WOW Pinoy: Mexipina is stadium warbler

Mexipina is stadium warbler

Written by Ms. Confuse on Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Fourteen-year-old Jasmine Villegas is 4 feet and 11 inches tall and weighs 90 pounds. Yet she stands tall and mighty – like steel magnolia – amid the boisterous virility of an overcrowded ball field or a male-dominated prizefighter’s arena.
Little Jasmine is not an athlete though – and certainly, far from being a boxer. She sang the national anthem at the WBC super featherweight title encounter between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez last March in Las Vegas. As a singer, she’s devoid of the queenly hints of an audacious diva yet her glorious vocal range could easily silence a rowdy stadium. This church choir-nurtured, San Jose native and L.A. resident is a natural. She doesn’t hurtle across octaves and loiter around four-note verses like how most young talents tend to explore, yet the quiet magic is there. Still raw and searching, but her singing is undoubtedly teeming with promising allure and graceful grit.

The young chanteuse’s credits include spots at opening rites of professional basketball and baseball games, as well as top-rated championship boxing bouts. She has sung before tip-off of NBA games by the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Miami Heat, Golden State Warriors, and Sacramento Kings, along with choice major league games by the Anaheim Angels and Los Angeles Dodgers. Her diminutive physique but powerful presence has also graced important pro boxing fights, such as the Winky Wright-Jermain Taylor and Paul Williams-Antonio Margarito title bouts.

“The moment we heard her sing (at the fight), there’s only one thing left to do,” says Filipino talent spotters Jing Oliva and Danny Dizon. “We immediately sought out her manager.” As of press time, agents of major networks in Manila are currently negotiating with Jasmine’s manager, Gabriella Mosci (of the LA-based Mosci Music Management), in regards shows in the Philippines. A May visit, however, is already laid out.

The Philippine News had a brief chat with Jasmine and her Filipina mother, Bernadette, at a Burbank restaurant last week.“I’ve never been to the Philippines, I’m excited to visit,” Jasmine said, adding that she’s never been without a taste of Filipino culture in her young life. “My grandma Sofia brings this little rice cooker when we travel and we eat Filipino food.”Her music, however, is an obvious mix of her parents’ culture. Bernadette’s family was very involved in the church choir, while her husband used to play in a band.

“Jasmine has a very good ear for music, she easily picks up notes,” Mom adds.For a budding artist, Jasmine has a mature sensibility in terms of musical standards. “I like Alicia Keys because she’s all talent. She doesn’t have to sell her body to be a good performer. She plays the piano and she writes her songs.”These are not pronouncements from an overzealous kid. Jasmine’s earnest and focus are matched by professional, no-nonsense management and guidance, not counting dear mom’s fulltime attention. Her May calendar, for instance, is already filled with gigs in Miami, LA, and Manila—plus studio recordings and an opening spot at a Ludacris concert in Atlanta. Jasmine also travels with a personal choreographer, Brian Drake.

Jasmine began touring at the age 11, and to date, has done over 200 shows in the last 18 months. Apart from performances in over a hundred elementary schools in the Los Angeles area, Jasmine has been featured in print advertisements for Target National, Mary Kate and Ashley, American Girl, Levi’s, Hilary Duff, Robinsons May, Macy’s, Mervyns, Girl Scouts, Sparklets Drinking Water, Kohls—as well as principal roles in television commercials for Chevrolet, The Dog, Kellogg’s, Zellers, Marshalls, and McDonald’s.
Along with guest appearances in Kanye West’s music video, “Jesus Walks” and Frankie J’s “How To Deal,” Jasmine has also made guest starring appearances on Disney’s “That’s So Raven,” Touchstone Pictures’ “My Wife and Kids” (starring Damon Wayans). She has recently finished shooting a pilot for the Disney sitcom, “House Broken,” a spin-off of Disney’s “The Suite Life of Zach and Cody.” Meantime, she also has a reoccurring role on the ABC’s primetime show, “The Nine,” and a guest role on the television series, “Threat Matrix.”