ERIK SAVORS HIS MOMENT
Erik savors his moment
DIRECTLINE By Boy Abunda
The Philippine Star 08/17/2005
They say that when it rains, it pours. And in this rainy season,
blessings have been pouring like rain for Prince of Pop Erik Santos,
who has just completed his new album and moved into a new house of
which he is, understandably, quite proud.
The house stands on a 382-square meter property in Novaliches. The
five-bedroom house has a lanai and a small entertainment room where
Erik and his family gather whenever he happens to be home. Erik's old
family home in Malabon has been placed on the market, and it looks
like there are several people interested in buying the house in which
the Prince of Pop lived for 12 years. That's because within only two
weeks of putting it up for sale, they already had three offers for
it. The house is special to Erik, since, "unang pundar ng magulang
ko 'yon."
But nothing can be sweeter than the house Erik bought with his own
money. "Ang sarap ng feeling. Halos mapatid na ang litid ko sa
kakakanta ng This is The Moment, pero kapag nakikita ko yung bahay,
lahat ng pagod ko sa trabaho, nawawala," he says.
But Erik isn't about to stop or slow down. In fact, he has just
completed work on his new album, his second solo release under Star
Records. It's what has been keeping him busy these past few months.
They began gathering materials for the album in March, and last June,
Erik started recording the album. It will finally be available to the
public on Aug. 20. The carrier single of the album is I Will Never
Leave You, theme song of ABS-CBN's newest telenovela, Green Rose.
Aside from the carrier single, the album also contains Erik's remake
of Goodbye Is Not Forever, originally by Ella May Saison; Bakit Ba
Inibig Ka, a duet with Regine Velasquez; Kung Maalala Mo, a song he
co-wrote with Arnold Reyes; Mystery, written especially for Erik by
Martin Nievera; I'll Never Go, theme of the telenovela, Stained
Glass; Dahil Ikaw Lang Ang Mahal by award-winning composer Vehnee
Saturno; Who's Loving You Now, written by Jimmy Antiporda; a remake
of Michael Johnson's Doors and Magpahanggang Wakas by Arnie
Mendaraos.
Very soon. Erik will be starting a series of guest appearances and
promo tours to push the album. In addition, he still has his two
regular shows, ASAP '05 and Search For the Star in a Million, which
just presented its new Champions' League of 12 in a special show at
the Aliw Theater last week.
With all these new singers emerging and making their bid for a chance
at stardom, where does this leave Erik? The original Prince of Pop
would rather take things one day at a time. "Basta ako, ang iniisip
ko lang, kung hanggang saan ang success na ibigay sa akin ng Diyos,
okay na. He's already given me so much. Because of that, I've been
able to meet most of my goals in life, like buying my family a
house."
Now, he wants to start spreading his wings in different directions.
It would be nice to try movies, although Erik concedes that his forte
is not drama. According to him, he's more of a comedy actor. During
the ABS-CBN Kapamilya US Caravan, some fans were actually surprised
to discover, after meeting him in person, that Erik has a sense of
humor. "Akala namin, sobrang serious ka," they told him, an
impression they formed because of the songs he sings, mostly ballads.
Erik says that given the chance to do movies, he'd like to try some
light comedy and feel-good films. But that will be a long way
off. "As far as acting is concerned, hindi ako sigurado kung kaya
ko," he says. "For now siguro, ang attitude ko, kapag may chance, and
I feel that I'm ready, I'll do it. But I want to focus on my
singing."
The Prince of Pop is not about to relinquish his title just yet. For
him, this is just the beginning. As his signature song says, this is
truly his moment – and it's only just begun.