Dionela, macho singer

Dionela is unusual in so many ways. Despite the feminine name, the singer is actually a fierce-looking macho from the town of Guiginto in Bulacan. Dionela is actually his surname, and his first name is Tim. He used to record songs as Tim Dionela, but if no one has bothered to explain why he goes by a female single moniker as a recording artist, it could be because his first single, “Sining,” currently holds the top spot on Spotify Philippines. The song, which has a mixed lyrics of English and Filipino, had an unprecedented seven straight-week on being on top of the local chart but has also climbed to No. 60 on the Global Charts as of August.

Not only does the song have an impressive 56, 905, 536 total streams on Spotify as of this writing, but he also amassed a remarkable 7, 392, 633 monthly listeners. That means right now, he’s the OPM artist with the most monthly listeners.

His popularity extends beyond a single platform. The rising star’s latest song topped the Apple Music Philippines Top 100 Charts.

In August, the official music video for “Sining” with stars BINI member Stacey and seasoned actor Joonee Gamboa in it also earned 11,220,086 views on YouTube. The music video was also Dionela’s directorial debut.

Actually, Dionela teamed up with OPM icon Jay R for the song, which featured Dionela’s modern vibe and Jay R’s smooth vocals. Dionela expressed his excitement about the collaboration, noting that it was a dream-come-true to work with an artist he has long admired.

The self-confessed romantic Dionela finds inspiration in spontaneous and fun moments he has spent with Meizy, his partner and muse. “Sining” is actually only one of many songs he penned for her, including the popular TikTok hits “Musika,” “Oksihina” (Oxygen), and “Sugal.” Dionela performed—with his band at “Wish Date: Solace”—his compositions “Musika,” “Oksihina” and “153.” He couldn’t do Sining as JR was not among the performers.

Dionela was the first guest to perform after the anthemic opening singing of the Wish Date Chorale which has become the tradition of Wish Date concerts. The 80-member chorale’s rendition of “We are the Champions” and “Bohemian Rhapsody” are remarkably vigorous and set the theme of the movie’s narrative which has to do with a father’s doting love for his only child (a daughter) as his wife died soon after giving birth due to a sickness she had even before the marriage.

Dionela roused the audience into a romantic mood. His lyrics are quite intense, almost bordering on hyperboles that the audience lap up. Some words in his songs seem to be “malalim na Tagalog Bulacan.” One example is “balor.”

The show does not introduce the performing singer or band, not even on the video screen. After Dionela, SB19’s Josh Cullen and his back up of dancers and musicians turned up at one part of the spacious stage. But Cullen (whose real surname is Santos) definitely knows how to fire up a crowd! The hitmaker gets the audience excited and sings along to the hit track “1999”—a song from his debut solo album “Lost and Found.”

Cullen also sang “See Me” from the same album. For some reason, he decided to clown it up for that number. He did some clownish balletic steps and even ended up practically kneeling in front of one of his back-up musicians. We’re not sure what that stance is symbolic of.

We learned that at 30, Cullen is the oldest member of SB19. And yet Cullen looks like the youngest and also seems to be the handsomest. Could that be why the A’tins (SB19 fans) let him get away with a stance as silly as kneeling in front of some guy?

Dilaw, a band from Baguio City up North, is absolutely well-loved now in many parts of the country. They vibrantly performed their hits “Uhaw,” “Janice” and “Orasa.” It’s amazing that these Ilocano-speaking songwriters craft highly engaging songs in Tagalog. We later found out that the band is fond of doing very wacky music videos for their songs.

Letters from June is a band managed by KDR Music House itself. The band is refreshing for its unaffected way of singing and their almost plain outfits, decent (conservative) hairstyle. They sing and play almost serenely their musical instruments. Most bands these days perform with so many antics, perhaps to distract the audience from their flats and sharps and the monotonous chords of their vaunted compositions.

Letters from June dished out the old serene songs “Make It with You,” “Universe” and “Head Over Heels.”

It must be for concert viewers who love flashy, overwrought singing that KDR Music House included in the list of performers for Wish Date: Solace the kind of belt out (birit!) singing of Angelene Quinto, Arabella Cruz, and Itchyworms band.

Well, as the saying goes, “the proof of the pudding is in the eating.” You may catch the full concert-movie “WishDate: Solace” anytime at the KDR Music House YouTube channel.