Kuh, Pops, Jaya set for November concert in California

By Jeanne Michael Penaranda and Jo Erlinda Maufit

Kuh Ledesma, Pops Fernandez and Jaya.

Yes, the Philippines’ three top singers will perform for the first together to entertain their fans and supporters during their concert aptly called 3 Divas at the Special Events Center of the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, Coachella Valley, Southern California, on November 12, 2022.

This early, Queen of Soul Jaya, who now lives in US, Concert Queen Pops Fernandez and Pop Diva Kuh Ledesma are excited and eager to get the concert started for “kababayans” in California.

Pops actually had just completed an American concert tour with the all-male Hitmakers (Nonoy Zuniga, Marco Sison, Hajji Alejandro and Rey Valera) and shuttles often in Manila to the United States to be with her family.

But she admitted the 3 Divas concert will be a different kind of fun than those with the boys (Hitmakers).

Also, it’s more of bonding with the girls that I’m really excited about, Pops admitted.

According to its showrunner, Enteng Perez, the concert is produced by New Paradise Entertainment and Fantasy Springs Casino.

“Three Divas will reactivate the Filipino concert scene in the Coachella Valley again. It’s been a while since there were Filipino shows in this market, so Jaya, Pops and Kuh will definitely jumpstart more shows in the desert region of Southern California,” Perez said.

It was gathered that Coachella Valley is known to have big music festivals in the US, and the fact is not lost on the three OPM queens.

Filipinos in SoCal should therefore expect the one-night-only to be one for the books filled with the three divas’ most memorable hits. There will surely be “Dahil Tanging Ikaw” and “Wala na bang Pag-ibig” from Jaya; “Don’t say Goodbye and “Bakit Ngayon Ka lang Dumating” from Pops; and, “I Think I’m in Love” and “‘Til I Met You” from Kuh, just to name a few.

Perez said ticket prices for the 3 Divas show are $128, $108, $88, $68 and $48, on sale at VP ENTERTAINMENT (702-8569723), Fantasy Springs Resort Casino Box Office or online.

Top columnist Mario Bautista interviewed the 3 Divas and reported it in his latest column.

In the interview, Kuh said: “This concert is power packed as we have matured as singers and individuals and we are all believers in the Lord. We have prepared something really exciting for the audience. When I did ‘Power of Two’ with Jaya, that’s when I just broke up with my husband, di ko kayang kumanta so I asked that our show be postponed because of all the pain and the betrayal. But when we did our show, ang ganda lumabas ng repartees namin and ng aming hugots. The Lord has done so much in Jaya’s life. I saw the change in Jaya in her walk with the Lord. We have become sisters in Christ.”

Pops, on the other hand, said: “I’ve already toured the US with Kuh in the ‘Divas to Divas’ concert some years back but first time ko with Jaya, so I’m excited and I hope the audience will like what we’ll do together and of course, what us three independent women will do for them in one show. It will show them how we have evolved as performers and as friends. Actually, when I was first told I’d perform with Kuh then, sabi ko, what, I will do a show with Kuh? She was already a big name then. Parang hindi ko yata kaya. But amazingly, our show did so well. We did 20 to 30 shows all over the U.S. She’s a single mom like me and I learned a lot from her. Pati sa business she’s so hands on kaya ang yaman-yaman niya.”

“I feel so honored to be performing and bonding with Kuh and Pops as I know I will learn a lot more from them,” Jaya said. “It’s a good time for me to watch them together and be blessed by their presence. I’ve performed with Kuh before and through the years, I’ve learned so much from her and our relationship became even better. Pops and I, we always make chika as part of Hanash Girls, ako and her with Regine Velasquez and Zsa Zsa Padilla and we have a great time bonding with all of them via zoom. It helped us during the pandemic to ease our anxiety from covid.”

Jaya now lives in the US, while Kuh prefers to be tucked away on her farm when not working.

“Kaming tatlo, we have truly matured as singers and as individuals. Lahat kami, believers,” Kuh said in another interview as she talked about her friends Pops and Jaya as they prepare for the US concert during a digital conference with media.

“Alam niyo ba na si Jaya noong nag-Power of Two [concert nila noon ni Jaya] kami, noon ako nakipaghiwalay sa husband ko?” Kuh said in Pep.ph report.

“And I was so broken. A few days na lang, mag-o-open na kami, tumawag ako kay Tita Pilits [Pilita Corrales, former manager ni Jaya],” she recounted.

“Sabi ko, ‘Tita Pilits, hindi ko kayang kumanta. Bigyan mo lang ako ng another two weeks, iiiyak ko lang ito,’ she recalled. “And I know, I think Jaya was a little bit, or maybe, very disappointed. Pero sabi ko, ‘Paki-explain mo na lang kay Jaya because hindi ko talaga kaya.’

“Talagang wala akong maisip kundi the pain, the betrayal, and all that. But noong nag-show na kami, talagang ang ganda ng repartee at duets namin,” Kuh recalled.

For the first time, Kuh unexpectedly talked about her failed relationship with ex-husband Louie Gonzales as she reminisce her ties with Pops and Jaya, Pep.ph reported. “I was so broken then,” she recalled.

Kuh went on jokingly, saying: “Si Pops naman, ipinagdarasal ko palagi na huwag munang magka-boyfriend.”

“Makamandag ang aking dasal, sabi ni Lord, Siya lang daw talaga ang boyfriend mo,” she said.

Kuh recalled an important lesson and prayer she learned from Pops.

“Noong bagong Christian pa lang ako, I invited Pops sa bahay. I don’t know if she remembers that,” she said in the Pep.ph report.

“There was one prayer na sinabi sa akin ni Pops na ginagamit ko. Ginamit ko especially when I was still very heartbroken,” she said.

“So Pops taught me, started praying, that no matter what her children would hear in school about their separation, she prayed that ‘Lord, would you deafen my children’s ears from those stories?’

“So, alam mo, Pops, ang laking bagay nun. I started praying that even for Isabella and for myself,” she said. Isabella is the only child of Kuh.

“Si Pops, ang na-admire ko sa kanya, she’s really very independent,” Kuh continued. “She travels alone when she wants to travel alone. She’s not insecure, and she’s very masipag, napakasipag, and very professional at napakagaan katrabaho.”

“I must say, si Pops talaga, actually ito ang sinasabi ko, sa lahat ng artista na nakatrabaho ko, napakadisente ni Pops. Ang ibig kong sabihin ng disente, magaling siyang makisama,” she said.