Lani Misalucha

Lani Bayot Misalucha (born Lani Dimalanta Bayot; August 3, 1972) is a Filipino singer who performs pop, rock, jazz, soul, rhythm and blues, and operatic arias. Her ability to sing across several genres gave her the title "Asia's Nightingale" by MTV Southeast Asia. Since arriving in Las Vegas in 2000, Misalucha has been called "New Siren of the Strip." During her stint in Las Vegas, Misalucha performed with the Society of Seven at Bally's Las Vegas and the Flamingo Las Vegas, making her the first Asian to headline in a main showroom at the Las Vegas Strip. She also performed alongside Earl Turner at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino. In March 2008, she was voted the "Best Singer" (staff pick) in the "27th Annual Best of Las Vegas" poll by the Las Vegas Review-Journal. In 2009, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman proclaimed December 4 as "Lani Misalucha Day" in the city. In 2014, Misalucha returned to the Philippines and signed a recording contract with Star Records, releasing an album entitled The Nightingale Returns. Lani Misalucha was born into a musical family. Her father Benjamin de Guzman Bayot had been an operatic tenor, her mother Esperanza Salvador Dimalanta was a coloratura soprano, sister May is a band vocalist, sister Karlyn is an actress (Munting Paraiso) who also plays violin and flute, while brothers Novi and Osi play guitar and piano. She was tutored in classical vocals by her parents. She is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Misalucha acquired her basic education from Rafael Palma Elementary School and PCU Union High School. At age 20, she sang with the Andres Bonifacio Choir of the Cultural Center of the Philippines. She eventually joined various bands as a vocalist or back-up singer, beginning with the group "Prelude" and later the group "Law of Gravity" whose bandleader Bodjie Dasig gave Misalucha her first single, entitled "More than I Should" (1993). She also recorded "Sakayan ng Jeep," Bodjie Dasig's ballad. Misalucha later worked around the lounge circuits as a soloist and lend her voice to numerous commercial jingles and karaoke tapes, thus earning her the epithet, "Multiplex Queen." After Misalucha obtained her degree in Business Management from the Philippine Christian University, she married Noli Misalucha and later gave birth to two children, Lian and Louven. Misalucha is a member os for the benefit of Hurricane Katrina victims in New Orleans. In an interview with on GMA Network on January 5, 2008, Misalucha stated that she was set to undergo surgery on an ovarian cyst (2.5 cm. now enlarged to 7.1 cm.) scheduled for February 2008. Misalucha sang the song "Ang Iibigin ay Ikaw" (written by Jimmy Borja) which was a finalist at the Metro Manila Popular Music Festival and later received the Awit Award for Record of the Year. She recorded an album "More than I Should" (Alpha Records) with carrier single of the same title written by Bodjie Dasig in 1990. The album included Misalucha's cover of Fifth Dimension's "Somebody Warm Like Me" . The entire album earned 12 Katha Award nominations in 1997. In 1998, Misalucha won the Minuro Endo Best Interpreter/Singer Award at the 3rd Asian Song Festival. Her piece entitled "Handle with Care" (written by Gideon Jungee Marcelo) won silver in the Best Original Song category. In 1999, Misalucha moved to Viva Records and her album, with carrier single "Tunay na Mahal" (written by Freddie Saturno), made the charts and turned gold, later receiving the Awit Award for Best Ballad Recording, Awit Award for Best Performance by a Female Recording Artist, and Katha Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Her cover of the 1966 song, "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me" topped the Philippine charts in the same year. In 2002, Misalucha continued to hold concerts in Cebu, Bacolod, Baguio, Clark (Angeles), and Davao, as well as at OnStage Greenbelt, Makati City. Misalucha then held a US concert tour, performing in Reno, San Diego, Washington, Las Vegas, New York, Chicago, Atlantic City, Pasadena, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Mayor Willie L. Brown, Jr. of San Francisco declared August 17 "Lani Misalucha Day". In 2004, Misalucha subordinated budding career to family interest when her family relocated to the United States. In the latter part of May 2007, record label Viva re-released "Lani Misalucha Live Vol. 1 and 2". The two-volume recording contains previously released material mostly from her Crossover Live Tour albums with various live performances from different albums within the Viva catalogue where she had appeared. Misalucha was the voice behind the version of Gary Valenciano's "Natutulog Ba Ang Diyos?," theme song of the ABS-CBN television soap opera that goes by the same title. At the 20th Awit Awards, her rendition of "I Live For Your Love" received Best Performance by a Female Recording Artist. In November 2008, Universal Records released a Christmas CD titled "The Gift of Christmas". The album comes with a Bonus CD featuring the Minus-One of the entire album.