ANTONIO V. FIGUEROA FAST RECALLING THE ‘PASSIONATA’

published since 1845, Geraldine Tang, an enter-tainment scribe, penned “Passionata — lots of passion but no punch in their singing” on Jan-uary 2, 1979:

‘These three Filipino singers call themselves the Passionata--after the passion flower--and they try to live up to their name on stage by showing great feeling in their singing.

‘They concentrate on soul music, jazz, funk, and rock as well as pops. The publicity blurb says they “put a lot of fire and spice into their song-and-dance numbers, and are noted for their verve and vigor on stage.”

‘But I didn’t find them hot enough in the 20-minute session when they delivered four songs.

‘They were dressed in sexy, fire-cracker red halter-necked pantaloon suits with deep plunging necklines and accessorised with bangles on their arms and flowers in their hair. Despite their appearances, they render their sons with little punch.

‘Nevertheless, they are a promising group and have potential. With experience they may develop a more expressive, well-defined style of their own.

‘The girls did not jive nor dance that much. Perhaps the limited floor space did not allow them to show more of the choreographed movements.

‘Ruth Vergara, 25, who is the first soprano, had been singing in nightclubs before she joined the group. Aida Diwara, 20, was the winner in a regional singing contest in Davao and Mercy (no surname cited), 23, who sings alto, had been a folk singer.