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Date Posted: 01:34:05 02/10/05 Thu
Date: Thu Feb 10, 2005 4:33 am
Subject: Show Time/ 25 Yrs of Kuh Ledesma
Show Time
25 years of Kuh Ledesma
Posted 07:37pm (Mla time) Feb 05, 2005
By Jocelyn Valle
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A4-1 of the February 6, 2005 issue
of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
KUH Ledesma closed 2004 and opened 2005 performing and hosting a
countdown in Jakarta, Indonesia.
It was just a few days after the tsunami hit the countries around
the Indian Ocean, including Indonesia, and although the affected
area of Aceh was far from the capital where Kuh was performing, she
said she felt the audience's sadness.
While she shared the feeling of the Indonesians, Kuh also felt happy
and proud to learn that Filipino musicians in our neighboring
country are much admired and respected. "We really excel in music,"
she smiled.
This Valentine weekend, Kuh will proudly prove again that claim in a
series of shows at the Mandarin Oriental Manila titled "The Love
Songs of Streisand, Legrand and Groban." She will perform hits by
the three celebrated artists but will do so in her own way.
Christian Bautista, who first got the attention of the public with
his ala-Josh Groban vocal quality and style, will be her lone guest
star.
Kuh, a mainstay on Channel 2's musical-variety show, "Asap," also
gears up to do more concerts and specials to mark her silver year in
show business.
Canseco song
The silver year brings back some memories for Kuh. For instance,
when she was having problems getting permission to use one of her
hits, "Ako Ay Pilipino," as a track in the best-of album that she
was working on last year, she enlisted the help of the song's
composer, George Canseco.
"But then he died," Kuh lamented. The revered songsmith succumbed to
cancer on Nov. 19.
"Fortunately, he was able to write a song for me," she said. "He
translated the duet of Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony called 'No Me
Ames' into Filipino. It's beautiful. I'm going to record it for my
next album."
It'll be one of the five albums that Kuh is planning to do in 2005
in celebration of her 25th year in the music industry. She said
she'd record best-of albums in Filipino and English, plus a
compilation of kundiman songs and a collaboration with musician-
producer Bob Aves called "Para sa Bayan Kong Mahal."
"And I'm praying that I'll be able to do all of these," she said,
laughing. "You see, recording is the hardest thing for me to do. I'm
so hard on myself. I don't know when to stop."
But when does she know when a song sounds just right?
"I know when it's good," she replied. "I have a song in my acoustic
album that took only two takes to finish. 'Yung iba siguro tig-isang
libong take. Well, hindi naman!"
6-month work
Sometimes, though, it's not just her perfectionism that delays the
recording process. Before starting work on "Duet with Me," for
instance, she felt confident that it would be completed in just a
month because she already knew the songs in it by heart. But to her
horror, the complicity of singing both the main and second voices of
the songs ate up a lot of studio time and the album only saw light
after six months.
Thankfully, the people she works with in the studio, including her
engineer, already understand her work ethic, said Kuh.
Although she feels satisfied listening to her CDs, the diva ("Only
because I wear big gowns") admitted to having a list of her past
recordings that she'd like to re-do.
"Like when I first recorded 'Ako ay Pilipino, hindi ko pa siya
masyadong feel. I was young then. I knew I loved my country but I
didn't really understand how it was to be patriotic. Now I already
know, that's why I can relate to every line of the song."
Then there are some songs that she'd rather not sing, like those
with nonsensical lyrics.
"I believe in the power of words," she explained. "It's written in
the Bible that life and death are in the power of tongue. We will
face whatever consequences for what comes out of our mouth. I don't
feel sorry for not singing a song just because I don't approve of
some of its words. I can change them but I find doing that corny."
Excited, motivated
Kuh also cringed at the thought of warbling "victim" songs, or tunes
that celebrate suffering, pain and the like. She nevertheless
hummed, "I can't live if living is without you," as an example, but
soon shrieked, "Ayoko 'yan! Hindi ko na feel 'yan. I've overcome
that."
She has also overcome getting in a rut, said Kuh. She remembered
that there was a time in her life when she felt like retiring from
her work. She felt weary and uninspired. But not anymore. These
days, she happily related waking up very excited and motivated.
"Focusing on life keeps me going," she intimated. "If I enjoyed
making money before, I like to make more money now. I want to work
more because I also want to help more people."
She has a foundation that supports Bible teachers and builds
churches in barangays.
"When you're just starting out," she said, "of course, you want to
work to have a house, a car and save up so you'll have money when
you get old. Now I'm not that afraid anymore because I believe that
there's a God that loves us and will never leave or forsake us. All
we have to do is ask. You know, I always say, 'Lord, I've never been
busier in my 25 years and I'm willing to work more. Provide work for
me. At nandiyan lagi."
Last year, Kuh had eight shows in different parts of the country and
a concert tour with Nora Aunor in the United States and Australia.
She said she enjoyed working the Superstar and never had a problem
with her. Prior to that Kuh guest-starred on Nora's defunct soap
opera, "Bituin."
============== :-) ===============
http://insidebuzz.tripod.com
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