Christian Bautista celebrates 10 years in showbiz

Time flies so fast, said singer Christian Bautista, who is celebrating his tenth year in show business.

"Has it been ten years? Parang ang bilis? Pero still here and still fighting," Bautista said in an interview with ABS-CBN News on Wednesday.

Bautista entered the limelight when he joined ABS-CBN's singing contest "Star in a Million." He said he has learned a lot over the past ten years.

"All these ten years, I had to really open myself up to showbiz, to people, how to connect to the audience, to genuinely love my work, my friends and the people around me.

"Madaming nagbago pero ang hindi ko makakalimutan ay galing ako sa Cavite, nagmamahal ako sa Diyos, sa pamilya, at ako ay isang tao lamang," he said.

Bautista admitted, however, that there were times when fame got into his head.

"Mayroong mga times na lumaki ang ulo, yumabang, nainis, magaling lang akong magtago. Pero nasasabi ko siya sa tamang tao para maturuan nila ako at masabihan nila ako na bago pa maging grabe at seryoso ay binabalik nila ako sa lupa. These are my church friends, family. It wasn't perfect, my ten years here, but a lot of lessons learned," he said.

Highs and lows

Bautista considers his first theater show, "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe," as one of the reasons why his career soared.

"Because of that, na-discover ako ni Carlo Orosa at nasama ako sa 'Star In A Million,'" he said.

The singer also shared some low points in his ten-year career, such as the time when he missed a few lines while singing the Philippine national anthem in a boxing match.

"'Yung low ay noong natalo ako sa 'Star In A Million,' high nakuha ko 'yung 'The Way You Look At Me' at nakapunta sa Indonesia. 'Yung low nakalimutan ko ang 'Lupang Hinirang' lyrics, high is nagkaroon ng endorsement at Jose Mari Chan album, 'yung low ay nagkaroon ako ng 'Kitchen Musical' at nakalimutan ako ng Pilipinas, pero high (dahil sa recognition) ng 'Kitchen Musical' and now I'm back," he said.

Future plans

As he celebrates his tenth year in showbiz, Bautista hopes to try his hand at directing and producing.

"Pwede akong maging producer, manager o director, marami. Pero ang pinaka-importante, dapat mahalin ko siya, hindi pwede yung pilit," he said.

To celebrate his journey, the Asian Pop Superstar will have a grand "tell-all" musical titled "The Way You Look at Me: The Christian Bautista 10th Anniversary Special" this July 8 (Sunday), on ABS-CBN’s “Sunday’s Best."

Currently, Bautista is gearing up for the second season of "The Kitchen Musical" with Karylle.