ISHA PONTI Releases Christmas Single and Prepares for THE NEXT ONES Concert with ANDREA GUTIERREZ

Isha Ponti is taking her music to new heights by releasing a Christmas single called "Kung Wala Ka Sa Pasko". 

At the launch, they had PPOP girl group DIV9 and Andrea Gutierrez perform as part of their efforts to promote their upcoming concert "The Next Ones" on December 13th at the Music Museum, produced by Ponti Entertainment Productions. They will be with Aquila Packing, Nathan Randal, Maurice, PPOP group by Azter, Graciel Hizon, Raymond Gorospe, The Boxers, Roshe Performing Group and the iconic Rey Valera. 

Isha is a very talented songwriter, and this song she just released is a bit of an emotional plea because the one she loves was not there during a special occasion such as Christmas. Done all in Filipino, she hopes it reaches those who feel a little lonely during this season. The lyrics give off a bit of a woman wanting to be with her loved one. She says "When we were trying to make a song, this was done on the spot and took us only 40 minutes just last November. I love Sarah Geronimo since I was a kid. If ever I'd get to do acting work, I would definitely grab the opportunity. I haven't made a song for Ate Andrea, or a PPOP group so I'd like to do that. I also want to compose a song for Sarah Geronimo and Arthur Nery. I've been writing songs since I was 7, but had problems with a recording company. It was a surprise for my Dad but it just continued. He was the one who encouraged me to write. I heard of contests for songwriting, but never had the opportunity to do so. Now I have 24 songs written but had about 19 recorded. I haven't released it yet but we'll see. I haven't done collabs yet but I'd like to do that soon."

Andrea loves the music of Lani Misalucha and want the concert to be a bit more modern plus a few classic songs in the mix. She says "Isha and I met in a competition called Asia's Best where she was Season 1 champ and I got Season 3. We already had the final rehearsal and we got good feedback even if we have different genres. I will be singing a lot of songs including 3 for the holidays. This includes an original song, which I'm excited to do on that night."

Isha and Andrea were commended by the Director Calvin Niera and said they actually over delivered. They didn't box the repertoire and expect something off their comfort zones because they have other songs to perform in the show. This is something that they are working on til things happen on the 13th. It's also going to talk about their personal journey, their feelings, just said through songs. It's fun and dance will also be a huge part of it towards the end.

Obviously they are excited, and if you want to watch something fun before the holidays, get tickets via TicketWorld now! Here's lots of luck for you two and the other performers, cheers!

Artists Warn Expect the Unexpected on SING GALING SINGLEBRITY EDITION This Weekend

Got the chance to see the Sing Galing Singlebrity Edition 2025 folks yesterday and what good things they've got on sleeve as they prepare their first episode this coming September 27 on TV5 and their other assets. Veteran judges Rey Valera, Randy Santiago and several celebrities told us about their experience and what to expect on the show.

Of course, different people means different personalities. Aside from being serious about the contest part of the show, Sir Rey Valera told us "You'll get to see the good side of the contestants (that we also are with in the industry) when we talk about their individual charities. They are doing this to help folks that are in need. They will do everything for them, that's what is fun in this show because of that different angle. Doing this is like not turning away from your promises in helping others. This is also a way to give back for the years they've been supporting us as artists. People who watch our show sometimes go on wheelchairs, when you get to age and still sing, you are relevant, if you want to pass it to the next generation, this is how you should do it."

Singer Ariel Rivera says "I can say, expect the unexpected. I know some of the contestants are good actors, but when I heard them sing, they're really really talented. People think we only act on screen but we're happy to be part of this and share our talent to help others. We appreciate those that appreciate us. We're friends for years (talking about other artists on the show), being kind goes a long way."

Nina added "I love my fans, they're not all perfect but they are the reason where we are right now. We shouldn't forget that."

K Brosas told us "We're not at the top but we're not going away, we love our craft and the people that work with us. We are thankful and remember our roots."

Here's more of our interviews after the event:

Oh by the way, Rey Valera and a couple of his friends are establishing a way to support up and coming artists on their new YouTube channel. If you want to be part of it, just visit youtube.com/@Sigma54music to get in touch with them. This is his way to leave a legacy. 

And again, make sure you watch SING GALING SINGLEBRITY EDITION because it will premiere this September 27 at 7PM and 8PM on Sunday on TV5, Buko Channel and Sari-Sari Channel too. It's going to be super fun!

Four Kings and a Queen Concert at the Newport Performing Arts Theater This August

Legends of their own right, deserving of the accolades and love they receive from their fans, these singers, songwriters who ruled the 70's and 80's just came back from a successful concert in the US to perform in the Newport Performing Arts Theater for the home crowd this time. Hadji Alejandro, Rey Valera, Nonoy Zuniga, Marco Sison and the one and only Pops Fernandez will do their 4 Kings and a Queen Concert this coming August 26 and 27 in this venue. They had small mishaps in the US tour when some of them tested positive before they had to do the Vegas show. It took them a few days to recoup and do the concert for the same or even bigger crowd later on at the same state.

Nonoy Zunigaa says “I had complete vaccines and boosters but I tested positive for COVID and had to move the show in the states. Plus there are different variants in the US so if you had one you might have the others too.I’m glad to see that the US tour was almost all FULL HOUSE. They went there to enjoy and lots of people refunded tickets but when the actual day came, tons of people appeared even walked in. I’m glad people appreciate our jokes, we know each other too much even if they are concerned for me because of jokes. But we’re good.”

Marco Sison says “We have never performed in two years, it was a little hard to do concerts but the US opened up early, you can feel the excitement of the people. Even if it was cold in San Francisco, you can feel the love and support of the Filipinos. The first one was awesome and even our first few shows were sold out.”

Rey Valera says “Don’t get me wrong but people I know in the Philippines were all dying, I was asking myself if I’m gonna be next. I told the fans in the US to just enjoy the moment because they were lucky that they got the concert happen in their state. They say we are the most politically incorrect group of people and we don’t even talk about bashers. Our humor is different because we often talk about ourselves, we haven’t talked about the audience YET, but maybe if we don’t have anything to talk about we will lol.”

Pops says “I was really happy, music is powerful because it can give us a lot of joy, bring us back in time and some of them even cried. Through our songs, they remember moments, and see something live, it brings a lot of memories. We enjoyed because there are a lot of people, sometimes we forget that our songs affect people, plus the wonderful spiels of these innocent men. Thank you to Newport because when they knew we had shows in the US they got us there. It’s not easy to produce shows these days because people might be a little afraid to go out. Thank you to those who believe in us and different artists because it’s a challenging time, and I’m happy we have been successful, thank you to producers and people who believe in us. What we will be bringing in Manila is the same show but since this is home, we will put a lot extra in production. You need to see it because it’s a little bit of everything, it’s a surprise. This is going to be so fun I promise.”

Hadji says “After two years, this is a grand reunion of sorts, we were like barkadas catching up with stories. Cliche as it may sound, but with this group, you just build it and they would come. Our generation may come in wheel chairs and dextrose, but they will go to the venue and enjoy it. It’s a happy feeling to see them come because of the songs, and sometimes because of time constraints it’s a little tough to squeeze in all the songs because it’s a lot. But our top hits will be there, so you’ll have a good time with us there! We will have duets, quintets, a medley of love songs from the 70’s and 80’s, a little boring from Rey Valera but it’s good. We don’t have Rico J anymore but we got his spunk, it will be clean fun. I remember Rico had nuns and priests walk out but with mine, there won’t be anything like that.”

Tickets are sold at the venue or Ticketnet and SM Tickets. If you're raring to reminisce the good old times, the 4 Kings and Queen would want you to be there.

SING GALING To Do Back to Back Finale at THE MANILA METROPOLITAN THEATER

It was so fun to have been able to go out and cover events again. As restrictions ease in Manila, TV5 invited us to the grand dame of theaters, The Manila Metropolitan Theater. This place was officially opened last year and this is officially the first time that a live event for TV is being held here as SING GALING is doing back to back grand final events this coming March 5 and 12.

This is possible as they've forged a partnership with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts. They gave us a peek on what will happen to the Ultimate Pa-Sing-Katan for the celebrity edition and Kantastic Finale for the regular edition. They had all the contestants for the regular edition present and a Chuckie Dreyfus, Boobsie Wonderland and Aljur Abrenica too. The celebrities will also have their chosen charities benefit from it so the stakes are definitely higher.

Check out this video I made of our visit there!

I'll be doing a separate video for the tour of The Met, so subscribe and stay tuned for that. Meanwhile, you're going to also see Pepe Herrera, Jerald Napoles and Patrick Quiroz for the finale. You also have the chance to choose what song they'll be singing through their Facebook page plus the ability to vote for the winner through Facebook Messenger. They partnered with Meta's Facebook just for that. QR Code for voting will appear on the show and posted on their social channels. Up for grabs is a 1 Million prize and a house and lot so it's going to be a serious battle. It'll be livestreamed on https://www.facebook.com/singgalingtayo/ https://www.facebook.com/TV5manila/ and their official YouTube account.

What struck me most was the judges, as the contestants told us, pretty much loved the time they spent together. They felt like equals, and Mr. Rey Valera even made them their own single, in hopes of releasing an album with them on it. Doesn't that fell like pieces falling together for OPM? Oh surely, it'll be a good time to watch the show at 6PM on those dates.

Bigger, Better and More Fun in SING GALING!

Just got off the Sing Galing Mediacon (when I was writing this article) and it was fun to see not just the  hosts but the actual contestants who made it far in this contest. Ultimately, it was not just plain singing that got them there, but passion, the calling to entertain people and the hunger to pursue their dreams each time they sing. Regelyn Fernandez, Kim Macaraig, Yuki Takahashi, Niko Badayos, Jean Jordan had their own individual stories to tell, one thing for sure was their lives have changed. Aside from the prizes they won from the show, they also got recognized in their own communities plus supportive fans from the show. Aside from that, ratings have been good so far and honestly, I like the format of it. It works! 

During the presscon, Zendee Tenerife shared her struggles with her health while the show was actually starting... she says "I had COVID during the first week of Sing Galing, I got over that even if I was having a hard time to host and sing. Nobody noticed and now I'm better. I'm really looking forward to talk and sing for fans online, my journey with Sing Galing has been very good so far and I can't wait to see more people join the show, and perhaps soon, to get and see the hosts of the show since we're still under quarantine."

Rey Valera on the other hand had a say with how this compares with the It's Showtime and says "There are two things that I can say this is different form my other shows. This is light, and there's a random factor. You may be good at singing but if you don't know the song, you'll probably lose because of the choices the randomizer makes. I don't sing my songs anymore because I feel like it's work when I'm trying to relax. I also use a guitar for production value. I think it's better! I'm a fan of K Brosas, she's a survivor, and she knows how to survive, I give great value to people who stay in this profession and maintain their careers til now. I have managed to do that because of the songs I made, it connected me to different generations, even if my fans already passed on, I still have a few that support me because I realize, I can still enjoy the moment because of the people that believe in me. I think about what to share especially in Singaling, if I could only do it in music and in life. They don't have to go through the same things that I have, but this is good. I look at them not as contestants, they equally are entertainers and not just here because they can belt out songs."

OPM Icon Jessa Zaragoza was asked about her doing a number on the show and what she tends to sing during off time to relax with videoke, she says "Of course I still sing my songs, I also sing covers but I tend to usually sing the light ones because it's time to relax. "

 

 

Ronnie Liang sang a few lines of Rey Valera's songs and said "I usually sing ballads, I am glad to have been able to work with Rey Valera because I often sing his songs. It's hard to tape several episodes and sing, and perform  the whole day. You don't know if you can maintain the energy, thank God we are able to deliver and stay safe during the few weeks we had to do this for the show. We get really encouraged as we get good feedback from the show, also see people that watch it. It's worth the effort, investment, time, we fulfilled our mission to give happiness and entertain a lot of people during this time." It was nice for him to share some of his experiences in taping the show, I've been to their set and it's very safe there because as soon as you reach the entrance, they ask you to use PPE's, masks, and make sure you follow protocols inside the studio.

K Brosas also told us about the difference of the show versus Sing Galing 2021. She says "TNT is a singing contest but Sing Galing is Videoke, it's not really a priority of sorts. You see the personality, you can do showmanship. It's chosen by the machine. Rey Valera's songs til now are relatable, Singaling made it trend and it blew up overnight on my Twitter account when I told people about the back story of these songs. It was about LGBT relationships, it was just now that people knew about it. Crazy how it felt after hearing about how the iconic songs were formed no?"

Now that there's more contestants bringing their A game and a lot more others who will join the show, there's nowhere to go but up! Happy birthday to Ms. K Brosas who was so fun during this interview, and I hope that they'll have a few more years to discover talented Filipinos and even greater entertainers. It's going to be heck of a lot of fun doing that in Sing Galing, and by the looks of it, they're not doing any disservice to the original show that was successful during its hey days. Sing Galing shows  on TV5's Todo Max Primetime block on weekdays. Thank you to Cornerstone who invited us to this event!

Get Ready for SING GALING!

It was a hit show in the late 90's which lasted for a couple years, but if there is someone who deserves a reboot, it is the hit show SING GALING. It was then ABC5's nationally renowned karaoke competition that puts to the test the Filipino's knowledge of their national pastime.

This time, the hosts will be 80's icon Randy Santiago, the Philippines Jessie J comedienne Ms. K Brosas and funny power belter Donita Nose. Judges will include legendary Rey Valera, Jessa Zaragoza, and crooner Ronnie Liang. They will also have YouTuber Zendee host the online show plus several Tiktok artists to cover parts of the show (that will also be Tiktok performance driven). A lot of people liked the previous format, but this will be a lot different from the late 90's show. As Director Mel Feliciano puts it, people will see how contestants progress in each round. After being the champion of the day, you will get to battle it out with the next day's contestant so you kinda get a larger amount if you beat the next day champ too. Your prize will also depend on the number of words you mention correctly in a song, so you've really got to brush up with the lyrics.

Ray Valera, Jessa Zaragoza, Ronnie Liang mentioned that this wouldn't be like other game shows where they would require absolute perfection on the way people are singing the pieces because as you would know, much of these songs will be just a surprise. So in way, they know you won't know the songs 100 percent, which makes sense if they see you missing a word or two of it. Here's part of the interview we had with them this afternoon.

 

 

Anyway, it'll start on Mondays through Fridays at 6:30PM. They want to also be part of your dinner habits so if its possible, they want to you watch with your family during that time. Go get ready for your stint in SING GALING!

Rey Valera and Joey G for The Acoustic Playlist

Valentines will be a little sweeter as singer song writers Rey Valera and former Side A frontman Joey Generoso will be coming together in a concert called "The Acoustic Playlist", an unusual but very interesting combination. 

Joey G says "Ana Puno suggested this combination and I am excited to do this with Rey Valera. It's called Acoustic Playlist and we will have duets, new things we could do because we haven't had a show before. I still do gigs at night and couldn't join Tawag ng Tanghalan. We both like the band setup, we both like love songs, we figured we could do it both. Who knows, we might figure out a dance number (he kids). I loved singing, I love playing instruments, my family is all inclined with music. I always learned it when an instrument arrives at home. It's good being a solo artist now because I handle my own time. I personally decided to do this five years ago to have another story. I didn't have any bad things with Side A, we're too old for drama. Wyngard used to tell me it will happen and it did happen, I had hesitstions but when I did it I saw myself in a different light. It's exciting to work with Rey because I was always fond of his compatriots like Rico J, Hadjii, they had a different kind of music. I would like to work with new artists but mostly with sons/daughters of musicians before, even Moira. Music is never ending studying, I would like to explore other genre. The type of songs for me are different because I decide most of it, not when I was in a band where 5 people had to butt heads. When I did release my first single, iTunes got it on number 1, we didn't go far from my sound. Fans are expecting. "

Rey Valera says "We have song choice in Tawag ng Tanghalan and it's where we experiment a lot. Given a challenge to make it funny or put it on a different situation, I would accept it. Dancing? I could do it, but I just got out of the hospital and I might fall off the stage. Joey has a reputation of being so good on stage, womanizer (he kids) but I will adjust on his kind of songs, I will have to introduce it to myself. I have to make millennials know of me, we could meet in the middle of our music. Unlike when I do it with Rico, Joey has a different audience. I did get to be with him in some bands but I had no idea how he is as a solo artist. Joey G, Aiza and Me always make stadiums full, we will get to try this out in our homeland first before we try to put this on a tour in the US. Our song choices are not that different, but it is how we play it. I am more masa, he is more kolehiyala who can now afford. We now are entertaining a different generation and I don't have to adjust too much, we just have to project an image worthy of that concert. We have to practice song progression, we are both writers and we arrange music, we do lyrics, different jobs and realize there are different disciplines not unlike here where we do everything ourselves. One thing I have learned in life is if you are controlling, don't if you can't, God willing we will be there. I felt I was going with Rico, to be next, only a matter of time and you feel your circle is becoming smaller, my time here is just a bonus."

The concert will happen on February 7, 2020, Friday 8pm at Palacio De Maynila. You may call 84702222, or at the venue 85247606, 85273239. They will have Jona as guest, will hold their US Tour on May 1, Los Angeles , then Las Vegas, then Atlantic City. Maybe more soon, to know more details about the concert, check dates and ticket prices over at starmediaentertainment.com. 

It's all there!

The Best of the Hitmakers!

Rey Valera, Rico J Puno, Marco Sison, Rey Valera, Hadji Alejandro and special guest Ms. Jessa Zaragosa will be at the New Port Performing Arts Theater this 

It was an idea born from the OPM Legends concert in Resorts World (more of like a reunion) and they wanted an even more endearing tribute to hit makers and their hit songs. It's about two or three years since they've done it and they're excited to see those who still love OPM. Rey Valera says "I'm sure they'll be glad to hear the hits from the 80's and 90's but we'll do more modern songs so it'll be something they'll be looking forward to in a grander venue, bigger show. Hadji is our scriptwriter, to talk in front of the crowd. We don't even have a director, so expect the greenest jokes that he couldn't say be done by Rico J. It's going to be more personal and funny! Being a songwriter and producer, I still try to do things with composers and see if that will also work and introduce them even if they didn't win in the show. I call it a Songwriting Project, I do that aside from the judging, we discover talents there." 

Marco Sison adds "I am nervous but Hadji helps us a lot to put things together. I'm from the outskirts of Manila but I get to rehearsals early. We often still arrive early for the show. They arrive when it's already the concert. Nonoy is not gonna be here as he is based in the US. When we got in touch with him we already finalized materials, we tried but we didn't have time. I think he had a bad experience with Ana Puno *he jokes*. I like how they're also reviving our songs in contests so I think it's timely."

Hadji adds "What's great is that we already have worked together in the past and we won't be trying hard telling each other jokes, calling names because we already know each other. We just have yo be good boys now that Jessa is also here." 

There are more offerings next year from StarMedia (producer of this show) like Martin Nievera and Lani Misalucha on Valentine's day in Solaire called Masquerade. Tickets for this show are now available at Ticketworld.com.ph at 8919999 and SM Tickets at 4702222. You can also buy online at www.smtickets.com. 

KUMAGCOW

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