Newly crowned Reina Hispanoamericana Dia Mate/ARMIN P. ADINA
Dia Mate’s singing prowess was put to good use during the Reina Hispanoamericana pageant in Bolivia last month, where she won. And she will continue to take advantage of her vocal gifts as she is set for more musical milestones ahead.
The newly crowned international Caviteña beauty queen shared about her career plans at her victory press conference held recently at Savoy Hotel Manila in Pasay City. There, her label Radical Music revealed that she will perform “a lot” this year.
Mate is set to collaborate with an “OPM icon” whose identity will be known soon. They will work on a song next month, Radical Music’s Fresh Oh shared.
Her single “Ganda-gandahan,” released in January before she embarked on her pageant journey in Bolivia, is in the Spotify “Viral 50,” while her latest song “Ikaw ang Pinili Ko” dropped the music video featuring her real-life beau JK Labajo.
Mate was among the few delegates tapped to perform on stage in Bolivia, and was even the first one to sing for the opening number. She also did the musical number during the swimsuit competition.
She said the organizers saw her and the other ladies jamming with the band in an event that was streamed on social media. They then asked the ladies who performed to go on a quick audition to perform for the finale show.
“And then I secured a spot to sing in the finals. And we recorded it in a studio with the producer who made the opening number song. It was really fun, I got to experience what it was like recording in Bolivia, especially with my co-candidates,” the new queen shared.
Mate is the second Filipino woman to bring home the Reina Hispanoamericana crown. The first was actress Teresita Ssen “Winwyn” Marquez who showcased her impressive dance moves when she competed in 2017.
The newly crowned queen said she did not get the feeling that she would win. “But it was different from the national pageant. I was so calm. I wasn’t worried whether I was gonna win or not,” she shared with INQUIRER.net in an interview.
Mate continued: “I knew that whatever the result was gonna be, it was gonna be my destiny. And when it was me and Venezuela, I had a good feeling. I had a really good feeling, but I didn’t want to jinx it.”
She said her time in Bolivia was transformational. “I believe I grew as a woman, I grew as a person, and Reina Hispanoamericana gave me experiences of a lifetime, and many memories I can look back to and reminisce on,” Mate said.
As Reina Hispanoamericana, Mate is also set to return to Bolivia, and visit other Latin American countries to experience Hispanic culture even deeper. She said she will take more Spanish lessons to be able to communicate with the people more fluidly.
The organizers are also planning to send Mate to different parts of Asia “to share Hispanic culture and to share what Reina Hispanoamericana is, and its importance.”