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Lea Salonga called Regine Velasquez ‘a freak of nature.’ Here’s a compilation showing why.

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<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/tvpatrol/08/05/20190805-regine-lea.jpg"/><figcaption>Regine Velasquez and Lea Salonga are regularly seen on ABS-CBN’s ‘ASAP Natin ‘To’ and ‘The Voice Kids.’ <em>ABS-CBN</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA — “It takes one to know one,” goes the adage that no doubt applies for Lea Salonga and Regine Velasquez, both music veterans who are widely respected for their timeless talent.</p><p>Salonga, in fact, went with the colorful “a freak of nature” in describing Velasquez, on the topic of reaching the notoriously difficult F# note in singing.</p><p>Velasquez’s vocal range came up during the Sunday episode of “The Voice Kids,” where Salonga is one of the coaches.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LJakp_TJBUc?enablejsapi=1"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><p>Salonga was commenting on a 12-year-old boy’s performance of “My Love Will See You Through.” The young artist, Vanjoss Bayaban, hit an F# — a fact Salonga welcomed with disbelief.</p><p>“Diyos ko, Lord! He’s hitting an F#? I don’t know anybody that can hit an F#!” Salonga said, after confirming the note with the pianist who accompanied the audition.</p><p>When Salonga’s fellow coach Sarah Geronimo mentioned her mentor, Velasquez, as a performer who can manage that note, the Broadway star agreed, saying, in jest, that she’s “not human.”</p><div><script src="https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&amp;version=v2.5" async="" type="text/javascript"></script></div><div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/RVSuperSaiyan/videos/659740441192446" data-width="auto"> </div><p>Long-time fans of Velasquez apparently picked up the exchange, resulting in a compilation that made the rounds online Monday. The video shows Velasquez belting an F#5 in various, recent performances.</p><p>“Kayang-kaya pa rin, hit and sustain, at the age of 49,” the video’s description read, referring to the snippets taken from Velasquez’s “ASAP Natin ‘To” performances only this year.</p><div><strong>‘NO EXCUSES’</strong></div><p>With a career spanning three decades, Velasquez has admittedly grappled with highs and lows as a performer. Early this year, Velasquez shared that she continues to take voice lessons, specifically to “re-learn” her vocal techniques in light of changes in her body through the years, and after giving birth.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5CVi-p1mzCU?enablejsapi=1"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><p>“It doesn’t fit me anymore,” she said of her former style of singing, “because I’m older, and my voice is different, my throat is different… I have to do different techniques so it doesn’t burden my throat so much.”</p><p>Velasquez, on Monday, vowed to continue improving herself as a singer, in response to a criticism of her latest performance of “On the Wings of Love,” her signature ballad, during the “ASAP Natin ‘To: Bay Area” show.</p><p>On Instagram, she shared a screenshot of the comment that read, in part: “You did not hit the right note. For thousands of Filipinos who paid their tickets coming from their hard-earned money yet you gave them that performance! Nakakahiya ka!”</p><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/B0xccEggTwH/" data-instgrm-version="12" style="background:#FFF;border:0;border-radius:3px;box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);margin:1px;max-width:540px;min-width:326px;padding:0;width:calc(100% - 2px)"><div style="padding:16px"><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;align-items:center"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;flex-grow:0;height:40px;margin-right:14px;width:40px"> </div><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:column;flex-grow:1;justify-content:center"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;margin-bottom:6px;width:100px"> </div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;width:60px"> </div></div></div><div style="padding:19% 0"> </div><div style="display:block;height:50px;margin:0 auto 12px;width:50px"><a 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C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631"></path></g></g></g></svg></a></div><div style="padding-top:8px"><div style="color:#3897f0;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-weight:550;line-height:18px"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B0xccEggTwH/" style="background:#FFFFFF;line-height:0;padding:0 0;text-align:center;text-decoration:none;width:100%" target="_blank">View this post on Instagram</a></div></div><div style="padding:12.5% 0"> </div><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;margin-bottom:14px;align-items:center"><div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;height:12.5px;width:12.5px;transform:translateX(0px) translateY(7px)"> </div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;height:12.5px;transform:rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px);width:12.5px;flex-grow:0;margin-right:14px;margin-left:2px"> </div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;height:12.5px;width:12.5px;transform:translateX(9px) translateY(-18px)"> </div></div><div style="margin-left:8px"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;flex-grow:0;height:20px;width:20px"> </div><div style="width:0;height:0;border-top:2px solid transparent;border-left:6px solid #f4f4f4;border-bottom:2px solid transparent;transform:translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"> </div></div><div style="margin-left:auto"><div style="width:0px;border-top:8px solid #F4F4F4;border-right:8px solid transparent;transform:translateY(16px)"> </div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;flex-grow:0;height:12px;width:16px;transform:translateY(-4px)"> </div><div style="width:0;height:0;border-top:8px solid #F4F4F4;border-left:8px solid transparent;transform:translateY(-4px) translateX(8px)"> </div></div></div><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:column;flex-grow:1;justify-content:center;margin-bottom:24px"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;margin-bottom:6px;width:224px"> </div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:4px;flex-grow:0;height:14px;width:144px"> </div></div><p style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:17px;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:8px;overflow:hidden;padding:8px 0 7px;text-align:center;text-overflow:ellipsis;white-space:nowrap"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B0xccEggTwH/" style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:17px;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">A post shared by reginevalcasid (@reginevalcasid)</a> on <time dateTime="2019-08-05T06:40:02+00:00" style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:17px">Aug 4, 2019 at 11:40pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://www.instagram.com/embed.js" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>Explaining why she did away with the climactic “birit” of the song, Velasquez wrote: “Alam mo iba-iba ang bawat pagkanta. Minsan depende sa kundisyon ng katawan at boses ng isang mang-aawit ang kalalabasan ng kanyang performance.”</p><p>She cited factors like the health condition and “emotional battle” of performers which may affect their performance.</p><p>“But again no excuses,” Velasquez added. “We all do what we do because we all love to entertain all of you… But thank you for letting me know that I was so bad. I will do my best next time. Kasi lagi namang may next time, laging may next time to redeem myself. ‘Yan naman ang maganda sa life — laging may next time.”</p>