oni Gonzaga, the wacky ‘it' girl of ‘Wazzup Wazzup', is an old-fashioned Pinay songbird with her feet on the ground, whose carefree demeanor belies the hard work she put in to get to where she is today

IN THESE days of “reality-style” star quests and the likes of Heros and Sandaras being bullied by judges and performing in front of millions of finals night, the story of Toni Gonzaga's path to popularity sounds refreshingly quaint and old-fashioned. “I started joining singing competitions when I was four years old,” she tells us one recent Friday afternoon. She was going to be the representative of Region 4 for a nationwide contest among private schools, until last-minute politicking hexed the event. When she was eight, she was asked by a neighbor who was working as a talent coordinator to perform at a Kapisanan ng Mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas event. She sang Basta't Tayo'y Magkasama. When she turned 10, she joined an RPN 9 talent search hosted by Imelda Papin. Three years a later, it was the First Metro Pop Search, which, as she recounts now, was a disappointment because the organizers wouldn't let her sing Michael Jackson's Beat It because she was the youngest finalist, and it just “wasn't a song for kids.” So she ended with a mellower Got To Be There, also by MJ. “Parang hindi naman ako sumali sa competition, parang kumakanta lang ako sa Batibot,” she jokes, referring to the educational TV show for children. “Walang nangyari, na-loss lang lola mo.”

She didn't win the top prize in that contest, but she did catch the attention of talent scouts who told her she would be perfect for TV commercials. “From the ages of 13 to 17, I was going to VTRs, pero sa awa ng Diyos wala naming kumuha sa akin,” she says candidly. “Kasi I was so thin then, plus I looked so Oriental. Eh siyempre kapag VTRs ng commercials, once you walk into the room, you see all the mestizas lining up—mukha nila akong PA (production assistant)!”

E ventually, because she really loved to sing, she ended up a lounge singer at the Hyatt Regency's Calesa Bar (where the likes of Side A, Dulce, Verni Varga and Joey Albert started their careers). She was 17, and would retreat to the corner of the bar during breaks to drink a glass of hot milk. She auditioned with the classic love song Valentine, and along the way learned with classic old tunes like The Nearness of Your, under the tutelage of Calesa's legendary pianist Rudy Francisco. Yes, she would get noticed by the men in the bar. No, she never received an indecent proposal—the staff looked after her well, telling the guests that she was still too young to be bothered.

It was at 17 that Toni got her first big break—she was cast in the “Magpakatotoo ka!” campaign of a soft drink brand and became the role model of female teenagers everywhere when she dropped her colegiala poise to scream, “I love you, Piolo!” Yes, that Piolo Pascual commercial. It was after that outing that her career began to take off.

These days, she can be seen co-hosting a noontime variety show and the hit nightly news gag show Wazzup Wazzup, which airs every 7 pm on Studio 23. Toni says the show has changed her immensely and helped her grow as a person. “Before, I didn't care to read newspaper or watch the news on television, but now I try to keep informed and watch everything,” she says in Filipino. “If I was the Toni of before, I wouldn't even know who Angelo dela Cruz ) was even if he got beheaded.” She also likes playing the role of a respectable and serious woman “in a suit, wearing intellectual glasses.” That's because, deep down, she is actually a casual, kalog person who likes to stay at home when she has no work lined up, and attends Church every Sunday with her small, tight-knit family (her parents manage her career and she has only one sibling, a younger sister).

What's in store for Toni Gonzaga? A booming career, it would seem, as she continues to gain a following among televiewers for her pretty face and grounded persona. She says she “loves what I'm doing and I'm happy with the people I am working with,” but that doesn't mean her ambitions outside showbiz are taking a back seat. For instance, she is set to resume her college studies with a correspondence school. The love and relationship thingy will have to wait, though. “I'm too shy,” she gushes. “I don't want to go out on a date and end up na nagpapa-cute lang.” At 20, says Toni, she would rather focus on her career and studies than go out with guys (especially from showbiz) whose idea of asking for a date is sending text messages. “I don't like that,” she says. “I guess I'm old-fashioned that way.” And therein lies her appeal. - -