Chi Bocobo with 4-year-old son Sancho. (Photo furnished by Chi Bocobo)
Although primarily known as a veteran news anchor for News5 dating back to the ABC 5 era, Cecilia “Chi” Datu-Bocobo has actually been singing and writing songs for quite some time.
Not too many people know it but Chi is the lovely singing voice behind commercial jingles for companies as diverse as Coke, Ivory, Cali Shandy, Jollibee, Home Radio and many more. She even wrote a good number of these jingles herself.
“I love singing and writing songs. Even here in TV5, I wrote and sang the jingles for ‘Good Morning Club’ and ‘Balitang 60’, our weekend newscast,” she recalled to InterAksyon during a recent interview to promote “Kung Akin ang Langit”, the PhilPop entry that she co-wrote with Isaac Garcia.
“My claim to fame, so to speak, was a United Nations-sponsored album that I co-produced and which featured a song I co-wrote with Rico Blanco called ‘Tayo-Tayo Rin’. It was a song for the Millennium Development Goals and was sung by several artists, namely Sharon Cuneta, Gary Valenciano, Martin Nievera, Lea Salonga, Aiza Seguerra, Joey Ayala, Kuh Ledesma, Janno Gibbs, Pops Fernandez, Freddie Aguilar, the APO Hiking Society, Sarah Geronimo, Christian Bautista, Bayang Barrios, Kitchie Nadal, and Rico Blanco.”
Having joined the Metropop and Himig Handog in the past, the veteran broadcaster is not exactly a greenhorn in songwriting competitions, either. “Many of this year’s PhilPop finalists were also my fellow competitors back then. But they were the ones who focused more on songwriting while I concentrated more on broadcasting.”
Despite facing a field of mostly seasoned tunesmiths that include past winners like Jungee Marcelo, Soc Villanueva and Toto Sorioso (who has two entries in the Final 12), Chi feels good about her inclusion in the competition not because she expects to win but because she will get a chance to deliver the song’s special message to a lot of people.
“I always had this urge to talk about the genetic ailment of my 4-year-old son, Sancho, who has type 2 spinal muscular atrophy type 2, which has greatly limited his movements. I wanted to create some awareness about it and rare, genetic diseases in general, but I could not talk or blog about it,” she recalled.
Then early this year, Chi saw her son playing with a kite along with his father and she was moved at how happy Sancho was despite being bound to a wheelchair.
“I felt so much emotions and love for my son when I saw how happy he was playing with his kite so I just wrote the lyrics and right then and there, nabuo ko yung kanta,” she beamed.
Chi said it would be easier to say that “Kung Akin ang Langit” is just another love song and that would probably make it more universally appealing. But when she was asked about it during the PhilPop’s media launch last May, she just had to let everyone know what the song is about.
“When I wrote the song, I didn’t think about the repercussions. Being a very private person, I’m not the type who talks about my personal life a lot. But when I was asked about the song, I could not hide the real inspiration behind it. And it felt good talking about my son’s ailment because it gives hope to parents who have the same plight, who have kids with similar genetic diseases.”
“The song’s underlying message was clear and simple: If I could give Sancho a miracle, I would. If I could give him the stars, I would. Kung akin ang langit, abot mo ang mga ulap.”
With its engaging melody and sing-along lyrics that recall the playful tone of Randy Newman’s “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” (yes, the “Toy Story” theme song), the song is even made more special by the inspired reading of Kenyo’s McCoy Fundales and Clara Benin, the voice behind those recent McDonald’s popular “Hooray for Today” jingles.
Chi Bocobo (second from left) with interpreters McCoy Fundales, Clara Benin and co-writer and arranger Isaac Garcia. (Photo furnished by Chi Bocobo)
Chi said that at first it wasn’t easy to detach herself from the song. Like most songwriters, especially those who sing their own songs, she had her own ideas about how the song would be arranged.
“I’m sort of used to being discouraged to interpret my own entry as that was the case with ‘Himig Handog’ so when I entered ‘Kung Akin ang Langit’ for PhilPop, I had the demo sung by Moira de la Torre of ‘The Voice of the Philippines’. Still, when you’re a songwriter, you can’t help but be attached to your song. You want it sung a certain way and don’t want your interpreter to veer away from your original idea.”
Although she never imagined the song to be a duet, Chi said she was blown away by the rendition of McCoy and Clara, who also happen to be songwriters in their own right.
“Ang galing ni McCoy at ang galing ni Clara. Kung hindi ko binuksan ang puso ko na pwede pala siyang duet, hindi ko siguro ma-a-appreciate kung gaano kaganda ang kinalabasan nung ni-record na siya,” she enthused.
On a more encouraging note, Chi’s husband, Jorge Bocobo, mentioned in a radio interview that a lot of progress has been made as far as finding a cure for the disease. He and Chi are hopeful that Sancho will be able to walk and live a full, normal life soon.
Presented by Smart and Spinnr, co-presented by PLDT Home Telpad and sponsored by Maynilad, Meralco and Sun Cellular, the grand finals of the 3rd Philippine Pop Music Festival will be held on July 26 at the Meralco Theater.
Watch this video of the recording sessions of “Kung Akin ang Langit” as interpreted by McCoy Fundales and Clare Benin. The song can also be downloaded at Spinner.ph. One download equals one vote for Spinnr’s Choice special award that will be announced also on PhilPop’s grand finals night.
News5 anchor’s PhilPop entry is loving tribute to disabled son
Source: InterAksyon.com (July 01, 2014 at 12:45PM)
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