Regine Velasquez: From winning fiesta competitions to winning Filipino hearts
Published On: September 12, 2014, 07:50 PM
Updated On: February 21, 2020, 10:26 PM
By MARY LOUISE LIGUNAS
PHOTO BY ELISA AQUINO, GMANetwork.com
Considering the fame she has reached, the albums she has released and the awards she has won, it’s hard to believe that Regine Velasquez started her singing career in small singing competitions.
“That’s how I started. I was joining amateur singing contests. Mga fiesta fiesta [at first],” she shared.
Even with her voice that wows everyone today, she’s had her fair share of defeats and rejections. No matter how many times she lost, she still kept trying and singing her heart away.
“I was really young so I wasn’t really thinking about anything. I was just singing… I was just really having fun,” she said.
Her passion for singing and the tremendous support from her late father fueled her to keep doing better and inspired her to hone her skill.
“I [would get] nervous [but] I wasn’t particularly thinking about my opponent. I wasn’t thinking about it. I was more focused on my song para mas magalingan ko,” she recalled.
In 1983, she joined a televised singing contest where she emerged as champion. Because of her determination and drive, things got only better from there. Since then, she continued working hard and competing with only herself.
Today, she’s the Asia’s Songbird and one of the best singers that the country has ever seen. From where she is now, she’s glad she had the heart to dream and the courage to translate it to reality.