Sheng Belmonte steals the spotlight

BELMONTE. Her time to shine. Photo from blog.orangemagazinetv.com

Talk about first, second and third chances – sultry and sexy recording artist, Sheng Belmonte, has experienced them all. Indeed, patience and hard work are virtues that Sheng is proud to have a lot of – to achieve her dream of becoming a recording artist. “Ang daming ups and downs sa buhay ko, but they have made me a stronger and better person,” she confesses.

When she was in her teens, her dream was to be an actress like her cousin, Jennifer Mendoza. “Naging idol ko siya and that inspired me to become an actress, even if I only ended up doing bit roles on TV,” she recalls. She also knew she could sing, but her lack of self-confidence always got in the way when she performed. “Till now, ninenerbiyos pa rin ako bago ako kumanta,” she sighs.

But, her strong determination to succeed pushed her to build her self-confidence. She joined theater workshops to improve her acting and singing skills. And, when she thought she was already fully prepared to pursue singing, she joined a show band as its lead vocalist.

Comedy-bar route

For six years, they performed around Asia – in Indonesia, Korea and China. Then, she decided to go solo and went the comedy-bar route as Sheng B. Later, with a group composed of backup dancers, she formed an act that also performed abroad.

But, there was no stopping Sheng from pursuing singing. In 2007, she auditioned for ABS-CBN’s “Pinoy Dream Academy” and got in as one of its scholars. Unfortunately, however, she was the first to leave.

“Had I stayed longer, I could have learned so much more. That would have helped me improve my singing and performing skills from ‘teachers’ like Ryan Cayabyab,” she explains.

A bright prospect finally came when she was tapped by Sony Music to be part of a group a la Black Eyed Peas, along with two male rappers. She was hoping it would be her chance to become a recording artist – but, it wasn’t meant to be: The rappers left the group, and the plan was shelved.

After several reversals, Sheng considered rejoining a show band – but, luck finally smiled at her when Sony Music asked her to record a song with rapper, Gloc-9, for his album. The song, ‘Walang Natira,’ became an instant hit, and its music video was No. 1 for several weeks on Myx – which prompted Sony to produce a solo album for Sheng.

Carrier single

Her self-titled CD has six tracks. The carrier single, “Gigil,” established her as a sexy singer. Her second single is another collaboration with Gloc-9, “Ang Galing Galing Mo,” by Ella del Rosario.

Acting has to take a back seat for now. But, she was happy to be part of the restaging of Gines Tan and Nestor Torre’s “Magsimula Ka,” where she landed the attention-calling role of the funny maid, Monang: “There was a lot of pressure during the rehearsals, because it was my first time to act in a long while, and the role was very demanding – but, it was worth it,” she grins.