LITZ: New girl group gearing up to go global

LITZ

As the creative director of the new girl group LITZ, choreographer and celebrity coach Georcelle Dapat-Sy’s goal is to present a set of young, well-rounded artists who have the potential to help shape the future sound and look of local pop.

“They can dance, they can sing and they have presence onstage. It’s about the entire package,” Georcelle said of LITZ, which is composed of five newbies gunning for pop stardom: Heart Ryan Evangelista, 19; Ashtine Olviga, 22; Bianca Santos, 20; Yumi Garcia, 18; and Fatima Añonuevo, 20.

“We’re still finding our space in the music industry. But our goal is to help define the pop scene here in the Philippines,” Georcelle said in a virtual conference. “They’re all hungry and I like that.”

The girls were handpicked by Viva Entertainment boss Vic del Rosario Jr., who then gave Georcelle free rein to mold and hone the group.

“They asked me to handle them. They gave me the freedom when it comes to grooming them. And I have their full support,” related Georcelle, who heads the popular dance group G-Force. She has trained numerous celebrities and was the woman behind the choreography of Sarah Geronimo’s viral hit “Tala.”

‘Natural movers’

LITZ started training last year. While the restrictions back then made face-to-face sessions challenging, they made sure to make the most out of their opportunities when the situation allowed.

“They stay in the studio for at least six hours. And we have a pool of choreographers working with them. There’s someone who takes care of physical conditioning and someone who comes up with the right moves for them,” she said. “I have worked with a lot of celebrities—some of whom have been in the industry for a long time—but still get stage fright. But these girls are natural movers.”

But dancing is just one part of the equation. “We have a lot of plans for them. They also take voice and speech lessons,” Georcelle said.

LITZ’s first single is a reworked version of James Reid’s hit “Natataranta,” which has been given a contemporary electro-pop flavor, a female-empowerment theme, and a space for dance break, which allows Heart Ryan, Ashtine, Bianca, Yumi and Fatima to showcase their performance skills.

“The fact that it’s sung from a female perspective already makes it different,” Fatima pointed out.

Best quality

In a pop group, moving as one unit is crucial. And the rapport comes naturally for them because they have a lot of things in common. “We have similar likes and dislikes, and we know what we can offer. We know our weaknesses and strengths, and we pull each other up. We’re friends—and that’s the best quality we have in our group,” Heart Ryan said.

That doesn’t mean, however, that there’s no room for individual personalities to shine. “We’re allowed to pursue our individuality. We still get to be ourselves,” Fatima said.

What’s their ultimate dream for the group? “We want to be more established and let people know what LITZ is all about. We want our listeners to feel empowered and to celebrate who they are,” Heart Ryan said, adding that she misses performing live. The screaming and energy make everything better. They make us feel connected to the fans.”

And if they’re going to dream, they might as well dream big. “We hope to go global,” Fatima said.