I just have to post this while it’s still fresh. I was in my sis’ room fiddling with the dogs, when ASAP showed Toni (spelling?) Gonzaga, the Coke Girl, and this other artist (model?)
Toni is pretty good! Doing a Mariah Carey and actually delivering the goods!
That Coke Girl however sucked. This is exactly why I don’t take voice-timbre that seriously, because there are people who sound really good, but are too limited in their style. Suffice to say that the Coke Girl should really stick to singing sweet songs. No belting, no R&B, nothing else.
The Filipino’s are generally a music-inclined people. Most Filipino’s know good music when they hear it – regardless if they themselves are good or not. Which is why there are soooooo many people you will come across with the “killer” voice – it’s simply a natural standard we probably develop as a people. So there’s bound to be at least one great sounding person in your life – be it a friend, a family member, a choirmate, etc.
In fact, there are too many nice sounding voices out there that it can get quite dull listening to the same “ballady” voice everywhere in all artists (with exceptions of course). I guess It’s a cultural thing to prefer such a sound, and it’s getting really old, really quick… or maybe it’s just me listening to too much diverse music.
I guess that’s why artists like Paolo Santos made it. His voice isn’t great (and I’m already being very polite in saying that) but he can work a stage, and beyond the not-so-pleasant facade, he is a decent performer (compared to the other “artists” that are making it to the industry). He’s no Nyoy or Noel, but he holds his own. And considering he has a 0% advantage vocally, physically, and musically over the other two (and a whole lot more) – then he must be doing something right to stay in the game.
I’ve always admired that part of him. Though even I catch myself dissing him when in my “moments of criticism,” and he may be “past his prime.” But I will never deny the fact that he did deserve to be where he was – no matter what other people may think.
and you know who else is doing something right for some strange reason? Parokya ni edgar. the band usually holds it because of their witty lyrics, fun tunes, and a pretty much an in-your-face image. but the band’s darn rich.
you know what else is annoying? our psuedo-acoustic artists doing remakes of classic songs. case in point, Nina and kyla and maybe some other one-named “artist” our there. their voices arent so GREAT and they dont even release enough original songs. tssss.
Parokya’s strength never was intented to be the music in the first place – but the humor. Now that they’re actually improving musically is just a bonus.
There’s always more to being an artist that sheer skill, first of all you have to have an angle or niche, they knew where they fit and capitalized on that. I actually admire them since looking back, they had a good strategy – get the people’s attention first, and then grow. Which was extremely effective in their case. If it worked for them, then I see nothing wrong with that 🙂
As far as Nina and Kyla are concerned, they don’t release enough, but they DO release more than Paolo Santos. Though I admire Paolo to a certain extent – his simply trying to “copy” whatever is in the charts has always been a pet peeve of mine, but that’s beside the point.
I actually first heard Nina before she skyrocketed to stardom coming home and listening to the radio, there was a station promoting the album and the tracks that caught my attention were her originals.
Similarly, I belive the song that got Kyla noticed was her original right? I think it’s more of the industry rather than the artists themseleves that are limited. Of course the industry probably wants to sell quickly so obviously stick with the formula that works.
I think it can be summarized with this: 1. Artist gets public/label attention. 2. Arttst does what the label/manager dictates so they can “stay” in the business. 3. Artist grows (assuming that they have gained enough respect from the “old dogs”) and applies their own music.
There are always exceptions to the rule of course, but the scenario above is probably the case for all rags-to-riches artists.