Entertainment production companies are beginning to drum up their Valentine season events, and among the first to do so is Viva Live, a division of Viva Communications Inc.
For the Generation Z that loves abbreviations and acronyms, Viva Live has dubbed its offering ILYSM. The last two letters can make you think the event is sponsored by that chain of malls, but the title actually stands for I Love You So Much. Promise?
It’s a group concert on 13 February at the Araneta Coliseum featuring Adie, Arthur Nery, MLRD (yes, it’s an abbreviation invented by a young female singer to label herself as an artist), Rhodessa and Janine Teñoso.
The show will have the P-pop boyband Alamat as guest. The band is with Viva Music, also a component of VCI.
All the singer-songwriters mentioned above have multimillion views and plays on Spotify, YouTube, Tik Tok, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and other video-sharing platforms. But it will be their first time ever to go up the stage of the Big Dome in Cubao.
Front act
Nery is an R&B singer discovered by comedian Wacky Kiray in Bukidnon (although Nery was a Cagayan de Oro City resident at that time) in 2019. The comedian had a solo act in Bukidnon and Nery, a Psychology graduate of Xavier University in Cagayan de Oro, was among the front-act performers.
Nery sang his own composition, Life’s Puzzle, which all the more impressed the comedian.
Kiray called singer-actor Kean Cipriano, who was looking for talents to manage under his new company O/C Records. Cipriano asked Nery to sing to him over the phone, and was equally impressed. He invited Nery to fly to Manila as soon as he could at Cipriano’s expense.
As soon as Nery arrived in Manila, Cipriano signed him up and eventually assisted Nery in recording one of compositions, Binhi. The single built up a following on the video-sharing platforms and helped book gigs for Nery.
After a few more singles, Cipriano arranged with Viva Music to co-produce a full album for Nery in 2021. It was called Letters Never Sent Home.
One of the album’s cuts, “Pagsamo,” easily became a hit on digital platforms. From there, the singer has gone from strength to strength, guest in TV shows including ABS-CBN’s ASAP and It’s Showtime, and joining road shows in Dubai and other countries.
Singing contest finalist
Teñoso, meanwhile, was a finalist in the TV5 singing contest Born To Be a Star in 2016. Viva was a co-producer of that show.
Teñoso then signed a contract with Viva Entertainment (now known as VCI) which in 2018 made her record a cover of the Itchyworms hit “Di Na Muli” as the theme of the Viva movie Sid & Aya, bannered by Anne Curtis and Dingdong Dantes.
Her version was a massive hit among the public, such that some people were not aware it was a revival of an old song.
Viva Music later assigned her to collaborate with Nery on the song “Pelikula,” which also charted well locally.
The other performers in ILYSM are discoveries of O/C and Viva Music. They are all into love songs mostly written in Filipino and a few in English.
The MRLD in ILYSM stands for a girl named Meriel de Jesus, who comes from Bogo, Cebu but is now based in Catbalogan, Western Samar. She is a Cipriano discovery who posted on Spotify in 2019 a song she wrote when she was just 14 years old and with a kilometric title: “An Art Gallery Could Never be as Unique as You.”
De Jesus, now 16, has shifted to writing in Filipino. Her “Ligaya” sounds like a young man’s courtship song. One stanza goes: “Isasayaw kita na para bang/ Ito na ang panghuli natin, sinta/ ‘Wag kang mag-alala, ‘di kita hahayaang mag-isa/ Sasamahan nga kita sa dulo ng ligaya.”
Breakout star
Rhodessa is one of the biggest breakout stars in the country. Her single “Kisame” instantly went viral on TikTok, with over two million videos made to the song and 41 million streams on Spotify.
The song is a fan tribute to Mina and Chaeyoung, members of the K-pop girl group TWICE, written after Rhodessa read a MiChaeng fan fiction piece on Twitter.
Her latest single, “Mina(mahal ko),” which literally translates to “Mina(my love),” is also a tribute to her favorite member of TWICE.
“Kisame” was named best ballad in the recent Wish radio awards.
Adie and Rob Deniel are the lookers in the bunch of stars in ILYSM. Adie is a discovery of Cipriano, who was searching for collaborators with his band Callalily from the ranks of their fans. Adie joined and landed in the Top 10. When Cipriano came up with O/C, it was Adie he thought of giving a break by signing him up.
Adie does acoustic ballads with an old-fashioned vibe. Think kundiman lyrics and harana feel. His first release was Luha, followed by Paraluman which made it to No. 1 on Spotify’s Viral 50 and Trending Tracks Playlists in 2023.
Adie, 20, comes from Biñan, Laguna.
Retro-pop
Rob Deniel, who launched his debut single “Ulap” during the pandemic, has charted a total of nine songs to date, the latest being Ang Pag-ibig.
His retro-pop compositions now have a combined 90 million-plus streams on Spotify and YouTube.
Rob Deniel is the artist’s real first name, while his last name is Barrinuevo. He is the eldest of two boys; his younger brother, 16, is also into music.
ILYSM will be directed by Paul Basinillo who helms impressive music videos, especially those that involve grand dancing in varying setups. For sure, it will be a big challenge for him to create excitement in the numbers that feature the laidback singing of Rhodessa and MLRD.