Dressed in a sexy maxi sundress and with light makeup, Filipino singer Geneva Cruz strides into the executive lounge of the Fiesta Resort & Spa with a smile that lit up the room. She admitted, however, to feeling kind of glum.<\/p>\n
\u201cMiami lost and I feel sad because I\u2019m a big LeBron [James] fan,\u201d said Cruz, referring to the ongoing NBA finals.<\/p>\n
Arriving with her sister Vannessa, Cruz is on island for the first time to perform with The Retrospect band in a concert organized by the Tan Siu Lin Foundation.<\/p>\n
Cruz, who began her show business career in 1989 as one of the lead singers of the now defunct popular music group Smokey Mountain, got comfortable with members of the local media Friday afternoon by talking about commonplace topics and her \u201cvery colorful\u201d life.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mom said I was 2 when I started singing. Then I would sing along to Lea Salonga\u2019s songs in her Small Voice album. But I became a professional singer at the age of 12,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Out of 400 youngsters that auditioned, Cruz said she was among the eight chosen to be trained by Ryan Cayabyab, the acclaimed musician who founded the music group. After a two-month training, they were trimmed down to four and became the Smokey Mountain.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was with Smokey Mountain, singing never really felt like a job,\u201d as she had the chance to travel and record songs.<\/p>\n
[B]Life after Smokey Mountain[\/B]<\/p>\n
When the group disbanded, Cruz said she began doing commercials and advertisements, endorsing products such as Swatch and Gift Gate as well as recorded her first solo album, I Like You.<\/p>\n
She gave birth to her son, 15-year-old Heaven, to former Introvoys drummer Paco Arespacochaga. Cruz has been married to MTV VJ KC Montero but admits to being separated. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe story of my life is very colorful,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Still, Cruz remains thankful that she has received many blessings. \u201cGod has been good to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two decades after Smokey Mountain, Cruz admits to having a hard time coping with the popularity she has back home. In parties or gatherings, she prefers to socialize with those behind the scenes such as the kitchen or wait staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of my friends are non-showbiz and musicians,\u201d said Cruz, adding that her only best friends in show business, aside from her cousins Donna, Sheryl, Sunshine, and Rayver Cruz, is Rachel Alejandro. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why I really don\u2019t like it when they call me a diva. It makes me uncomfortable,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
According to Cruz, she is proud to be born and raised in Tondo, Manila. \u201cI\u2019m a Tondo girl at heart.\u201d<\/p>\n
[B]New album[\/B]<\/p>\n
Her pride in her roots inspired one of the singles in Cruz\u2019s new album, which will be launched soon.<\/p>\n
To Manila is about the many things she missed in the Philippines when she lived in Seattle for quite a time. \u201cMissing the land where you were born and raised is like missing a person you love. It\u2019s like you will still love that person despite his or her bad qualities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cruz gave the media a treat by singing a few lines of the song.<\/p>\n
[B]Animal rights advocate[\/B]<\/p>\n
Cruz is also known as an animal rights advocate, which started when she was 15 and appeared in a Sunsilk commercial feeding a giraffe in Palawan.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really care about animals,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Cruz signed up as a member of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. \u201cI\u2019ve been a supporter since 2008.\u201d<\/p>\n
She even posed nude\u2014covered with only animal body parts in print\u2014for 100 photographers. \u201cI was shocked because that photo came out in the front page of international newspapers.\u201d<\/p>\n
[B]Concert, Independence Day[\/B]<\/p>\n
Cruz, who likes Saipan for its lush greens and amazing beaches, is excited to perform in tonight\u2019s concert. <\/p>\n
\u201cI love performing. I will sing a lot of my hit songs and some songs from my new album,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Cruz also looks forward to meeting the Filipino community on island on Sunday at the 2011 Pistang Pinoy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really means a lot for me to be there because I\u2019m proud to be a Filipino,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Cruz invites the public to come and watch their concert at the Hibiscus Hall of Fiesta Resort & Spa. Tickets are at $10 and $25 and available at Docomo Pacific and Shirley\u2019s Coffee Shop in Susupe and Garapan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dressed in a sexy maxi sundress and with light makeup, Filipino singer Geneva Cruz strides into the executive lounge of the Fiesta Resort & Spa with a smile that lit up the room. She admitted, however, to feeling kind of glum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-152646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152646\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}