celebrity filipino globe. September 2007. 42. Britney Spears is reeling after rap
stars Akon and Common blasted her much-hyped comeback performance at the.
42
celebrity
filipino globe
September 2007
Stories behind her love songs Cecile Azarcon lets us in on the private thoughts and feelings that inspire her music Laura G Perez in Sacramento
T
o call Cecile Azarcon a hopeless romantic would be an understatement. But to say that she is all heart would leave out that part of her that pulsates in her compositions, something that launched her as a promising composer with the release of Lift up your Hands in the 1980s. Originally sung by Basil Valdez, this has become a standard in church services and spiritual retreats. It may well be Cecile’s signature song. Now she is poised to outdo herself with a major composition that will sear everyone’s soul. The new song is about Jesus’ invitation to Peter to walk on water with Him. Entitled Walking on Water, it could well define her spirituality. Seated at the grand piano in her elegant home in Vallejo, Cecile tells us the story behind it. “It was composed three years ago, during my sister’s tragic bout with cancer.” She kept this song in her heart before she finally handed it over to a singer who could interpret it beautifully – her long-time friend, Kuh Ledesma. Walking on Water takes the listeners through the raging sea of doubts and fears, and gets them to focus on an anchor. Cecile says pain is a factor in creating some of her best compositions. “I sometimes tease my husband, Alex, who is such a peaceful man, to quarrel with me so I can have something to write about and wait until I have finished writing a song before making up with me.” They both burst out laughing. “But seriously, I am so blessed with my husband.” Cecile has just come back from a worship leader’s seminar at the Saddleback Church, where Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life is the pastor. Kuh Ledesma and her daughter Isabella, an up and coming jazz singer and painter, joined her in Los Angeles. “Throughout the years, Kuh has been a source of encouragement and inspiration. She became more than a singer who sang my songs but a true friend who was there for me in the different seasons of my life.” Kuh received a 1990 Double Platinum Award for the album Lihim which features Tagalog songs composed by Cecile. All 10 songs are about love. In 1999, Vicor released Cecile Azarcon, Piano Collections in celebration of her 20th year in the industry. The CD features her greatest hits. Cecile met Kuh in Manila while she was fresh from the UP College of Music and giving voice lessons to practically all the well-known singers you can think of. She was seen as following in the footsteps of her mother, Minda Azarcon, known as the voice teacher of the stars. Aside from composing, Cecile was also in demand as a back-up singer of topnotch solo artists. Basil Valdez heard her sing Lift up your Hands while she was playing it on the piano. He asked her if he could record it. She was then 19. “Lift Up Your Hands was written in a matter of ten minutes as if the words and melody just passed through me,” Cecile says. “It was
TAKEFIVE Pals rap Britney
Britney Spears is reeling after rap stars Akon and Common blasted her much-hyped comeback performance at the MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas. The singer, making her first major public appearance in four years, wore a silver and black sparkly underwear set and knee-high black boots to debut her upcoming single Gimme More. But her critics claimed she looked disinterested and unfit. And her fellow celebrity pals seemed to agree. Speaking backstage after the event, Akon said, “That could have been better. She looked nervous.”
Kid Rock thrown out
Behind her grand piano at home in Vallejo, California, Cecile is set to outdo herself with a major new composition.
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I sometimes tease my husband, Alex, who is such a peaceful man, to quarrel with me so I can have something to write about CECILE AZARCON On what keeps the music flowing
Star-studded cast of students Cecile Azarcon could have made a career from singing but she chose to focus on composing and giving voice lessons. She has been teaching voice for the past 28 years. Among her students were Kuh Ledesma, Gary Valenciano, Sharon Cuneta, Jam Morales,
for a friend who was going through a difficult time. I had no Bible in front of me and did not plan to turn a verse of scripture into a song. I take no credit for this divinely inspired song.” Life is not that all that bad, my friend If you believe in yourself, if you believe there’s Someone who walks through life with you ... Even If, sung by Jam Morales in the 1980s, was composed for another friend who had experienced a monumental heartbreak. Jam sang this again during a concert held in Cecile’s honor two years ago, when Cecile celebrated her 25 years as a songwriter. All those sleepless nights All the tears I cried All the pain I kept inside I kept asking myself why You had to say goodbye... Cecile would not say which songs were borne out of her personal experience. All she would say was
Pops Fernandez, ZsaZsa Padilla and Cherie Gil, to name a few. Today, Cecile is based in California. Some of the students that she has trained here in the US made it to the cast of Miss Saigon and American Idol semifinals.
Laura G Perez
that she knew what it was like to be betrayed by someone she trusted and loved. And so we just have to read between the lines of Reaching Out (Gary V), and One More Try (Kuh Ledesma). After a kind of catharsis, she takes us to the whole process of falling in love all over again in So It’s You (Raymond Lauchengco) and I Think I’m in Love (Kuh Ledesma). How Did You Know, originally sung by Chiqui Pineda in 1994, was released again 10 years later by Gary Valenciano as a theme song of an Aga Muhlach-Kristine Hermosa movie, All My Life. It became a smash hit and has become very popular in weddings. An acoustic version was recorded by Aiza Sequerra. I asked Cecile if Sana ay Ikaw na Nga – sung by Basil Valdez – is meant for her husband, but Alex says it came out long before they met each other in Seattle. They laugh. Then Alex asks Cecile to sing The Love of my Life, which he feels is their
theme song. She obliges, impressing us with an exceptionally good voice. During Kuh Ledesma’s Valentine Concert at the Mandarin Hotel in Manila last year, Kuh asked Cecile to do a duet with her. It was such an outstanding performance that Kuh gushed: “Iba talaga pag composer ang kumanta.” As the afternoon draws to a close, Cecile plays on her piano another composition that is sure to cause a stir. It echoes the sentiments of Ikaw ang Lahat sa Akin, sung by Martin Nievera in 1986 and which became the theme song of a soap opera broadcast by ABS CBN featuring Bea Alonzo, John Lloyd Cruz, Claudine Barretto and Diether Ocampo. At kung hindi ngayon ang panahon Upang ikaw ay mahalin Bukas na walang hanggan Doo’y maghihintay pa rin The soon-to-be-released song, however, has a finality about it, a kind of Epilogue: You may think you are over someone, only to discover that the feeling just stays dormant, that it will always be there in the deep recesses of your being. This song takes you back to a place where time stands still. The unpublished song is entitiled Ikaw Ang Buhay Ko. It seems that love, to Cecile, is a beautiful thought, something to meditate on during moonlit nights, something she would much rather keep from the heartaches and pettiness of everyday existence, indeed something to protect from her very self.
Kid Rock has been ordered by Las Vegas police to appear in court next month following his attack on rocker Tommy Lee at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday. Rock, real name Robert Ritchie, was ejected from the ceremony in front of thousands of fans after punching the Motley Crue drummer. Although neither star was arrested at the time of the incident, both rockers were later questioned by local authorities, with Ritchie receiving a citation for the assault. Las Vegas police said: “We determined that the altercation was between Kid Rock and Tommy Lee.”
Donald trumps Rosie
Tycoon Donald Trump (below) has attacked Rosie O’Donnell in his new book Think Big and Kick Ass, calling the TV personality a “loser”. The pair has been feuding since Trump’s appearance on O’Donnell’s former show The View earlier this year, which turned nasty. They have bickered in the media ever since and the billionaire has turned to his literary effort in a bid to have the last word. He tells the New York Post’s gossip column PageSix: “I devote some time to Rosie in my book. As you know, she said I went bankrupt and ABC apologised. Rosie lies.”
Oops ...
Singer Christina Aguilera’s (left) pregnancy has been inadvertently confirmed by socialite Paris Hilton, who revealed her friend is expecting a baby to a packed crowd in a Las Vegas nightclub. The pair was partying at LAX Nightclub in the Luxor hotel when Hilton grabbed a microphone and paid tribute to Aguilera, as she and her husband Jordan Bratman looked on in shock. Hilton said: “Congratulations to the most beautiful pregnant woman in the world. You’re gorgeous.”
