Christian’s Lifelong Passion
Thursday, April 30th, 2009Written by Joseph O. Cortes
Thursday, 30 April 2009 21:39
Business Mirror
Many people think balladeer Christian Bautista was just plain lucky when he emerged as the “real” winner of ABS-CBN’s Star in a Million singing contest. Although he was eliminated early on in the game, he managed to eclipse the careers of the contest winner and runner-up, both of whom have much powerful voices than his. He came into show business at a time when there was a dearth of balladeers; rock bands were all the rage then. Call him a senti singer, but tell me who doesn’t like a love song?
And yet, it was not all luck for Christian. What many people don’t realize is that the passion for singing has been with him since he was a little boy of seven. His parents encouraged him to join the local church choir with his brothers as a way of meeting and socializing with the neighborhood kids. Little did they know that the singing bug would bite him.
“It wasn’t a workshop but continuous training every Sunday,” Christian says. “We learned songs, we learned how to sing with other kids, we learned how to follow the choir director, even if we didn’t like him. It was basically getting to really know your choirmates and focusing on one goal: to perform well, to blend well…and still have fun. My parents also made me take guitar and piano lessons, but, unfortunately, I didn’t have enough passion for them as I had for singing. It just became so easy for me. I was experimenting. I was suggesting songs. I found out early on that singing really was my talent.”
Christian is presently the ambassador of Promil Pre-School’s i-Shine Talent Workshop, a nationwide talent- enhancement program dedicated to hone the interest and potential of children ages four to seven. With three courses to choose from—musical theater, voice and musical instruments (piano, guitar, or violin)—the workshop should see the children participants discovering, appreciating, and honing their talents quickly and more effectively. (For more information: 81-99384 for Metro Manila residents; or 1-800-10-884-2222.)
Christian was chosen by Promil as the i-Shine Ambassador because kids can easily relate to his story as someone who discovered his talents early on in life. With musicality inherent in his family, Christian’s parents were not surprised when they discovered his knack for singing.
“It is this thrust of developing talents at a young age that makes successful singer and stage actor, Christian Bautista, a perfect fit for Promil Pre-School i-Shine Talent Workshop. He is, indeed, proof of what can be achieved if talent is developed at an early age,” says Promil Pre-School product manager Carlo de la Paz.
i-Shine program director Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo says that apart from discovering their talent, the workshop also hopes to develop in the children participants basic interpersonal skills.
“Besides discovering the talent in each child, with the program comes the confidence, comes empathy, comes learning, how to deal with children, learning how to give, and learning how to take,” she says. “It creates a well-rounded child who will hopefully grow into a very well-balanced mature individual.”
While he never participated in a workshop in his youth, Christian says he did join one when he was already in college.
“I enrolled in a musical theater workshop one summer, and that really opened my eyes to the genre,” he declares. “I fell in love with musical theater. I fell in love with how we studied a play, trained with one another, and came out with a great production after. Even though I studied landscape architecture, I’d forgotten much of what I learned. That’s why I decided to ask my parents to give me a few years to try musical theater.”
They didn’t say no. In fact, if there is anyone Christian gives credit for his success as a singer now, it would be his parents.
“I’m very happy my parents started me off early, that when I had time to realize that dream of mine, it was already very easy,” he says.
Kids can freely immerse themselves in a nurturing environment with the i-Shine workshop. There are 44 i-Shine workshop sites nationwide, with 16 in Metro Manila, five in Northern Luzon, 11 in Southern Luzon, nine in the Visayas and three in Mindanao.
The i-Shine workshops are being implemented with staggered opening classes. Some classes started on April 20, while others are starting within the next two weeks. All workshops run for 10 sessions, each session lasting for 90 minutes, with all workshops culminating in a class showcase.
Lauchengco-Yulo adds, “A lot of the learning is programmed through theater games. We have several theater games that teach a child objectives; that teach a child how to go after a goal; that teach a child projection; that teach a child how to occupy space, which are all the important things you need in a performance, whether it be singing or acting.”
For the workshop showcase, a program with an under-the-sea theme has been chosen for being easy and engaging for the kids. She says the parents will be encouraged to participate in the showcase by helping in creating scenery, costumes and props for the kids.
Parents can still enroll their kids in any of the various i-Shine workshops for nationwide. Interested applicants only need to submit a proof of purchase of Promil Pre-School and pay P3,500 for the registration fee.
***For inquiries about workshop dates and sites nearest you, call the Wyeth CareLine at 81-WYETH(81-99384) for Metro Manila residents; or 1-800-10-884-2222 for provincial residents, Monday to Friday, from 8 am to 8 pm.
