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Made in Philippines
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‘Songbird’ from Philippines is here to rock
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Photo: H. Vibhu
Three is company Charie Gabut, Michelle Fabian and Myra Malik
‘Songbird’ singers Michelle Fabian, Myra Malik and Charie Gabut have pitched their tent at Mermaid Hotel now. This Filipino trio, under the banner of ‘Songbird’, have been performing at hotels in Mumbai, Dubai, Bahrain and Singapore.
Charie belts out the Shakira number “Underneath your clothes…” sensuously as Michelle, their leader, looks on approvingly, with pride. In an open throated voice, Charie sings with feeling.
Encore
“I had about ten requests for an encore of ‘Made in India’ last night,” a happy Michelle says. Having been in India for some time for different spells, Michelle can even speak a little Hindi. Myra loves to sing English songs and speaks with a drawl.
They sing classics, jazz, Spanish and Hindi songs and of course Filipino movie songs too. They burst out in chorus, one of the most popular Filipino song sung by Yeng Constatino, a heartthrob there. Michelle plays the keyboard and Myra, the keyboard and the guitar too. Charie plays the keyboard. Earlier, Michelle used to play the drums and bass guitar. All three are self taught musicians.
Why are Filipinos singing in India? “We get 30 per cent more money here than we do in our country,” Michelle explains. But the place she loves most is Moscow, “everything about the place is nice”. India comes second on her list of ‘nice places’. All three hail from Angeles city, Pampanga and began singing at clubs. Michelle worked in a telephone company before making singing her career.
Married? “No, but I do not deny having two children. One is 13,” laughs the shapely Michelle. They have boyfriends back home who they miss. Only Myra’s boyfriend is in the States she says, going a beetroot red. Myra was doing a course in Mass communications when she dropped out to sing. Charie has done a course in computer technology, but singing is her first love. They perform well into the night. Monday is their day off. During the day, they “sleep…and sleep…and sleep.” So they have had no time to do any sight seeing yet.
Something else they miss is the food back home. Their favourite dish? “Adobo,” they chorus, as they all chip in with the ingredients, “It’s pork cooked in soya sauce, with garlic, chilli, onion and pepper…yummm.” It’s eaten with rice.
What do they have for breakfast? Rice.
Lunch? Rice.
Dinner? “Rice of course, if you are not watching your figure,” says Michelle.
The choice is between rice and bread or noodles. Beef, chicken and fish go well with rice, says Myra. “She loves spicy food,” Michelle says, pointing at Myra, and therefore she loves Indian food.
Seeing new places is the bonus that these Filipino singers get in their profession. As long as all starred hotels, two, three, four and five are looking for that extra something that will attract more guests, foreign singers can have a field day.
PREMA MANMADHAN
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