Sitti happy to perform for Sergio Mendes, PNoy

Bossa nova singer Sitti Navarro recounted the thrill of performing as the front act for the concert of Brazilian jazz legend Sergio Mendes.

Navarro’s stage nerves left her oblivious to the presence of another notable personality at the venue.

The concert, which was held at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Tuesday, was attended by President Benigno Aquino III. Aquino was with his sisters, a number of his Cabinet members, and his rumored girlfriend, television and radio personality Grace Lee.

“I wasn’t aware that the president was here. I didn’t know. Ang alam ko lang nanginginig ako the whole time I was singing because I was fronting for Sir Sergio Mendes,” Navarro told ABS-CBN News moments after the show.

Nevertheless, Navarro said she is happy to have performed for both Mendes and Aquino and hoped that they liked her performance.

“I didn’t know. But wow, sana nagustuhan nila,” she said.

During the concert’s front act, Navarro sung a bossa nova rendition of “Limang Dipang Tao,” among others.

Her latest album is “Sitti (Sessions),” which was released last year.

Source: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/entertainment/04/25/12/sitti-happy-perform-mendes-pnoy

Posted on 9:41 AM / 0 comments / Read More

Sitti Navarro's long-lost father dies

Sitti Navarro has revealed the sad news that her father died recently.

In an interview with “Kris TV” on Wednesday, Navarro said her 55-year-old father died last month due to a heart attack.

“[Last] November 24, he passed away,” she said. “May sakit po sa puso, congenital po.”

Navarro had just met her father early this year.

They first started talking over the phone in 2010, but it was her first time to see him in person in Tawi-Tawi last April.

She shared, “Last year, I was able to talk to him na on the phone. He’s a Muslim from Mapun, Tawi-Tawi. ‘Yon po, so nakakausap ko na siya, but for some reason naisip ko lang Christmas of last year na kailangan ko na siyang makita this year (2011), so January I booked a flight.”

Navarro admitted that she barely felt the connection between them when they first talked.

“’Yung sa phone lang [kami nag-uusap], parang stranger lang kasi ‘yung kausap ko eh. It doesn’t mean, you know, as much as I thought it would,” she explained.

However, when she actually got a chance to know him, Navarro said she came to accept the fact he is her long-lost father.

She said, “When I saw him, I got to spend time with him, doon na. Doon ko na na-realize na he’s my dad.”

Given the limited time she spent with her dad, Navarro simply couldn’t help but feel regret.

Enumerating the few moments he spent with him, she said, “I spent 2 days in Tawi-Tawi [during our first meeting]. And I came back again, September and we were only able to meet up for 1 night lang nun eh, then November 24 he passed away na.”

According to an earlier report, Navarro’s father left them after her parents separated when she was just 9 months old.

For years, Navarro was made to believe that her dad passed away when she was still young.

On April 25, 2011, her emotional reunion with her estranged father took place in Tawi-Tawi.

Describing the event, she said, “Doon ko na-realize I’ve always loved my dad even though I’ve never seen him noong lumaki ako, thinking na hindi ko kailangan ng tatay. And then when I saw him, ‘Wow may matatawag pala akong papa.’”

Source: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/entertainment/12/07/11/sittis-long-lost-dad-dies

Posted on 10:58 AM / 0 comments / Read More