Great Songs To Sing
  • Home
  • Online Store
  • Listen/Preview
  • Trina's Blog
  • For A Cause
  • Music Publishers and Admins
Picture

Bituin Escalante - Now THAT'S A Singer!

4/20/2013

1 Comment

 
I don’t remember when or how Bituin and I met and became friends.  I do remember when I first saw her perform: it was the musicale Rent showing in Music Museum, and she blew everyone away with her solo part in “Seasons Of Love.” 

In 2000 my friend Arnold Reyes became a Metropop finalist and looked to me for some help recording his entry “Paano Na.”  My “suki” arranger Arnold Buena worked on the instrumental arrangement, and I helped out with the vocals by giving Bituin some directions so that the song would start out mellow, build up and fly at the end.  A bit of "contest formula" that had worked for me in the past.  "Paano Na" won 2nd Prize that year.

I didn’t get to see much of Bituin after that, but we’ve been in touch the past few years thanks to wonders of social media.

Last Easter was the 10th year anniversary of Mass Appeal, a choir I’m a member of that sings every fourth Sunday of the month at the La Salle Greenhills Chapel.   To give this special anniversary mass a bit of “sindak” power, I invited Bituin to do the solo of “Joyful Joyful” (that famous Sister Act version) for our recessional song.  The whole choir was over the moon with excitement when she agreed to do it.  With her family and 2 babies in tow, she arrived middle of the mass and was apologetic about not being able to come earlier, but the absence of an opportunity for us to rehearse with her didn’t faze us one bit.  We knew she would be awesome and she was, and the whole number was truly a joyful one for us all.  You can watch that performance right here.
A few days after that, Bituin invited us to her upcoming gig at Balete@Kamias where she would perform Cole Porter and Gershwin songs.  I watched the show with my parents who came all the way to Manila from Silang, Cavite (this cool couple found out about the gig through posts on Facebook – yes they’re both on FB – and gave me a call when they read about the show to ask me to get tickets) and a bunch of Mass Appeal choristers (including our musical director Inday Echevarria, choir founder and Route 70 vocalist Ding-Dong Eduque, Tux members Popo Suanes and Manny Aquino and a few others).
Picture
I found myself hanging on to every note and word Bituin sang.  I was so caught up in her music that I forgot to order a drink!  Ding-Dong and I talked about her on the ride home after the show.  "Ang sexy ni Bituin kumanta no?" I remarked.  Ding-Dong went, "Hindi na nga sexy eh...bastos na!"  We meant it in the best way possible.  I found the right expression later on and told Bituin through a thread on Facebook what we thought of her singing: "Ang libog mo kumanta!"  It was the best compliment I could give her and I think she knew it.

What sets Bituin apart from many other artists is this: you have many great singers who aren't good actors, and many great actors who aren't good singers.  Bituin is both an excellent singer and a trained theater actor. She combines her skill in stylizing and belting out notes with the ability to express what a song is really all about because you know that she understands her material.  She's an intelligent and expressive storyteller with an awesome set of pipes.   That's what makes her different.  And THAT is what real singing is all about.  Right now, I can't think of any other local performer who can do it the way she does.  Certainly not at the level Bituin does it.

She performs again at 7th High's Apex Lounge on April 30.  You can find details of that show HERE.  Do yourself a favor: watch Bituin perform and treat yourself to some REAL singing.

1 Comment
Mary Grace Elep
10/27/2013 05:19:47 pm

Thanks for sharing this. Bituin's mom is my second cousin and of course Gigi was a lead singer of The Ambivalent Crowd. Bituin inherited the enthusiasm and good sense of humor of the Barsanas of Batanes. Along our bloodline are Sec. Butch Abad and her sister-painter Pacita. Also Jorge Barsana of GTV 4 before and a lot more. You'll find personalities like her in our family that spout fire!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Picture
    My name is  Trina Belamide and I'm a songwriter and record producer.
    GreatSongsToSing is my online store and I thank you for dropping by! Do comment on my blog posts. I'd love to hear from you!
    Learn more about me on
    www.trinabelamide.com.

    Archives

    March 2018
    October 2016
    April 2016
    August 2015
    November 2014
    August 2014
    May 2014
    February 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    April 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    June 2012
    April 2012
    November 2011

    Categories

    All
    Announcement
    Artists
    Christmas
    Events
    Featured Song
    Friends
    I Recommend
    Lyric Video
    Personalities
    Philpop
    Product Reviews
    Random Thoughts
    Travel/leisure

    RSS Feed

  • Home
  • Online Store
  • Listen/Preview
  • Trina's Blog
  • For A Cause
  • Music Publishers and Admins