days as the national dance song of the Philippines and has entered the Billboard World hit chart.

Come to think of it, Regine was the host of the shows where Sarah, Mark and Rachelle were discovered. She developed a close relationship with them and continues to guide and support their careers. So her performance with Sarah brings the champions full circle, back to their roots. Regine must be very pleased with how far her charges have come.

By the way, Aicelle who joins Christian and Mark in 1 For 3, was also the product of a talent show. She was named champion of the Pinoy Pop Superstar contest on GMA-7. She starred in the touring company of Miss Saigon and the long-running Rak of Aegis musical of PETA.