Regine Velasquez-Alcasid emotional after seeing ‘FINALE’ concert poster

MANILA — Regine Velasquez-Alcasid could not help but break down after seeing the poster for her “FINALE” concert for the first time.

“Asia’s Songbird” will perform on October 17-19 at the Mall of Asia Arena.

“It is real — nakalagay ang laki, ‘FINALE.’ Oh, it’s happening,” Velasquez-Alcasid said Friday in Quezon City. 

“I cried tapos nahiya ako sa asawa ko. I did not want to show him I was being emotional about it. Of course I am menopausing so I am more emotional,” she added. “So, I went to the bathroom and I started crying — ugly crying.”

Velasquez-Alcasid explained that she felt as though she is giving up a part of herself, even though she is not retiring entirely.

“Whenever I talk about it, I get emotional. Not so much my voice, but I am giving up something that I have been doing for 40 years,” she explained. “I started doing concerts at 17 and every year I will be doing it.

“Sometimes even three times a year — one big, medium and a smaller one. I would go on tour. It was like a routine. It was like giving up a part of me,” she added.

However, she has decided to retire from staging big solo shows after experiencing what she called “menopause voice.”

“It is dry, it is very hard to sing. So nag-crackle, nag-crack voice ko. I cannot access my head voice. There are so many things. It is complicated. I experienced that,” said Velasquez-Alcasid.

“One day I woke up because my voice was taken away from me,” she added. “I couldn’t sing, na sintunado ako. And that does not happen to me — mawala ako sa timing, nakalimutan ko lyrics but never sintunado.

“But then I experienced that. Nag-crack voice ko, and that is the reason.”

Nonetheless, Velasquez-Alcasid has embraced the change  that came with aging.

“Walang taong hindi nag-a-age. We cannot help it. So that’s it. I still have my voice. It never left, but it is just in a different form. And I have to work with what I have. I can no longer be who I used to be 10 or 20 years ago. I can’t sound like that,” she added.

Despite the challenges the OPM star promises an unforgettable night during her concert dates, where she intends to perform a different set of about 20 songs each night. 

“Ang dami ko kanta. Hirap pumili. So ginawa namin, iba ibang repertoire each night. Siyempre may naka poste na pare-pareho. Siguro opening and finale song. Pero gitna iba-iba. Para ma-cover ko at least 50 percent,” she said.

Apart from the sold-out concert, the singer is set to release a new album.