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Regine Velasquez Profile |
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Birth Date: April 22, 1970
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Birth Place: Manila, Philippines
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Birth Name: Regina Encarnacion Ansong Velasquez
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Biography |
Regine Encarnacion Ansong Velasquez was born into a loving
and supportive family on April 22, 1970 in Manila,
Philippines. At an early age her parents recognized that she
was a gifted singer and they quickly enrolled her into local
and national singing contests in the Philippines. She didn't
win every one she entered, but she did perform well enough
for the family to make her success a number one priority.
The Velasquez family moved out of Manila to Leyte, in order
for Regine to work with some prestigious voice coaches and
go through a ritual that her father believed would
strengthen her voice. Apparently, he would submerge his
young daughter up to her neck in the sea and have her run
through her singing exercises. Whether it actually made a
difference is still debatable.
Boasting a trained and stronger voice, Regine entered 200
contests in her amateur days and won an impressive 67 of
them. If that doesn't sound like an impressive feat, imagine
a golfer winning 67/200 tournaments or a NASCAR driver
pulling off the same percentages.
Of those 67 victories, the most important was the one she
earned for her performance at the career-launching Bagong
Kampeon Competition. She breezed through the opening rounds
facing little resistance and was pegged as the narrow
favorite to win the finals. Before she took the stage,
judges and fans were expecting a performance much like what
they had seen in the qualifying stages. When she launched
into the first bars of "In Your Eyes," the audience knew
something special was happening. Velasquez delivered what is
generally regarded as the performance of her life and was
rewarded accordingly. Within weeks, she found herself in a
local recording studio working on her debut single.
In spite of the lack of success of her first single,
Velasquez was still very much a celebrity and in demand for
appearances. One such appearance in 1987 had a great impact
on her career. She was invited to appear on a local talk
show to give an interview and perform. Backstage she met
Ronnie Henares, a major player in the Asian music industry,
who agreed to become her manager. And with his first act as
manager, he hired her a decent producer and set to work on
an album. Regine was released in 1987 to critical and
commercial success.
Having a hit album in the Philippines was one thing, but
Velasquez ached to be an international star. In 1989,
Velasquez entered the Asia-Pacific Singing Contest as an
official representative of the Philippines. By the time the
show ended, she became the pride and joy of the entire
nation and was crowned champion of one of Asia's most
prestigious contests.
The exposure rocketed her from Filipino celebrity to Asian
music superstar. Almost overnight she began selling out
stadium concerts and put out several multi-platinum albums
in Asia, such as Drawn, R2K and Regine Live! Songbird Sings
the Classics. In 2001, she released Reigne, her first
offering of original material in two years.
Music, it turns out, was only the first arena for her
success. As a spokesperson, she helped increase the presence
of American fast-food chains like KFC and Wendy's in Asia.
As an actress, she appeared in a number of Filipino films
that, it's safe to say, succeeded exclusively because of
Regine's star power. As a television host, her music show
Star For A Night, has continually received high ratings
since its inception in 2000.
Regine Velasquez achieved every goal she set for herself as
a young girl: multi-platinum success, wealth, fame, and
scores of accolades. The only thing eluding her is the
opportunity to move from continental celebrity to
international fame. Though it is a daunting task to try to
become one of the first Asian pop singers to cross over to
the North American market, Velasquez might just have enough
talent and star power to pull it off... and you heard it
here first. |
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Other
Information |
Introduced in The Untouchable Family (1987).
First recorded song was Love Me Again under Octo-Arts in
1986 as Chona Velasquez. It got cold response.
At early elementary age, Regine joined various singing
competitions in provinces around the country. Out of 200
competitions she entered, she won 67 of them.
She credits her singing talent to her father, who would
submerge her in water up to her neck and have her do vocal
exercises to strengthen her voice.
At 14, she joined Bagong Kampeon, a television contest
featuring the singing talents of Filipinos. She qualified
with "Saan Ako Nagkamali", chosen by her father, and won
with "In Your Eyes". The prize was a record deal from
Octo-Arts.
In her guesting at the talk-show Penthouse Live on February
16, 1986 after her first single flopped, host Martin
Nievera' suggested Ms. Velasquez to use the more glamorous
name Regine, instead of her then name, Chona. Show producer
Ronnie Henares also offered to manage her career which she
accepted.
Her father resigned from his job as a construction estimator
to fully attend to his daughter's career in 1986.
Although she was born in Manila, Philippines, Regine is
popularly known to be from Bulacan where she grew up. Her
family also stayed in Hinundayan, Southern Leyte where she
spent her elementary years.
First child of Teresita and Gerry Velasquez.
First joined an amateur singing contest at age 6, performing
"Buhat Nang Kita'y Makilala." As she could not read at that
time, her father would sing it to her and she would memorize
the lyrics. She lost that contest, but was given a special
award for the brave performance. |
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