Melanie Hernandez Calumpad (born January 5, 1981), better known by her stage name Kyla, is an R&B singer, songwriter, producer, TV host, and occasional actress and commercial model from the Philippines.
She began her career in 2000 and has released a total of eight albums to date, all of which were certified Platinum albums. Kyla is currently managed by EMI (Philippines)/PolyEast Records, ALV Talent Circuit, and Tarra Group (Indonesia).
Early life
The third child of four, Kyla entered singing contests and won a contest sponsored by the Manila radio station DZRH in 1991. In 1993 she joined a singing competition "Tanghalan ng Kampeon." After seven consecutive wins, she was crowned grand champion with the song "I Am Changing" as her winning piece.
On February 1994, Kyla joined the Wednesday group of That's Entertainment, an afternoon variety show on GMA Network using her real name, Melanie, as her screen name. She represented Philippines at 4th Yamaha Song Festival in Japan on August 1995 and joined a band as a lead singer the following year. She won at the Metropop Young Singers Competition on October 1997 with "Over the Rainbow" as her winning piece.
After several attempts to ink a recording deal, she recorded the Demo "One More Try" for Metropop Songfest on January 2000. Although the song did not win, the cover caught the attention of Octo Arts' and EMI Philippines Label Manager, Francis Guevarra. She signed the contract with EMI Philippines on April 2000 and was given the stage name 'Kyla' meaning princess.
She graduated high school at San Sebastian College - Recoletos and earned her Bachelor's Degree at Philippine Christian University.
2000-2003: Debut & Early International Activities
At the age of 20, Kyla released her debut album, Way To Your Heart, under Octo Arts EMI in 2001. The album produced the singles "Bring It On" and "Hanggang Ngayon". "Hanggang Ngayon" won at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards as the International Viewer's Choice Awardee for Southeast Asia as well as the "Favorite Female Video and Favorite New Artist at MTV Pilipinas.
Kyla's next album, Kyla, contained the R&B/Pop song "I Feel For You" as the carrier single. She collaborated with Gary Valenciano for his single "Let’s Stop and Talk Awhile." She also collaborated with Malaysian R&B artist, Ferhad for his single "What More"
Kyla joined the noontime variety show SOP as a regular host on April 24, 2002. On November 29, 2002, Kyla interpreted the song "Buti Na Lang" at the Metropop Songfest.
Kyla released her third album, I Will Be There, which is also the title of her ballad carrier single on May 23, 2003. The album also produced the single "Bounce." She performed the song "Flexin" with British R&B group Blue at the MTV Asia Awards in Singapore that same year. Kyla made special appearances in sitcoms and made her acting debut in the telenovela Narito Ang Puso Ko.
2004-2006: Not Your Ordinary Girl and Beautiful Days
Kyla opened 2004 with her birthday celebration at SOP with a surprise duet from American singer-songwriter and producer, Keith Martin. Kyla had included one of his songs in her Perfefctly Acoustic compilation album released December 2003.
In 2004, she released the album, Not Your Ordinary Girl. It spawned five number-one singles: "Because of You", "Human Nature", "If the Feeling Is Gone", "Not Your Ordinary Girl", and "Till They Take My Heart Away". The same year, she opened for Alicia Keys Live in Manila at the Araneta Coliseum. Her concert, Kyla "Not Just Your Ordinary Girl" at the Araneta Coliseum on November 12, 2004, was a certified sold out concert as well.
From 2006 to 2007, Kyla hosted Popstar Kids, which aired on QTV.
In 2006, Kyla released her fifth album, Beautiful Days for which Kyla co-wrote the number one single "Beautiful Days". She also began dating PBA Basketball Player, Rich Alvarez.
2007-2009: Heartsongs
In 2007, she released her sixth album, Heartfelt. The album contained 17 tracks, including "I Don't Want You to Go" and "It's Over Now".
Kyla has also been regularly appearing on the variety show SOP Rules, which airs on GMA Network every Sunday. She also sings duets with Jay-R, in a segment called "Souled Out".
After Heartfelt, she released and co-produced her seventh album, 2008's Heart 2 Heart. The album produced the 2009 singles "Old Friend" and "Back in Time", written by Jay-R. The song "You Make Me Feel", was written with Jay-R. "Back in Time" won "OPM Song of the Year" at the RX 93.1 Awards and "Best Collaboration Award" at the Wave 89.1 Urban Music Awards. In 2010, "Back in Time" also won "Favorite song" at the MYX Music Awards. Along with these awards she also won "OPM Female Artist of the Year" and "OPM Female Artist of the Decade" at the RX 93.1 Awards late 2009.
2010-present: International activities and Private Affair
On February 14, 2010, Kyla joined fellow R&B artists Jay-R and Billy Crawford and Nikki Gil for a special Valentine's Day concert.
Kyla received nominations at 2010 MYX Music Awards including Favorite Female Artist, Favorite Mellow Video for Old Friend, Favorite Collaboration and Favorite Song for Back in Time with Jay-R, and Favorite Remake for the album Heart 2 Heart.
In celebration of a 10-years of prominence in the music industry, PolyEast Records released 27 of the "R&B royalty's" biggest hits in a two-CD compilation: “Essence of Soul: The Hits Collection along with a new song, "Hanggang Wakas". "Hanggang Wakas" is a duet with Malaysian pop-R&B artist Hazami, who first wrote the song in Bahasa entitled “Tekad."
Kyla is a regular performer/host of GMA’s Sunday variety show Party Pilipinas. On November 29, 2010, she held a concert with Jay-R entitled "SoulMates." At this time, Kyla signed with Terra Group in Indonesia.
Kyla is currently recording an album in Indonesia and Malaysia while her album, Private Affair, was released on November 30, 2010 under EMI and PolyEast Records. It's first single is "Mahal Kita (Di Mo Pansin)". Its second single, "Don't Tie Me Down" which was written by Kyla, Jay-R, Kris Lawrence, Billy Crawford, and Jimmy Muna was released in January.
Personal life
Kyla graduated from Philippine Christian University with a Bachelor's Degree in Mass Communications. Her father is a lawyer and she has three siblings. In 2005, Kyla began dating Philippine Basketball Association player Rich Alvarez. On February 10, 2011, she announced their engagement.
Source
For more updates visit/join:
KylaForever.com
KylaOnline on Multiply
PrincessKyla (Multiply)
EMImusic.ph
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