Apart from being a singer, actor, model, influencer, Army Reservist, and licensed private pilot, Ronnie Liang makes the hearts of all jump and scream with his emotionally committed renditions of romantic songs.
That heartfelt singing and the fact that he is o oppa-looking made a lasting impact on all who believed in his talent and people started to love the popular reality-talent search franchise Pinoy Dream Academy.
Fast forward to the present, Liang holds court as one of the “JukeBosses”/judges of TV5’s (airing every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday at 6:30 p.m.). with OPM icons Rey Valera and Ariel Rivera, phenomenal chanteuses Jessa Zaragoza and Jona Viray, seasoned performers and sing-along masters Allan K, Ethel Booba, and comedian Bayani Agbayani.
The man of music imparts how music and the many songs at present, play many important functions in his life.
His taking the shower song: “Josh Groban’s ‘You Raise Me Up.’ It has always been my contest piece and when you take a bath, the acoustics of the bathroom, ang ganda di ba? The anthem also is the song I dedicate to my parents.”
Classical piano tunes are his aural background when he does house cleaning. The sexiest song, Liang says is “Ricky Martin’s ‘She Bangs.’ The tempo is upbeat. The lyrics are engaging. Anyone who listens to it cannot resist the urge to dance and feel sexy. I sang it before in a concert, with matching costumes and dance moves. It was a pleasant surprise to many all who heard me sing it. It is now part of my regular repertoire.”
“Ngiti”, of course, is dearest to his heart: “Every time I get to feel the realization that I have a hit song, it makes me tear up,” admits Liang. “Grateful that the song made a mark and was embraced and loved by many.”
“All I wanted was that the song brings a smile to people who will listen to it,” Ronnie comes clean.
“It is my gift to my audience, my followers. It becoming popular, ang sarap sa feeling, sa puso. The song is relatable. The experience and story in it, it does pull the heartstrings.”
When a Sing-Galing contestant gets to perform it, Ronnie shares: “I can feel how nervous and pressured they are because they are singing it, with the original singer not only as an audience but a judge. They cannot even look at me. I appreciate all those who had the opportunity to sing it.”
Being part of Sing Galing, Ronnie considers an achievement “We are like a counterprogramming to all the newscast that dominate the time slot,” Ronnie says. “We were all a nervous wreck when the show started. Slowly but surely, the audiences became apparent kasi gumanda ang digits namin sa ratings. The commercials, dumating rin. And then, our team monitors the social media buzz about the show. Encouraging ang appreciation. Now that we are on our second season, we feel proud and happy.”
Liang carries on: “Aside from the obvious talents, of course, all the jukebosses do not scrimp in sharing our personal experiences, our career hurdles, how we perceived and overcame them. The anecdotes that the judges share, hindi siya scripted.”
The show’s Season 2 excites Liang because he believes that majority of the contestants are confident, competitive, and determined to win.
“What we are looking for is a singer who has charisma and that special kind of magic. Someone who knows how to tell the story of a song,” he ends.
