Who Is Regine Velasquez???

1999-2005: Transilation and Independence

In November 10, 1999, Velásquez released her album R2K a mnemonic of (Regine 2000) which consists covers of international artists. It went platinum (40,000) within 2 weeks of its release on Nov 27, 1999, it is also the first album by a local artist to include a bonus VCD that is available only include in the album, contains 6 videos of songs from the audio CD. In 2001 R2k reportedly ended up with the certification of Octuple Platinum Record Award which equivalent in the Philippines of 8X Platinum (350,000+ copies sold). But in 2004 it was reportedly certified 12X Platinum (480,000+ copies sold), but never awarded by its own label.

On the evening of December 31, 1999, Christian Lanzar, a Hemophilia stricken child, was joined by more than 2,000 children, some who arrived as early as 10:00 a.m. to rehearse, at the top of Manila Peninsula Hotel. "I was gathering enough energy and strength to face a magnificent milestone in my life," said Christian. Velásquez joined the contingent to perform the country's millennial theme, "Written in the Sand" was beamed to 67 major broadcast networks in Asia, Europe, North America, South America, Australia, and Africa - reaching more than a billion of people. The first to view the broadcast were the people of the Kiribati Islands in Fiji, and the song crossed 24 time zones, culminating in the Samoa Islands.

Two years later, Velásquez released an all-original album titled Reigne. The album included songs like "To Reach You," "Dadalhin," and "Sa Aking Pag-iisa"which had a remix version. She also worked with singer Marvi Napoles in reviving Mariah Carey/Brian Mcknight Whenever You Call.

Velásquez became the spokesperson for American fast-food chains like KFC and Wendy's in Asia.

As an actress, she appeared in a number of Filipino films. In 2002, she won her first Best Actress award from Star Awards (for Television) in her portrayal of a mentally-challenged woman seeking acceptance and love in a Maalaala Mo Kaya episode entitled "Lobo". Lobo is the highest-rating episode (47.9%) in the history of Maalaala Mo Kaya.

She also released the film "Ikaw Lamang, Hanggang Ngayon" and received an MTV Asia award for "Best Philippine Artist,". She was named the "Box Office Queen" award the same year from the Guillermo Mendoza Memorial foundation.

She also staged the Bantay Bata Benefit concert, One Night with Régine, set at the stairs of the Philippine National Museum which won Best Musical Special at the 2003 Asian Television Awards. Her MTV Asia special entitled Speak Your Mind was nominated for the UNICEF Child Rights Awards. The production was highly commended for its agenda on child welfare, documenting the plight of homeless children swarming the streets of Metro Manila, in an effort to protect and safeguard their rights.

She also hosted the amateur singing contest Star For A Night which aimed to discover new talents. The weekly show was aired on IBC-13 and was a co-production with Viva.

Velásquez became the first recipient of the MTV Favorite Artist Award (Philippines) in 2002. During the 2002 award ceremony held in Singapore, she sang "Cry" in a duet with Mandy Moore, one of the hosts.

In 2003, Velásquez reunited with Martín Nievera in the Martín Nievera and Régine Velásquez World Concert Tour. The concert was an artistic and commercial success. The first quarter of 2004 saw Velásquez and co-artist, singer-songwriter Ogie Alcasid in much-anticipated back-to-back concerts entitled The Songbird and the Songwriter. Velásquez formed her own record label called Songbird Music in that same year. She produced an album for Gabby Eigenmann who was her co-host in SOP. Velásquez won her MTV Favorite Artist Award (Philippines) for the second time in MTV Asia Awards.

In 2004, Velásquez released Covers Vol. 1, comprising cover songs including Original Pilipino Music (OPM) classics of male singers like Basil Valdez, Martín Nievera, Gary Valenciano, Ogie Alcasid, Side A, True Faith, and Ariel Rivera. Velásquez transferred her amateur singing contest to GMA-7 and changed the name to Search For A Star.

Velásquez starred in GMA's telenovela Forever In My Heart opposite Richard Gomez, Dawn Zulueta, and former flame Ariel Rivera. December 2004 was Velásquez return to major solo concert performance. She staged in a 24,000 seat Araneta Coliseum another set of back-to-back concert performances regally titled Reigning Still. The show was triumphant amidst a series of typhoons that ravaged Manila and nearby provinces. Reigning Still wasn't a culmination of Velásquez' career, it was a bridge to a new level in her career - maturity - in performance and in work. She moved on with the event and for two consecutive nights, Velásquez conquered the Araneta Coliseum again on her own. The concert was not full to its maximum capacity on the first night (considering that Manila's streets are still flooded at that time) but the second night was a real full house. Never mind since it has been declared Sold Out two weeks before the concert which means even if people didn't make it, tickets were already bought and sold. That's very important especially that Velasquez donned the hat of producer and director. The concert was a showcase of what Velásquez has learned in her craft through the years. It is a spectacle of her running concepts, ideas and style where you can see a Velásquez touch in every detail of it. The concert though was more pop in nature, high spirited, experimental and upbeat, following the trend of recent concerts by Britney Spears, Janet Jackson, and Christina Aguilera. In 2005, Velásquez and singer Pops Fernández performed a concert, Queens On Fire, later taking it on an eight-city U.S. tour.

Velásquez held the Reflections Concert series at Aliw Theatre late that year. The stage was decorated with mannequins wearing her gowns from the past decade which were later auctioned for the benefit of GMA's Kapuso Foundation. The concert featured the prodigies "Wyeth Gifted Kids" (saxophonist Jacob Sarreal, violinists Joseph Valdés and Paulina, and classical cellist Pocholo Gutiérrez). The concert featured songs by her favorite singers or the foreign female singers who have influenced her career. The concert consisted of numerous medleys of hits by Barbra Streisand, Anita Baker, Sheena Easton, Spice Girls, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, and Celine Dion.

Velásquez hosted Pinoy Pop Superstar (a singing competition on GMA 7 which started last 2005 until 2008) which launched the career of Jonalyn Viray (1st Pinoy Pop Superstar Grand Champion who also competed at the World Championships of Performing Arts in Hollywood where she won five golds for Broadway, Original, Pop, R&B and Variety categories & was declared "Overall Champion Female Solo" in Broadway, Pop and Original).

She recorded the theme song "Di Na Nag-iisa" for the Darna TV series, based on the Darna comic book character created by Mars Ravelo. The theme song was composed by South Border's Jay Durias and the song was nominated for an Aliw Award for Best Song Made For Television. The song was also used in the movie Till I Met You and is included in the original sound track.