How has our Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray been doing since finishing her reign as the queen? Well, our one and only Cat is still making waves around the world - or the universe - with her passion for music! Rico and Karla caught up with queen Cat on All Out last June 8 and talked about her journey so far and of course, her music career!
Catriona joined Rico, Karla and the Monsters all the way from Australia. She has been in her second home country to see her parents, for the first time, since the pandemic happened! Family is still and will always be important to our queen Cat so she is definitely over the moon to spend some time with her parents after so long!
It's been 3 years since Catriona was crowned Miss Universe and people are still referring to her as "Queen Catriona", how has everything changed for Catriona since then? She honestly still feels the same girl that she was pre-coronation who just went on a big rollercoaster ride in life! It still feels surreal for Catriona when she remembers her time in Miss Universe. She even shared that she still gets recognized until now, even when she's in Australia, and it feels different for her because she's more on the quiet side outside work. Catriona is still a queen in the eyes of many people and it's so refreshing that she is still humble even if she has such a prestigious title!
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Catriona has always been vocal about her love for music, even mentioning it during her Miss Universe stint. Now that her reign is finished and her duties as Miss Universe has been fulfilled, Catriona focuses more now on her one true love which is music and singing. Catriona has always wanted to pursue music ever since she was younger but hindrances in her life made her pursuing music come to a halt and be pushed to the side. She has been doing gigs here and there but there just wasn't an opportunity that came for her to really explore that industry in a way that she wanted to. Moving forward, her focus got redirected to volunteering and community work which really made music not come into the spotlight for her. After her reign, Catriona can finally focus on music the way that she has been wanting to unlike in the past where music was just a fraction of her focus.
Catriona has released a song in the past as part of her Miss Universe reign titled "We're In This Together" which raises awareness for young focus, but has just recently released a song of her own. Her new single "R.Y.F" (which stands for Raise Your Flag) has been in the works since February 2020 but due to the pandemic, the song release was pushed back a bit further. She does believe that everything happens for a reason and her song was just released this June, in time with Pride Month! "R.Y.F" speaks about standing up and raising your voice which is timely with Pride Month and still very relevant to this day, especially with the situation we are all still facing. The message Catriona wants to portray for "R.Y.F" is also about calling people to action and standing up for the community. Regardless of it's release date, it's still a very powerful anthem with a strong message. It just couldn't get any more perfect than this, that's for sure!
Originally, the song "R.Y.F" was actually presented to Catriona when she was reigning Miss Universe and was also presented to the Miss Universe organization but they felt like it wasn't the right avenue during that time for the song to come into fruition. Catriona did express her sadness about it since it has everything to do with music, which she loves! It was the perfect song for Catriona especially that time as the song sends out a strong message, but it just wasn't the right time for her. "R.Y.F" was actually performed at Catriona's homecoming concert by KZ Tandingan and rapper Kritiko. Catriona even thought that maybe it wasn't meant to be for her but eventually had the opportunity to interpret the song on her own and even tweaked some of the lyrics by herself! It was a fulfilling moment for Catriona to give her own voice into the song.
Moving forward, how does Catriona see her plan music-wise? Songwriting is what Catriona really plans on doing as she does mention she is a story-teller and incorporates stories in every aspect of her journey. She has been wanting to voice out her experiences, whether it's hers or from people she know, and stories that she can interpret into messages. Catriona believes that the power of music is conveying emotions and experiences and she is very open in terms of the songs she will put out in the future. She is also driven by her gut-feelings when it comes to music so maybe we can expect a heartbreak anthem or a cute love song from the queen in the future? Who knows! Catriona's music career is filled with endless possibilities!
We are looking forward to seeing Catriona thrive in the world of music and it certainly won't be a problem for her to reach the top, with her amazing singing voice, genuine intentions and lovely personality! Catriona Gray has definitely come in full circle!
Catch the full interview of Catriona Gray on All Out with Rico and Karla here: