Seasoned songwriter Vehnee Saturno is impressed at how Yumi Chung, a young Filipino-Chinese artist in Hong Kong, can effortlessly carry a tune that he right away offered to write a song for her.
Yumi was in Manila recently to record Vehnee’s new composition titled “Say Hello.”
Yumi was only seven years old when her Pinay mom, Joanne, enrolled her at the Vehnee Saturno Music Training Center while they were on vacation in her hometown Laguna. It was Ladine Roxas, the school’s managing director and Vehnee’s wife, who introduced Yumi to her husband.
“She has a good voice, a very beautiful girl and there’s really a lot of potential in her in the entertainment industry. With more vocal trainings, I’m sure she has the making to also become a singing star here (in the Philippines),” said Vehnee who is also certain that Yumi’s cover version of “Pasulyap-sulyap” will make music fans sit up and notice the 13-year-old’s vocal talent.
“Pasulyap-sulyap” was among the many hits that he composed and originally sung by Tootsie Guevarra. Vehnee became popular as a songwriter after he wrote “Be My Lady,” the same song that catapulted Martin Nievera to stardom. He also provided original songs that became career-making hits to Donna Cruz with ”Only Me and You”;Jaya, ”Dahil Tanging Ikaw”; Jessa Zaragoza, “Bakit Pa?”; Randy Santiago, “Para Sa ‘Yo”; Rachel Alejandro, “Mr. Kupido”; Sarah Geronimo, “Forever’s Not Enough”; andAriel Rivera, ”Sana Kahit Minsan,” to name a few.
Vehnee also became active as a record producer and worked with more big-name stars.
Yumi, on the other hand, is an accomplished singer, dancer, commercial and print model and TV and movie actress in Hong Kong. She can speak in Cantonese, Mandarin, English, and Tagalog.
The young artist is excited to perform on the local stage in the coming days. In fact, Vehnee posted on his Facebook page that Yumi will soon release her first single under Star Music.