Troy Laureta amazed by Ailee’s rendition of ‘Kahit Isang Saglit’
Filipino-American musical director Troy Laureta highly praised the South Korean singer’s rendition of the OPM song Kahit Isang Saglit. Ailee certainly gave justice to this classic with her strong vocals even though it’s her first time to sing in Tagalog. During an online press conference, the director praised Ailee for meticulously studying the song. She was keen on the pronunciation and meaning of Filipino lyrics so she did her assignment very well. Laureta added, “She really killed it.”
Troy Laureta helped Ailee to learn the lyrics of the song Kahit Isang Saglit
The South Korean singer was scared at first to perform the song. But with Laureta’s virtual guidance, she was able to learn each Tagalog word. She recalled, Am I singing the song right? Am I singing this word right? We actually got to record virtually, like this setting. I was in a studio and he was on the laptop, fixing my pronunciation, translating the lyrics for me. It surprisingly went pretty well but I was still scared.”
According to Laureta, he sent Martin Nievera’s version of “Kahit Isang Saglit” as well as Juris’s rendition for Ailee to review. The singer reminisced how she fell in love with the melody of the Pinoy song when she first heard it. Even though she did not understand it at all, she immediately agreed to collaborate with Laureta. She explained, “To be honest, I love the song. I had the opportunity to take a listen to the song that I’ll be remaking. And I love it right away. The melody was beautiful.”
Why did Troy pick Ailee to perform this OPM classic?
Troy Laureta explained that he chose Ailee to record “Kahit Isang Saglit” because of her knack for storytelling in her songs. He said, “The song is so emotional, so gentle, so delicate but still powerful. And that, for me, was Ailee. The way she emotes songs, the way she carries the song and story tells through her voice is so amazing.”
The director has Filipino parents but he grew up in Hawaii. Later on, he migrated to Los Angeles, California to pursue his music career. Since then, he has worked with well-known artists like Ariana Grande, Andrea Bocelli, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Steven Tyler, and The Pussycat Dolls.
Meanwhile, Ailee has built up her reputation as a powerful singer since her debut in 2012. She garnered a lot of attention from K-pop fans with “I Will Go To You Like The First Snow”. It is the original soundtrack of the 2016 hit drama “Goblin”. In 2017, her single album “Reminiscing” also became a huge hit.
Because of the warm support from her Pinoy fans, Ailee said that hoping to sing more Filipino songs.
The two first met in a concert of award-winning producer David Foster where Ailee was invited to sing on stage. Laureta said that he knows who Ailee is because he watched her videos like OSTs. He even told her that he wants to work with her someday. He knew that Ailee would be the perfect one to sing the song when the project started.
“Kahit Isang Saglit” is one of the tracks in the freshly released album “Kaibigan: A Troy Laureta OPM Collective,” co-produced by ABS-CBN Music International. Laureta is now working on the second volume but he did not disclose yet who are the participating artists.
