Sitti Navarro
IRWIN CRUZ SITS DOWN WITH THE WOMAN WHOSE GOLDEN VOICE HAS WOWED US ALL
With a debut album that has gone platinum, an MTV award for the single “Para sa Akin”, and an endless string of sold-out concerts, Sitti Navarro has come a long way from the hotel lounges where she fi rst started…
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE DESTINATION IN THE PHILIPPINES?
I love Cagayan Valley, especially its rock formations. I would also like to go to Palawan – I’m working my way there. But my favorite for now is Panglao Island in Bohol province.
I have been to Boracay twice, but Bohol pa rin [Bohol is still the best for me].
DO YOU HAVE A DREAM DESTINATION OUTSIDE OF THE PHILIPPINES?
I want to go to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil! I want to enjoy the samba.
CAN YOU SPEAK PORTUGUESE?
I can sing, but I can’t converse in Portuguese. The sentence structures are really hard. For the album, I had help from a Portuguese professor. But I do know what the songs in my album mean – line by line. [Laughs]
WHAT DO YOU THINK HAS MADE FANS FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR VOICE?
A lot of people tell me I have a soothing voice. It relaxes them and takes away their stress. I had never thought of it that way before – until my listeners tell me my CD is perfect for when they want to forget their problems. Some actually told me that people lose their hotheadedness at the offi ce when they play my CD, Café Bossa!
WHY BOSSA NOVA?
I was exposed to it when I started singing professionally at 16. My manager and my friends from the music circuit told me to try it out because it fi ts my voice. But aside from that, the genre itself is simply amazing. It is something you can easily fall in love with.
The success of Café Bossa is something I never expected because people from my generation didn’t know what bossa nova was. So I am happy, grateful and hopeful. Now Agot Isidro released a bossa nova album, as well as a girl named Sophia. Hopefully it won’t be just a fad, but something that is here to stay.
DO YOU THINK BOSSA NOVA CAUGHT ON BECAUSE FILIPINOS ARE ROMANTIC BY NATURE? AFTER ALL, WE ALREADY HAVE A HISTORY OF BEAUTIFUL BALLADS…
Yeah, yung mga makabagbagdamdaming mga kanta. Tipong, sige na, mahalin mo na ako [The heart-wrenching songs. The type that goes, hey, please love me already]. Bossa nova is like that – utterly romantic.
WAS PERFORMING A LIFELONG DREAM?
It was there as a hobby, an outlet. I never really thought about it as a career. The whole time I was in college (in UP Diliman), I was singing part-time. I only focused on it when
Café Bossa was released. Then I decided hey, this is going to be my career… for now.
WHAT IS YOUR IDEAL PERFORMANCE?
Intimate but outdoors – and on a big stage, because then I can move around and get to make it my home for one and a half hours!
IS THERE ANOTHER ALBUM TO FOLLOW?
Yes – I just don’t know when!
IT IS A TRADITION THAT A FILIPINO MAN SERENADES THE OBJECT OF HIS AFFECTION. HOW CAN ANY MAN “SERENADE” A TALENTED SINGER LIKE YOU?
[Laughs] The same sweet stuff. I am just a girl, you know. The same courtship strategy, the sweet little things will still work with me! It doesn’t have to be grand, like rose petals on everything. It can be just your favorite merienda [snack break/high tea] or fl owers, just because. That will melt any girl’s heart.
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