New Young Pinay is a Singing Sensation

A 11-Year-Old, young pinay Lica de Guzman is a Singing Sensation in Geneva, Switzerland.

Big breaks keep pouring in for Filipino artists in different parts of the globe.

In Switzerland, 11-year-old Lica de Guzman has recorded an album produced by Paul Sutin, a record label owner and associate of British pop star Phil Collins. The album will be launched next month in Geneva.

Lica de Guzman

To introduce her to the international market, Lica will grace Midem (Marché International du Disque et de l’Edition Musicale), the world’s largest music industry trade fair, on Jan. 18-21 at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France.

Also in February she will perform alongside ABBA in a festival honoring Princess Lea of Belgium.

To promote her album, Lica will have a US tour in June.

The 20-track, all-English CD has two songs which Lica wrote herself. The carrier single, an upbeat tune titled “Brand New Day,” has a Tagalog version (lyrics by Noel Cabangon) which will be a bonus track when the record is made available in the Philippines.

After spending the holidays in Davao, her parents’ home province, Lica—born in Geneva to OFWs Bono and Joy de Guzman—visited the Inquirer office and shared details about her good fortune.

Her achievement was the result of a long process of pursuing a dream that began at age 4. Lica felt the urge to sing after watching a video of Disney’s “Little Mermaid.”

Lica’s folks gave their all-out support and enrolled her in music school. Soon she was being asked to sing in gatherings, big and small.

In 2005, Lica became the first Pinay to perform in a special program on Television Suisse Romande (TSR), said to be the biggest TV network in Switzerland.

On her return to TSR for another show, Collins and wife Orianne, who are Swiss residents, announced that Lica had been chosen to be part of Little Dreams Foundation, which the couple had set up to train young talents.

When the Collins couple divorced recently, Lica, her mom related, was asked whether she wished to remain with the foundation or join Phil, who had other plans—one of which was to groom Lica as a young pop star. Lica opted to follow Phil and this was how she ended up recording her debut album.

The album deal Sutin hammered out reportedly consists of a generous profit sharing arrangement between the producer and Lica. Part of the package is a house and lot for Lica in Geneva.

source: Philippine Daily Inquirer