Tuesday, November 29, 2011

THE LAST GREAT PINOY CHRISTMAS SONG


There are only two kinds of Filipino Christmas songs. The first kind are the festive ones. This include the songs in the Handog Pamasko ng Mga Bituin album featuring OPM legends the Apo Hiking Society, Celeste Legazpi, Basil Valdez and Florante singing the now classics Ang Pasko ay Sumapit, Himig Pasko, Noche Buena, Sino si Santa Claus and many more. Also belonging in this category is the APO’s Christmas album, Ariel Rivera’s Silent Night na Naman and Jose Mari Chan’s Christmas in Our Hearts.

The second kind are the senti ones. Senti is short for sentimental. These songs all share the story of losing a lover during the Christmas season. The best example is Gary V’s Pasko Na, Sinta Ko. Other senti holiday songs are Miss Kita Kung Christmas, Sana Ngayong Pasko and Parang Hindi Pasko.

Every year, a couple of Filipino artists release Christmas albums. Most of the songs in the album are covers of foreign and Filipino Christmas classics. That’s because it’s difficult to come out with a new Filipino Christmas song that everyone will love. The last time an original Filipino Christmas song became a hit was in 1990 with Jose Mari Chan’s Christmas in Our Hearts. It was the carrier single of JMC’s album of the same title and it was a duet with Liza Chan. The album went multi-platinum and two decades later the song is still played every Christmas. It was considered the last great Pinoy Christmas song. Well, that is until….

It has become a tradition with ABS-CBN and GMA to put out Christmas station IDs. These IDs are music videos featuring the networks’ stars. In 2009, the ABS-CBN Christmas ID featured the song “Star ng Pasko”. It was aptly titled because that year’s biggest TV hit is May Bukas Pa featuring child wonder Zaijan Jaranilla as miracle boy Santino who calls Jesus “Bro”, a slang for brother or friend. It was also that year that most of Luzon was submerged in massive floods caused by typhoon Ondoy. People’s morale is in an all-time low. It also happens to be the “ber” months. With Christmas fast approaching what people need is something to uplift their spirits. The timing is just perfect for “Star ng Pasko”.

The new Christmas song became a hit. Scores of YouTube versions of the song went viral. Kids included the song in their caroling repertoire. Shopping malls are playing it along with Jackson 5’s I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus. The recall for the song was just so great. A year later, a new Christmas song was introduced and was sung by Gary V and Toni Gonzaga. Even if it sampled from the previous song (the lyrics ‘dahil ikaw bro ang star ng Pasko was used at the song’s end), it wasn’t a hit. The people still want “Star ng Pasko”.

A week ago, ABS-CBN introduced the song "Da Best ang Pasko ng Pilipino" for their new Christmas ID. It hasn’t received much airplay so it’s early to tell if it’s going to be a hit. Well, good luck to that. As for Ikaw Bro ang Star ng Pasko, there’s no need to say that it is destined to be a Christmas classic. Because it already is.

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