All-Star Tribute Album Released in Honor of Christian Bautista’s 20th Anniversary

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Christian Bautista, Asia’s Romantic Balladeer, is celebrating his 20th anniversary in the industry this year.

In honor of this career milestone, Universal Records tapped a roster of top-tier OPM acts to record his greatest hits. All of these tracks are part of a tribute album called “The Way You Look At Me: The Songs of Christian Bautista.”

Reimagined hits

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Folk-pop outfit Ben&Ben delivered their tug-at-your-heartstrings take on “The Way You Look At Me,” the record’s opening and titular track.

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The song, a ballad that peers into the profound, inexplicable power of love, is Bautista’s most-recognized hit. Penned by American composers Andrew Fromm and Keith Follese, the track served as the OPM star’s ticket to fame not only in the Philippines but also in other countries, particularly Indonesia.

“The Way You Look At Me” is also one of the hits produced by his seminal self-titled debut album, which was released in March 2004 — a few months after his fourth-place stint in the singing competition, Star in a Million.

The album has three more songs that made it to Bautista’s 20th-anniversary project.

Filipino band I Belong To The Zoo reimagined the piano-driven “Hands To Heaven” as a rock track, while Asia’s Soul Supreme KZ Tandingan offered a soulful spin to “Kailan Pa Ma’y Ikaw.” Asia’s Phoenix Morissette gave smooth vocal runs for the acoustic guitar-powered version of “Colour Everywhere.”

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Off Bautista’s “Completely” album, the ballads “Since I Found You” and “Everything You Do” sounded more contemporary in Zephanie and Kyle Juliano’s renditions. The soloists shone in their respective tracks, singing with powerful emotions over an arrangement that both featured light beats.

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“Kapit,” one of Bautista’s newer hits, was made more upbeat for the tribute album. Lending his voice to the track is multi-hyphenate Sam Concepcion.

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The song is the titular track of Bautista’s 2017 album and marked his veering away from his ballad-laden repertoire. He co-wrote the piece with composer and producer Brian Lotho (who has also worked with the likes of syd hartha, Leanne & Naara, and Orange & Lemons).

Completing Bautista’s eight-track tribute album is Julie Anne San Jose and Rayver Cruz’s swooning duet of “Pag-ibig Na Kaya.” The pop ditty is originally a Korean track that served as the theme song of the 2000s TV drama series, “Princess Hours.” Bautista and Rachelle Ann Go recorded the song in Filipino.

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In promotion of the 2023 version of the hit song, Universal Records also released a two-part mini-series featuring San Jose and Cruz.

A ‘monumental album’

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In a press release, Bautista extended his gratitude to the record label and the artists who participated in his tribute album.

“Thankful and grateful for these wonderful artists and friends who did amazing renditions of songs that I have released through the years,” the 41-year-old act shared.

“Thank you Universal Records Philippines for this monumental album. It is truly something very special to me. Thank you for the love,” he further added.

Earlier in January, Bautista also held a 20th-anniversary concert at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater in Makati. Among his guests were Morissette, San Jose, Concepcion, Erik Santos (the grand winner of Star in a Million), and The CompanY.

Throughout his two-decade career, Bautista didn’t only prove that he is one of OPM’s most recognized voices with successful singles, albums, and concerts. He has also ventured into doing musicals, acting, and hosting (He has been a Wish Music Awards co-host for five years).

But as with any other true artist, the hitmaker knows that career longevity isn’t a reason to stop learning, improving, and exploring.

In a Wish 107.5 interview, he enthused: “Even though I learned a lot already for the past [years], I always tell myself and others that there’s always someone better than us — all the time. It doesn’t mean that we’re not good. It doesn’t mean that we are below them. But we should not think that we’ve reached the top already. Never. Because there’s always room for improvement. There’s always room to try to always achieve perfection or excellence.”

Stream “The Way You Look At Me: The Songs of Christian Bautista” on Spotify.

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Written by Emmy Borromeo

Editing by Pauline Bolaños

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