Four Cs: Canseco, Cruz, Cayabyab, Cuneta. Three men of music and Miss Mega.   C IS FOR COMPOSER Mr. C taught Miss Mega a "pensive, highly emotive" rendition of Sondheim's Losing My Mind. "She sings it with a single tear in her eye, which would drop, on cue, at the end of the song." Between bites of Thai chopsuey, Mr. C is taking an anxious assistant's persistent message: "Sharon is appealling to us - if you can compose a song for her." "If they're waxing a record, why not?" Ryan Cayabyab, celebrated composer (a.k.a. Mr. C), quips as he helps himself with another spoonful of exotic fried rice. "Sure." Although Miss Mega has yet to record an original Cayabyab composition, they have worked countless times together. He was his musical director in her landmark Captain's Bar concerts in 1992. He composed her 1986 Peach Lux jingle. And of course she was a favorite guest in his ABS-CBN musical show Ryan, Ryan Musikahan. "She guested twice, I believe." Mr. C recalls. "Yon na nga eh. You can plainly see that Sharon loves to sing." Though the Musikahan staff weren't that lucky with other singing superstars, they didn't find a hard time inviting Sharon. "It wasn't difficult for her to say 'Yes.' Can you imagine? Ang guesting budget lang ng Musikahan was P5,000 per episode. Another thing, the songs she sang in the Musikahan were the songs she wanted to sing. Mga choices niya. She was excited: "Mr. C gusto ko 'to!' Her favorites which she cannot sing in the TSCS. Kasi do'n may specified na type of songs: kailangang moderno, Top 40, para mukha siyang bata, mukha siyang 'in' lagi." Miss Mega, according to Mr. C, is "a naturally gifted talent." "She is a very good singer. Very intuitive. Kahit anong kantahin niya, bagay sa kanya. 'Yon ang plus niya." Now for the other side of the coin.... "For me, ang pinaka-weakness niya is that she straddles the two worlds: movies and music," Mr. C clarifies. "She could be a great fabulous singer, performer, entertainer, if she wanted to. Or she could be a really great dramatic actress, if she wanted to. That is, if she didn't have that other concern of hers, television." Mr. C however acknowledges that is precisely Sharon's choice. "And she's happy with that choice. She's happy with both worlds." "Graciosa," he describes Miss Mega the co-worker. She's no primadonna. "Hindi siya 'yung type na: "Star ako, ikaw hindi." She has a very simple concept of professionalism: She just wants to work with people with the same verve. Parang: if I think you like to work the way I do, let's work together. Gano'n ang pinta ko sa kanya." An episode of TSCS. Mr. C is accompanying on the piano Miss Mega, who has just finished a wistful rendition of The Nearness of You. Ma'am Mega is unable to contain her enthusiasm and greets her guest, thus: "When will you compose a song for me?" "Malapit na!" Mr. C promised on live national TV. Should he finally get to write that much-awaited song for Sharon, it would be.... "I'd like to do a real hit material for Sharon," Mr. C confesses. "It has to be more '90s style. Hopefully, we could get out of the Bituing Walang Ningning mold, for which she is more known. But I realize that is precisely the same reason why she became a Megastar: songs like Sana'y Wala ng Wakas. She's very lucky, she was able to sing all those beautiful Willy Cruz songs in the '80s. Treasure 'yon." Still Mr. C wants something different, musically, for Miss Mega. "You have to move on to new genre. Ibang era na eh...." To be specific: Just what is a Sharon song fo the '90s? "Hindi ko pa alam," Mr. C shrugs. "Nag-e-evolve pa eh." Perhaps this would help. When Miss Mega guested in Musikahan, Mr. C gave her a melancholic arrangement of the Stephen Sondheim song Losing My Mind from the Broadway musical Follies. It was what I had done before na tinuro ko sa kanya," he relates. The "Liza Minnelli" version was mabilis, parang bossa. But ours was very pensive. Extremely emotional." Is that how Mr. C sees Sharon ? "Yes," he responds, swiftly. "Also, she was able to capture the essence right away, without me having to tell her: 'I want it to be sung this way and that.' Kuha niya agad. She sang it as if there was a single tear in her eye. And after the song, that single teardrop would fall. Plok. That's the way she attacked Losing My Mind."   VARIATIONS ON A THEME Maestro Willy fears that he is running out of stars in the heavens to offer to his Baby, the Megastar. Still, their love story would defy even the constellations. Without her knowledge, he attended the Concert. By the show's end, both were in tears, while the rest Astrodome hummed along Sana'y Wala Nang Wakas. The maestro sits in front of the baby grand, not to play rapturous music, but to talk (rapturuosly) about his Baby, the Megastar. A conversation with this particular Mr. C is a symphony, a concert of ideas. Willy Cruz is the man responsible for the Megastar's most decade: the movie theme songs, Sharon and Willy have affectionately dubbed the "Trilogy." Pangarap na Bituin, Bituing Walang Ningning, Sana'y Wala Nang Wakas have become the unofficial "national anthems" of Sharonians. Maestro Willy is inexplicably apolegetic when asked about the Tala Trilogy. "After those three songs, I cannot imagine how I would write a new theme song for a movie wherein she plays a singer," he sounds genuinely exasperated. (Except he also has the impression that frustration is actually the fuel that powers his creative drive.) "More or less, the basic theme is the same: Building your hopes for the future. Okay lang `yon." "But, honestly how many ways can you express that. Moreso, because Filipino as a language imposes certain limits. Hindi naman tatanggapin as a serious song ang isang kantang Taglish. But, really.... Mauubos na `ata ang mga bituin at tala sa langit, " he rhapsodizes, half earnest, half in jest. "Hindi ako makatulog ng isang buwan," Maestro Willy laughs. "Hindi ko alam kung paano ko gagawin ang areglo para sa Lilian Velez. For a song Kabukiran , hindi natural ang placement. Pang colaratura. If you were to classify Sharon's voice, she's more alto than a soprano. Maganda ang kanyang low tones. Nakaka-hit siya ng mataas, pero hindi pang-soprano." The Maestro asserts that the Megastar is a good student. "I coach her," he explains. "But I believe, pag gifted sa pagkanta, `yon na `yon. Pag papalitan o papupuntahin pa sa voice teacher, pipiliting kumanta based on the rules -baka hindi na siya `yong Shawie na kakilala natin." The Maestro expounds on the role of the teacher. "A teacher's job is to discover the innate talent of a student. And is what he should hone to perfection, without changing the character and the flavor of the singer's voice." Mr. Willy expounds on his Baby's main strengths as a singer. "First of all, she can express a song's message. Nowadays that's rare. Lalo na sa pag-awit ng Filipino. Kakaunti na lamang ang marunong kumanta sa Filipino at naibibigay ang kahulugan ng tama. Technically, 'yung low to mid tones niya, talagang maganda. Kung kailangan namang pang-show na delivery, kaya rin niyang mag-belt. Although personally I prefer that she sings mellow songs." As for his Baby's weakness.... "Health, kung minsan," he speaks softly as if his voice would break the glass in recording booth (in which the Megastar is silently listening to his voice tape of his latest composition.... the theme song of Madrasta). "Especially pag puyat. I'm sure there are techniques available, so that even if you are pagod o puyat, puwede ka pa ring mag-deliver nang hindi matatakot. Sometimes she tell tells me she's tired or, psychologically, she's not ready. Otherwise very solid ang kanyang musicianship." The first time they worked together was for Init sa Magdamag, which Sharon recorded as a duet with another Cruz baby, Nonoy ZuÒiga. "That was the first oppurtunity na magkasama kami," Mr. Willy recalls. "It went well. Although she was very young then, she was able to sing such a passionate song and pass the recording with flying colors." After Init, came the theme of Bukas Luluhod Ang Mga Tala in 1984: Pangarap na Bituin, the first of the Tala Trilogy. The Maestro has noticed that, through the years, Miss Mega "has developed a keen sense of evaluating her own performances." "All the more na naging matalas ang tenga niya. Ako, I don't demand for technical perfection. Siya, oo. If she wants to improve one line - okey lang sa akin. Because she knows. She definitely knows what she's doing. My job is just to check. I don't have to motivate her: 'O ganito kailangan isipin mo ito, para mailabas mo'. She has enough imagination and artistry to lend different colors to the lines she is singing." Often times between takes in the sutdio. Sharon would punctuate her singing thus: "Can we redo this line?" The Maestro would insist it's unnecessary. Miss Mega would persist: "I can hear something you cannot." His going in the recording studio is simple: "I only want to bring the best in her, without changing her." The best according to the Maestro, is that indescribable something special - that one of a kind magic moment. "You just know when you hear it. It's there in the recording. Hindi masasabi na ito ang formula. Minsan Vic del Rosario will help out. Siya ang nagsasabi. Mahusay din ang tenga niya. As a producer with years of experience, alam niya kung naibigay ng singer ang kaya niya." The Maestro tries to explain Miss Mega's mass appeal. "Basta siya na 'yon e." The usually loquacious Mr. Willy seems to have run out of words. "Not only as a singer but as a person, I sincerely like her." More than as co-workers, they are friends. "Kung puro kanta lang hindi na kami mag-uusap. But we understand each other at saka mahal ko siya." Words would not suffice to express the intensity of that love. "Alam mo ba kung bakit mahal ang isang tao?" He asks, rhetorically. "Mahirap, e. Basta alam mo lang na mahal mo siya. The Mega concert at the Cuneta Astrodome (1993) was the first time Maestro Willy heard his Baby sing live onstage. "I was in tears," Willy candidly admits. "And she didn't know I was there in the crowd." Lost among a sea of screaming Sharonians was the composer of concert's opening (Pangarap na Bituin) and closing (Sana'y Wala nang Wakas). "Hindi naman ako napaiyak dahil sa kinanta niya ang kanta ko. Alam ko naman na kasma sa repertoire 'yon," he clarifies. "Ang importante ay makita mo na ang isang katrabaho, na mahal mo, na maging successful." By the show's end both Maestro Willy and Miss Mega were in tears, while the rest of Astrodome filled to the rafters with a thousand Sharonians, reverberated with the hushed lyrics of Sana'y Wala Nang Wakas. "I was very proud of her," Willy explains the tears. "Very happy because I saw for myself just how successful the show was. That she performed way beyond expectation. She sang over 20 songs! Seven encores! Minsan 4 or 5 songs baka paos na. But then she was in tip-top shape. She gave it her all kaya gustong gusto ng mga tao ang show. She was very happy and I was happy for her. Ganoon lang ka-simple." After the show, Mr. Willy visited Ms. Mega backstage. "When we saw each other, we hugged each other. I was so happy for her. I just wanted to give her my all-out support. It's really hard to explain." Mere words, not even all the stars in heaven, can adequately explain that love.   DESPERATELY SEEKING GEORGEÖ By George! Mr. Canseco, currently lost in America, "tricked" Danny Zialcita into signing up a 14 year-old DJ's Pet to record an R-rated song about bigamy and lost love. Here we are trying our darndest to come up with the 3rd C, when Maestro George himself is lost somewhere in America. All we have are two local phone numbers, presumably of his family. Day in and day out, we dialed these numbers. Day in and day out, we were greeted by the same recorded female voice: "The number you dialed is not yet in service." Arrgh . What to do? Rely on the memories of the men and woman whose lives he has somehow touched, for good or for ill. Gano'n? "When I arrived at the recording studio for Langis at Tubig, I asked him: 'Tito George kanta na 'ko?" There was the great George standing in one corner jotting down notes on a tattered piece of paper. "Ten minutes na lang, he said.... 'Tubig at Langis ang katayuan natin 'yan ang kawangis....'" Music history in the making. "Wala pang ten minutes tapos na ang isang stanza," Sharon recalls. He's renowned for making songs on the spot. But with the very profound lyrics, ha. High Tagalog. Napakalalim. That's his talent. Napakabilis niya . Yet his songs are very dramatic, very beautiful. Kaya bagay na bagay sa movie theme songs." "That George put one over me," filmmaker Danny Zialcita bristles. "Imagine, making a 14-year-old kid sing a song about bigamy." Still George was insistent. "She's really a sweet girl, a swell singer. You should at least listen to her." Danny, skeptically at best, only relented because he has high regard for Mr. George's talent and judgment as a music man. "Malaki talaga ang utang ko kay George at kay Basil Valdez. They collaborated on the theme songs of my best movies. Like Gaano Kadalas ang Minsan," Danny remembers. One fine day, George called on Danny and introduced a honey-voiced girl named Sharon, the singer who would eventually record the chartbustin' theme song, Langis at Tubig. Although Langis was a Vilma Santos-starrer, you could say it started the ball rolling for the future Ms. Mega. Langis, like High School Life before it and Bituing Walang Ningning after it, made the Sharon the indisputable Queen of Movie Theme Songs. Langis also introduced Sharon to filmmaker Danny Zialcita, the who vowed to make Miss Mega a star. "Direct didn't tell me anything during the Manila Filmfest, but during the Cebu Filmfest, he approached me: 'You know, I have a movie for you.' I told him: 'My daddy won't allow me.' My mom, who accompanied me in Cebu, was just as discouraging: 'Hay naku, malabo kay Mayor `yan,'" Sharon recounts the early years. But Direct Danny insistent. "If the Mayor wouldn't allow Sharon then I would never make this film. I'd shelve it forever." The movie's title, Dear Heart. The movie's theme song (both in English and Tagalog ), composed by George Canseco. "While Willy and Rey were like my barkada and Mr. C, a cross between a buddy and an elder, Tito George has always been my Tatang," Sharon proudly reveals. Mr. C has nothing but good words for his fellow Mr. C. Says Mr. Cayabyab of Mr. Canseco: "George Canseco is a great guy. For me, his is the real King of Philippine Popular Ballads. His songs are all top-rate. Aside from beautiful melodies, he writes eloquent lyrics in beautiful Tagalog. As far as I am concerned, among local writers, si George ang pinaka-magaling sumulat ng lyrics. Poetic. Ang galing . He's a real poet. He's a descendant of Lope K. Santos. K is Kanseko. I supposed their family changed the K to C." Ms. Mega remembers Mr.George as a genuinely gifted artist, a good man, ahem, a "frustrated singer." "My first Canseco song was Langis at Tubig," Sharon takes a leisurely stroll down memory lane. "I just met him a few times before recording. So when I arrived at the studio, I was scared to death. I didn't know his work attitude, what he would demand of me to do and if I could pull it off. Imagine it was a song about bigamy. It was a very adult song and I was only 14 - a little girl! Maybe they wanted to try something different then. At that time, my voice changed, it became deeper." "It was a risk that eventually yielded positive results. "I was trying to impress my Tatang," Sharon smiles. "I was actually afraid that he might think I'm stupid and thus forever forfeit my chance to sing a Canseco song. Baka bawiin. I was just one of Vicor's many recording artist then. Suwerte na lang the song was assigned to me. That song started so many things...." By the way, Sharon's latest anthem (and currently the most requested song at weddings ) is Ikaw: Music by Louie Ocampo. Words by George Canseco. "I did a show for Tatang in a hotel once," Sharon beams. "It was like a tribute.... I sang a couple of songs to him. When it was his turn to sing, he did Ikaw, which he dedicated to his wife who recently passed on. That was the first time I heard Ikaw. And I was moved to tears."