Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

More than two decades ago, in 1982, Ma. Josefina "Joey" Albert won the title of Ms. Dreamgirl Filipina. She has not only lived up to the title; she is still every inch a dream girl, even after 27 years. Like her popular song, Kumukutikutitap, Joey Albert’s light shines ever bright, like a star.

On December 6, Joey will once again enthrall the Fil-Am community in LA during the much-awaited Christmas concerto, Handog ng FASO sa Pasko, to be held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. Joey will be singing favorite pop songs and Christmas carols together with the first Filipino-American Symphony Orchestra (FASO), which will surely delight her scores of loyal fans in California.

Joey said she started singing around the age of five, when she would sing along with the record collections of her dad and older siblings, which exposed her to a wide variety of musical genres. She studied at the Assumption College, a convent-run exclusive school for girls in Makati, where she graduated with a degree in Communication Arts.

In 1982, Joey joined the TV contest, Ms. Dreamgirl Filipina. Her winning the title set the stage for her singing career and became a turning point in her life. The following year, in 1983, Joey started winning recognition in the music industry, when she was named one of the top 10 entertainers at the Tinig Awards. Then, she became the recipient of the Guillermo Mendoza Award for Best Female Artist (1984), the Best Female Vocal Performer at the Cecil Awards in 1985, a Gold Record Award for Tell Me in 1986, Best Female Performer at the Awit Awards in 1990, a couple more Awit awards in 1991 and 1994, a Platinum Record Award for Iisa Pa Lamang in 1994, and many others.

Joey has held a number of successful concerts at the ULTRA, Folk Arts Theater, Greenhills Theater, Araneta Coliseum, and Manila Hotel, and performed in such countries as Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, the US, and Oman. She has also appeared in a few movies with the comic trio of Tito, Vic and Joey, and Dolphy. She is the first Filipino artist to record on CD, blazing the trail for others to follow. Many of Joey’s recordings have gone on to become true classics, withstanding the test of time and appealing to music fans of all ages. Tell Me, I Remember the Boy, Iisa Pa Lamang, Yakapin Mo Ako, Kumukutikutitap, and the hauntingly beautiful Ikaw Lang ang Mamahalin are just some of the songs made popular by Joey.

It is a tribute to Joey that many of her songs have been revived, and the revivals are becoming as much a hit as when she first recorded them—precisely because people remember them as her songs. For instance, Lea Salonga has re-recorded Joey’s I Remember the Boy, while Side A band revived Tell Me, and Martin did Yakapin Mo Ako.