10.10.2008
JUST ME: SARAH GERONIMO BLOSSOMS INTO MATURITY
WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET, SAYS SARAH. BUT LOOKS LIKE WE GET MORE OF HER IN THIS NEW ALBUM, YVETTE TAN SHARES.
"I'm very happy to finally meet Howie," Sarah Geronimo says in Tagalog.
She is saying this the day before the shoot of her music video with Howie Dorough of the Backstreet Boys. Howie had just flown in from LA that day, accompanied by his wife Leigh and Christian de Walden, a US-based music producer who has worked with some of the top acts in the US Latino and country charts.
Christian produced Just Me, Sarah's latest album. He was also instrumental in getting the pop princess and the Backstreet Boy together for the duet "I'll Be There for You," a lovely cross-country love song that pushes all the right pop buttons.
It’s just one of the songs that can be found in Just Me, Sarah's latest album. "It's called Just Me because what you see is what you get," Sarah says. But don't expect the same old Sarah Geronimo ballads -- Sarah promises the album to be a different aural experience for her fans. "There's some rock and Rn'B in it, and of course, pop songs and ballads," the singer says.
"The song 'Silence' is going to be a big break for her," says Christian de Walden, who also produced Becoming, Sarah's 3rd album, "It's so off the wall as a song. It starts with "Silence! Shhh!"; and this is the real Sarah, the new Sarah."
He adds, "I expect a lot from (Just Me) because of (Sarah's) new maturity... she could always sing the big notes but she reaches them so much easier now... That's why it's called Just Me, because she is bettering herself all the time."
Christian was also the force that got Sarah and Howie together. "When Boss Vic del Rosario asked me, 'Can you get a duet?' I said, 'Howie would be a perfect match,'" the producer says, "I sent (Howie's) manager all the links about Sarah and the next day he said, 'Yes.'"
For Howie, agreeing to the duet with Sarah was an easy decision, not just because of Sarah's prowess, but because of her work ethic as well. "Christian de Walden... approached me four months ago to do the song with her and I went on line... (and) saw ...who she was... So I just fell in love with the project. I think that she's a great person, a very very humble person, very talented and hard worker."
Sarah, of course, is equally impressed by her co-singer's ethics. "He seems very humble. You can sense it in the way he speaks. He's very warm," she says.
"'I'll Be There for You,' is an unconditional love type of song," Howie explains, "It's about how two people from a distance are able to love and support each other."
A new album and a duet with one of the Backstreet Boys aren't the only feathers in Sarah's cap this month. The singer is also on the cover of the October issue of Preview Magazine, one of the country's premiere fashion magazine -- a prestigious achievement and proof positive that the baby is now a lady. She is also gearing up for The Next One, her 9th major concert, at the Araneta Coliseum, as well as shooting the sequel to A Very Special Love, her hit romantic movie with everyone's favorite leading man, John Lloyd Cruz.
Despite all her recent projects and achievements (we're not even counting her past awards, concerts and starring roles), Sarah has managed to remain grounded in reality. In her mind, her first concern is for her fans, because she would not be where she is without them. Nowhere is this more evident than in her answer to the question about Just Me possibly becoming an overseas hit: "We all know how hard it is to penetrate the international music scene," Sarah says, "I think I'm going to concentrate here first."
Christian de Walden, who has produced numerous hits in the US, has no such qualms. When asked the same question about Sarah, he immediately said, "With this album, yes."
TAGS: Sarah Geronimo
i love sarah g!
Posted By: teddypork on October 13, 2008 at 10:14
