
She started doing theater in 1996 and was also appearing on TV for two years when the offer came. She had been performing for six years when she was tapped to interpret “Kung Ako Na Lang Sana” for Himig Handog Love Songs. In the year 2000, she sang Arnold Reyes’ “Paano Na” in the Metropop Song Festival, which won second place. “Kung Ako Na Lang Sana” is not the first song that Escalante interpreted for a singing competition. In beautiful, colloquial Tagalog, no less. When I heard Soc’s song, it had the same, poignant, bittersweet feel. “The poignancy of being the eternally friend-zoned. “I had always been a fan of Odette Quesada’s ‘Friend of Mine’,” Escalante said. In 2003, “Kung Ako Na Lang Sana” won Song of the Year in the Awit Awards and Escalante also bagged Best Performance by a Female Artist. Interpreting the beautiful ballad seemingly came as an effortless task for her. The song is something that will always be attached to her. “Kung Ako Na Lang Sana” became a much-requested song on the radio and even in all of Escalante’s performances then and now. The year 2003 was the time I did the musical, ‘Dreamgirls’ for Atlantis. “Ask any artist and he will tell you that.


“Winning an award does not define a year,” Escalante told ABS-CBN News. However, Escalante readily corrects the notion that 2002 was her banner year, even if success came to her at that particular time. Soc Villanueva’s original composition, that also won Best Interpreter for Escalante, subsequently soared to the top of the music charts and became such a big hit for its artist. The year 2002 was an important one for singer-actress Bituin Escalante after she interpreted the entry, “Kung Ako Na Lang Sana,” which bagged the grand prize in the Himig Handog Love Songs.
