Rachelle Ann Go, She Dreamed a Dream and Now it Has Come True

By: Jovie Calma

 

It was over 10 years ago when I met this one talented, beautiful and sweet young lady. Her name is Rachelle Ann Go. She was here in Chicago to perform for the “Night of the Champions” concert produced by Ms. Baby Navarette. It was her first time in the US and she shared the stage with other singing champs, Sarah Geronimo, Erik Santos Christian Bautista and Mark Bautista. I interviewed Rachelle in my then “Showbiz Pinoy” segment for Chicago Philippine Reports TV. She was vibrant, intelligent, bubbly, ambitious, multi-talented and very comfortable to chat with. During the interview, I had mentioned to her, “You have a bright future ahead of you”. My director, Nongni Joe Mauricio agreed with that statement.

Off camera, Rachelle shared her life and story that truly moved me. It was very rare that “celebrities” opened up to me in my experience as a TV Host. She’s one of those who have connected with me in a more personal bond and blossomed to a great friendship through the years.

Rachelle Ann Villalobos Go, better known as Rachelle Ann Go in showbiz was born on August 31, 1986, and of Chinese-Filipino descent. She’s a singer, model and stage actress. Shin, as fondly called by family and friends, went through vocal training and lessons during her early years. Her father had long predicted that she will be a STAR and true enough, she indeed became one… a BIG and BRIGHT STAR!

Rachelle’s ticket to fame was when she joined Star for A Night (Search for a Star) hosted by recording artist and actress, Regine Velasquez- Alcasid. Prior to that, Rachelle joined her first amateur singing contest at the age of nine and won first prize. She was the youngest contender in the said competition. She then joined every singing competition and take pride in winning them at the same time. At eleven years old, Rachelle made her TV debut in “Eat Bulaga” TV show when she joined the show’s contest, “Birit Baby” where she ended up winning as first runner up.

In 2003, she auditioned for the second season of Search for a Star, one of the Philippines’ leading singing contests produced by VIVA Television, co-produced and broadcast by GMA Network in line with their 53rd anniversary. This was the second season of Star for a Night, broadcast by IBC and won by Sarah Geronimo. Rachelle Ann qualified through the preliminary rounds and became one of the twelve contenders who vied for the most coveted recording contract prize. She was announced second Grand Champion in 2004 with her rendition of Mariah Carey’s “Through the Rain”. After that, she released her self-titled album in the same year with her singles “Love of My Life,” a remake of the classic, “Don’t Cry Out Loud.” She then became engaged with TV appearances and tours in and outside the country. She even represented Philippines in the Shanghai Music Festival where she emerged as the silver medalist for the song “From The Start” composed by Vehnee Saturno. The same song also won Best Song in the same competition. She was also named as the Most Promising Singer in 2005 by the Guillermo Mendoza Memorial Scholarship Foundation.

The showbiz industry will always be filled with controversies, and Rachelle was not spared from that. She was once criticized for not having her own identity in her singing style and tagged as “copy cat” after Maria Carey and Christina Aguillera. She was also linked to several male celebrities but she denied being involved with them. Rachelle admitted in public that she only had two relationships, one with singer Christian Bautista and Gab Valenciano, both of which didn’t work out. After the challenges of being criticized, being in love and to deal with the process of falling out of love, Rachelle decided to shift her focus in theatre.

In 2012, Rachelle Ann Go debuted musical theatre as Ariel in the Little Mermaid, for which she won a Best Actress award from Broadway World Philippine Awards. The following year, she won Best Actress again for the same musical. With the success of “The Little Mermaid,” Rachelle continued her theatre career when she took the Jane role in the “Tarzan” musical, which ran at the Meralco Theater in 2013. In one of her interviews, Rachelle Ann shared that she didn’t see herself as an actress and with numerous successful concerts and performances under her belt, she wants to produce a worship concert in the future.

Rachelle considered 2014 as one of her best years ever when she was selected for a major role in the West End revival of Cameron Mackintosh’s new production of “Miss Saigon”. She portrayed the role of disillusioned Gigi Van Tranh at the said musical, which ran at the Prince Edward Theatre in London. She received great reviews and nods with her performance, in which she won the Best Featured Actress at the 2014 Broadway UK/West End Awards. “That award inspired me and made me realize that what I’m doing has a purpose,” Rachelle Ann said. “I didn’t expect this. I’m just chasing my dreams, doing what I love– being recognized is just a bonus.” She was also recognized as the Best Supporting Actress in the 2015 WhatsOnStage Awards for the same performance. Rachelle Ann is also grateful and proud of her fellow Pinoy actors, her costar Jon Jon Briones, who played the role of Engineer for the Miss Saigon, who received the Best Actor nod from the prestigious Olivier Awards.

After her West End stint as Gigi at the Miss Saigon, Rachelle Ann stepped into her glass slippers as she performed “A Dream Is AWish Your Heart Makes,” in line with the release of the live-action film of Cinderella. Originally written and composed by Mack David, Al Hoffman and Jerry Livingston for the 1950 animated film, the song was revived with a whole new arrangement and music video, but still maintained the main theme of Cinderellanever stop dreaming. The music video premiered on Disney Channel and Disney Channel Asia YouTube Channel in March.

In my recent conversation with Rachelle Ann, she shared with me that she can relate to Cinderella and her story. She’s a dreamer who had to deal with people who were trying to pull her down but she didn’t allow them to affect her. She just stayed focus and achieve her dreams in every way possible. As an actress, she has a purpose and that she has the ability to touch people’s lives. It meant a lot to her knowing she created an impact thru her acting and performances. This year, it has been announced that Rachelle Ann will portray the major role of Fantine in the 30th Anniversary staging of “Les Miserables” in London and will start on June 15th at the Queen’s Theatre. Congratulations my dear Kumare, we’re proud of you Rachelle Ann!

My special birthday wishes to Thandi Apoderado (June 1), Arabel Alva Rosales (June 1), Ryan Alvarez (June 6), Tita Cora Sanchez (June 7), Andre Gabriel Zamora (June 14), Paul Ruffin (June 15), Jon Cotay (June 16), Jhun Patron (June 19), Jersey Drew Pantuhan (June 24), Chip Payos (June 24), Chaz Patron (June 24) and to my loving Mom Connie Calma (June 10).

Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads, special mention to Nongni Joe Mauricio and to my loving Daddy’o- Daddy Ricky Calma. June is also my birthday month and to everyone who took time to share all your birthday wishes via FB, Twitter, SMS, email and snail mails, from my core, I appreciate you all. I’ll try my best to reply to each of those birthday greetings. No words that could fully grasp, my birthday wish this year is that may everyone who sent me great blessings of love, generosity, prosperity, good health, harmony and success will also receive the same tenfold! To all Via Times Readers and CPRTV viewers, thank you for your continued support.

Until the next issue of Wassup?! Jovie Calma LIVE! Please visit www.viatimes.com (or net) and be our Facebook Fan! God Bless Us All!

Jovie Calma’s throwback picture with singer/actress, Rachelle Ann Go post-VT/CPRTV interview in 2005! Rachelle Ann Go landed a role as Fantine in the Les Miserables production in London which opens on June 15th! 

(1) Congratulations to my first born Al Ricmand, Class of 2015! I love you more than the stars in the skies! Now that you graduated from high school, continue to strive for excellence and breathe success! Please refer to your compass and internal GPS so you won’t get lost in your new journey. There might be some roadblocks and detour on the way but please stay focused and keep moving forward. Observe the traffic lights in your life at all times so you’ll know when it’s time to go, take caution and stop. Remember you have to climb the stairs as there’s no elevator to success! (2) VT/CPRTV’s Jovie Calma was beyond excited to be part of the 500th episode of The Steve Harvey Show as a featured model. The show had a BIG win at the #EMMYS as Outstanding Talk Show/ Informative just recently.

Jovie Calma’s birthday celebration with aunts Haidee, Gay and Toni and son, Rovic!

VT/CPRTV’s Jovie  Calma’s special birthday celebration at Cabo San Lucas, Mexico!