Arroyo sings with Richard Carpenter, Claire de la Fuente on V Day

Amid the controversies hounding her administration, a mellow President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo took time to sing with legendary 70’s singer Richard Carpenter and Claire de la Fuente in Malacañang on Valentine's Day. Richard, one half of the melodic pop duo, The Carpenters, made a courtesy call to President Arroyo on Thursday to promote an album. The President, wearing an orange V-neck dress, was accompanied by De la Fuente, a.k.a. "Karen Carpenter of the Philippines," in singing her favorite Carpenters song "I Have You." (Sing along here) "Oh she sang that really well," Carpenter, who was in a barong, said. "The President sang absolutely lovely and what meant more to me than listening to her sing is that she knows the words and music to one of our lesser known songs. Not one of the greater hits and that really means something." "The only one [who] didn't sound too good was [me]," he joked. At the peak of their career, Richard and sister Karen had three No. 1 singles in the Billboard Hot 100 and fifteen No. 1 hits in the Adult Contemporary Singles Charts, making them one of the best-selling music artists of all time. Their singing career ended after Karen’s death in 1983 due to complications of anorexia nervosa. For Valentine’s Day, Carpenter hoped that President Arroyo will, "have the rest of this day be as special as it has been to this degree." As to her personal Valentine's celebration, Arroyo told reporters that she and First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo had no plans yet for Valentine's. The American artist arrived in the Philippines to promote De la Fuente’s first international album, where she sang Carpenter's composition, "Something in Your Eyes." The two met for the first time last December after De la Fuente sent Carpenter a recorded cover of one of the Carpenters’ popular songs. Carpenter's lyricist accompanied De la Fuente to his house in California to hear her sing. "He was very elusive at first and a bit shy. He wasn’t even looking at me," De la Fuente told GMANews in Filipino last January. Right after singing, De la Fuente said Carpenter was astounded by her "wonderful, beautiful, husky voice," and even hugged her after the performance. "He was listening to my song. I said to myself, 'Wow, am I that important now?'" De la Fuente said, tearfully. For Carpenter, his first trip to the Philippines won’t be the last. "Times spent here are amongst the most enthusiastic and appreciative people to whom I've ever played," he said. "They're fabulous, just fabulous, and I look forward to coming back." - GMANews.TV