MANILA, Philippines?Singer-actress Regine Velasquez said she was going back to singing on television, via the weekly musical ?Songbird? (set to debut on a Thursday night next month on GMA 7) because she missed music ?terribly.?

The local concert scene is not so vibrant, she explained. ?A lot of foreign acts are coming in. I have nothing against foreign singers performing here; we should all get the chance to see them.?

Moratorium

However, she said, a moratorium should be imposed on the number of such foreign acts. ?Three or four a year should be good,? she said.

Local artists cannot compete with foreigners at the tills, she said. ?Times are hard. If a Filipino concertgoer has limited budget for a single date, he may opt to watch a foreigner, since he can watch any local singer anytime.?

As a concert producer, Regine says she has felt the pinch. Fortunately for her, she has a US concert tour and two television shows to keep her busy.

Sneak preview

?I am excited for the weekly musical on Ch 7 because that?s what I enjoy best,? she said. ?Also, every week, we will come up with different concepts??Songbird Sings Streisand? or ?Songbird Sings Manilow? or ?Songbird Goes to the Movies.??

Her birthday special, ?The Best of Me,? aired last Sunday, served as a sneak preview of the planned weekly musical.

Taped in her new home, the birthday special also allowed Regine to indulge in a new passion: cooking.

Boyfriend Ogie Alcasid, who gamely acted as official photographer along with friend Michael V., told Inquirer Entertainment that Regine whipped up pasta dishes for the birthday special?s crew and guests.

He snapped a photo of Regine in front of a hot stove hours before the taping started.

?She keeps feeding me pasta. Good thing carbohydrates are allowed in my diet,? Ogie noted.

Cooking is also a great preparation for her other TV show, Regine noted?the Philippine version of the Koreanovela, ?Kim Sam Soon,? the title character of which is a pastry chef.

?I was a fan of the original. I know all the characters? names by heart and missed the beginning and ending only because I was busy,? she said.

Taping soon

?But GMA 7 sent over a DVD of the show to help me prepare for the role.?

She will be co-starring with Mark Anthony Fernandez, Wendell Ramos, Hayden Kho and Sheena Halili in the new soap which will start taping soon under the direction of Khryss Adalia and Dominic Zapata.

(E-mail: bayanisandiego@hotmail.com)