Jovit Baldivino stays faithful to his Batangas roots

Kaye Estoista-Koo
Friday, March 04, 2011 @ 09:31AM  |  85 views


Throughout the night, Jovit Baldivino often mentioned trivia about his hometown in Batangas, showing that he is proud to have come from this province. He is also eager to look for his kababayans since he often asked the crowd at the Music Museum: "Sino dito taga Batangas?"

Photo By: Sany Chua













Jovit Baldivino successfully staged his third concert titled Faithfully last February 26, 2011 at the Music Museum, Greenhills. In an interview with PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal), the grand winner of Pilipinas Got Talent Season 1 admitted that he felt overwhelmed upon knowing that he would perform at the said venue.


"Kinakabahan pa rin ako, kahit marami na pong ibang event ang nagdaan, first time ko po dito sa Music Museum and hindi ko lang alam kung mapupuno ba eto... hindi ko talaga alam kung marami yung bumili ng ticket, naubos ba yung ticket, ganoon..."

Faithfully was under the musical direction of seasoned singer and composer Nyoy Volante. Jovit refers to him as Kuya Nyoy because he really looks up to Nyoy as an older brother. Jovit shares, "Para sa gabing eto, nag-rehearse po ako ng two days... Karamihan po sa kakantahin ko ngayon ay mula sa first and second album ko and yung iba mga favorite songs ko, at kaming dalawa ni Kuya Nyoy pumili ng mga songs."

The choice to include Melai Cantiveros and Jason Francisco was the choice of the producers. Kuya Nyoy observed about these two guests: "Si Melai at Jason, pang-aliw sila, pang lakas-appeal, pang lakas-aliw, maaliw na po ako at lalo pag andito na si Jason at Melai, lalo pa pong maaaliw ang mga tao."

Jovit admits that that his quick rise to fame shocked him. "Ang bilis nga naman po... bigla na lang po ako nagka concert na wala pa po akong isang taon sa trabaho ko pong eto." 

The former siomai vendor says that this concert is his way of giving back and "para mas lubos niyo ako makilala, kaya sana mag enjoy yung mga tao."

He shares experiences from his past, "Malaki na talaga ang pagkakaiba kasi yung mga nagagawa ko dati, di ko na nagagawa ngayon. Dati yung mga kaibigan ko doon sa Batangas, yung mga katropa ko, mga kakaklase ko, yung mga pinsan ko, halimbawa, kami ng mga barkada ko, tambay kami, nagtutugtugan kami, nagja-jamming, tapos yung mga kabarkada ko naman, nagbabasketball kami at pagkatapos kakain kami, kami-kami ang magluluto, ambagan kami sa pagkain, sa mga relatives ko naman, kapag may mga okasyon, sama-sama kami kahit konti o minsan walang handa."

On dealing with fame, he says, "Ngayon, minsan malungkot kasi kapag walang ginawa pero kailangan mo lang talaga mag-stay sa bahay kasi iba na, dati di naman isyu yun na basta ka na lang gagala nang gagala, wala naman gagalaw sa iyo di ka naman papansinin, ngayon, pinapansin na ako, pinagkakaguluhan... feeling ko nung first time nangyari yun, tumingin agad ako sa salamin, tapos naisip ko, ako ba talaga yan?

"Sabi ng mga pinsan ko, artista ka na! Di ko pa talaga naisip yun kasi nung nag-PGT ako, gala lang po ako nun sa Tubuan, nung magcha-championship ng June 12, 13, grand finals na, mga June 7, gala pa ako nun sa Tubuan, nagpapalipad ako ng... yun namimiss ko yun..." 

He is thankful though that his friends still regard him as before. "After ko manalo, ganun pa rin naman yung mga dati kong kasama sa akin, halimbawa, sabi ko, pag wala ako, pag nasa trabaho, pasensya na muna, kasi kailangan kong magtrabaho. Pero pag may panahon ako, pupunta ako sa inyo, pero ang maganda ganun pa rin po sila sa akin, di po nagbabago ang tingin nila sa akin, di naman sila nahiya tumingin sa akin, lumapit sa akin, humingi sa akin, ganun pa rin po sila sa akin, asaran pa rin kami, hampasan pa rin kami, kulitan pa rin..."

He has also come to realize how lucky he is to be able to penetrate the entertainment industry.  "Yung dati kong buhay, aaminin ko po, dati batak ako sa trabaho, pero parang sasabihin ng iba na pag artista, malakas kumita ng pera, madali lang yung trabaho, pero nakita ko talaga na wala pong trabaho na hindi mahirap ngayon na andito na ako."


FAITHFULLY. Jovit opened the concert with his rendition of "You Give Love a Bad Name," originally sung by Bon Jovi. Who could imagine that his small frame is able to deliver the powerful vocals needed for this rock classic? With the audience warming up and screaming their lungs out, Jovit quickly segues to "Carrie" by Europe, a song that Jovit also recorded on his second album titled I'd Do Anything for Love.

As he goes into his third song, he introduces his band, dancers, and musical director Nyoy Valente. He sings Bryan Adam's "Please Forgive Me" like a pro and has the audience excited for more. He then takes on a "We Will Rock You/It's My Life/Livin' on a Prayer" medley where he involves the audience during the last song, letting the audience sing the song chorus back to him, part by part.

Jovit then teases the audience to prep them for the next guest by saying, "Sa reality shows, walang maitatago, kitang-kita ang saloobin at emotion ng mga tao, at aminin niyo, napapalapit kayo at ang loob niyo sa mga tao kasama dito...."


Jason Francisco then goes on stage, met by an excited crowd as he sings, "When You Say Nothing At All" by Ronan Keating. He gets flustered at the end and forgets the last line but laughs it off, blaming it on the good time he had with the audience. 

When Jovit comes back in his second costume change for the night, he jokes around with Jason about the latter's love life. Jason takes it all in stride and says he'll be back later. Jovit then launches into another song from his first album, "Too Much Love Will Kill You," originally sung by Queen.

After this song, Jovit calls  Luigi Seno on stage, a semi-finalist on America's Got Talent and with whom Jovit performed in Happy, Yipee, Yehey just that day. With the encouragement of the audience, Luigi goes up and delivers on guitar the song that thrust him into the limelight, Sunday Morning by Maroon 5.

Jovit then sings "Paano," an original song taken from his first album, Faithfully, and the first Tagalog song of the night. He engages the audience again as he leads up to introducing a song he also wrote, "Nananaginip ng Gising," taken from his second album.

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