Dessa
Dessa was in top vocal form when she visited the Inquirer office last Dec. 28 to serenade PDI editors with her crowd-pleasing versions of Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” and Lani Misalucha’s “Ang Iibigin Ay Ikaw,” among others.
Asked what she wanted for 2020, the 45-year-old international singing sensation, who won the top prize at the 1993 Voice of Asia song festival in Kazakhstan, said that she just wanted more opportunities to sing for people—whether here, in Las Vegas (where’s she’s based for much of the year) and everywhere. She said, “I just want more gigs … and more money (laughs)!”
Was there anything about herself that she wanted to change? “You mean, sa mukha ko (about my face)…?” she quipped with a laugh. “Waley! So many people have tried to convince me to change the way I look—magpalagay daw ng fillers sa ilong, etc. Marami na kasing puwedeng mag-sponsor ngayon. I didn’t want any of that!”
But the real reason behind Dessa’s reluctance for and resistance to any form of “facial enhancement” stems from someone “closer to home.” She explained, “Ayoko talaga, kasi palagi kong naaalala ang sinabi ng father ko before he passed away—huwag daw akong magpabago ng mukha!
“He said there’s nothing wrong with the way I look—ayaw n’ya talaga! At ayoko rin, kasi nakaka-shokot (scary) na ngayon. Hindi natin alam ang side effects ng mga ’yan!” Better safe than sorry.