This year is definitely off to a good start as we've had the legendary Lea Salonga guest on the station again, this time on All Out with Rico and Karla! Setting the interview with a fan-girling tone, Lea gushed over BTS! Yes, Miss Lea Salonga is an Army as she stans BTS so much! She spent the first part of the interview telling the Monsters her favorite BTS songs which are "Blood, Sweat and Tears", "DNA", "Dynamite" "Disease", "Blue & Grey" , "Life Goes On" and "On" just to name a few. Lea also shared how she started to become a fan of the famous group - by just randomly watching the "Dynamite" music video on Youtube and the next thing she knew she was playing the song over and over and over again! Yup, Lea fell in too deep with the 7-piece Korean boyband! Lea also expressed how fans of BTS are very sweet and welcoming to her when she joined the fandom! Lea even took it a step further by buying and collecting BTS merch. That's how big of a fan she is! Lucky for the BTS boys to have an amazing superstar fan girl over them!
Lea also shared her proudest achievement for 2020: Learning how to bake sourdough bread! And her mom even likes her bread! An enough validation for Lea to receive. And yes, she also names her sourdough starters! The first one being Deirdre. But Deirdre wasn't her best as she described having her kitchen smell like "shame". She even describes the "science" behind her starters which includes feeeding it flour and water every 12 hours which becomes ready in 2 days and can finally start to fully bake it! It wasn't just sourdough that Lea learned, but also how to make soufflés. Another skill to add to Lea's long list of talents! She certainly shows a passion for everything she's doing!
A random question from Rico led to Lea talking about some of her adventures on The Voice. First, did Lea take home the iconic spinning chair from the talent show? No, she didn't. As she emphasized that the chair from the show was more technology than furniture. She also shared how her language skills would get her in trouble at the show as the judges were always reminded to speak in Tagalog. Her and Bamboo would mostly be given a "gentle instruction" on this rule as they would continue on speaking in English. Even Sarah Geronimo got the hang of the English-speaking habit during the show! Until they opted to just speak in Taglish on the show, which shows how she was trying! In the topic of her being a judge on The Voice, Lea mentioned the "harshest" comment she ever gave on a contestant; "Just because you can doesn't mean you should." It was more of a criticism than a comment but it's all part of the reality of the show. She shared the meaning behind that sentence and that is "the less you do with it, the better the performance." There are ups and downs to it when it comes to mentors and contestants but even if Lea is tough, we're for sure she means well and just wants her contestant to be better than ever.
When asked what song she would sing and the judge she'd choose if the roles were reversed and she's an auditionee on The Voice rather than a judge, Lea has no idea on what song she'd pick! She explained that at the reality singing show that a lot of song options make for a chair-turning event so it's a pretty tough answer to that question. To which Rico stated a trivia that "A Whole New World" is in fact, the most used audition song on American Idol! Lea was shocked as she doesn't even know this information! She then shared some anecdotes regarding the song, where she still sings it on her concerts with participation of her fans! She would pick someone from the audience and sing "A Whole New World" with them. As exciting as that may sound, she also mentioned that there has been mishaps during that whole fan experience with her - either the fan chosen does not know the song at all and Lea has to sing it by herself, and in two keys to be specific! Or the chosen may be feeling a little too "confident". Either way, those experiences would make up good stories by both Lea and the fans themselves!
Speaking of the famous Aladdin song, Lea shared the story behind how she got to sing the Disney song (Lea sang both songs "A Whole New World" from Aladdin and "Reflection" from Mulan). Just like any other talent eyeing for a certain role or part, Lea went thru an audition process. Lea mentioned that the way she sang for Mulan is "more like her" whereareas in Aladdin, it's more in a register that she normally don't sing in since it's a much higher note. Lea also revealed that she still gets nervous and antsy whenever she has to audition for certain roles or parts. She's certainly just like the rest of us, even if she is a renowned superstar!
Lea Salonga has always been real and transparent as a person. She has always been vocal about important topics and thoughts and she does share them online, to the world basically. And that's what makes her stand out even more! Lea learned that not everyone's going to like you or the craft that you put out and for that is fine. That's how the world of show business works and she knows that. But then there are also people who will support you, and that's cool for Lea as well. She also reiterated that at her age now, she has ran out of Fs to give. Understandable for someone who has been in the industry for so long. There are still boundaries that Lea won't dip her toes into which are certain topics that she's not fully knowledgable about, but in cases that she is, her feelings will definitely be voiced out and be heard.
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Of course, the interview would not be complete without the mention of the iconic characters of Agnes and Jerry (played by Aga Muhlach) in the 1995 romance film "Sana Maulit Muli". The question is, where there be a sequel to that? Lea answers with a trivia about the movie. The film actually had no ending during principal photography and Lea even asked the director, Olivia Lamasan on what their ending is gonna be! Lea also agrees that Agnes and Jerry made more sense by not ending up together and have said their goodbyes. But since it was a 90s romance film, a happy ending is a must hence the ending of the film we have seen and loved as well. Although Lea was satisfied still with the ending, even if it was open ended. "It's nice to not know what happens after happy ever after." she quotes but for her, it's already a classic that need no sequels. A movie of hope in love, a definitely must-watch for those who haven't!
All Out is known for their quickfire questions and we had the superstar answer some fun, random questions! First thing she spent on her first paycheck? Lea actually put it in a bank account as she was only 7 years old when she had her first paying gig! The most famous person she met? Another icon in the show business industry, Ms. Julie Andrews! And she also had the chance to work with her! Lifelong dream achieved for our very own Lea Salonga! (And yes, she fangirl-ed when she answered that question and recalled that memory!) Of course, Lea has also met a lot of famous icons in the film/music/theater industry including Hugh Jackman, Mark Hamil, Lin Manuel-Miranda and so much more!
Lea shares her wisdom, her artistry and her dorky side on her All Out guesting and we are here for it! Watch the full interview here: