Indubitably a “chip of the old block” and admittedly a spitting image of her mom, Lala Aunor, a former movie-TV popular teen personality of the early 70s and 80s, multi-faceted singer Marion Aunor is the niece of Philippine phenomenal Superstar Nora Aunor… no wonder she uncompromisingly carries on the legacy of excelling in the field where her predecessors had capably established a sterling foundation while having successfully carved their respective niches and strappingly stamped their indelible marks.
A typical Arian (born April 10, 1992), Marion is innately ambitious but independent and capably armed with the necessary enthusiasm and energy she direly needs to achieve what she has earnestly decreed. She could occasionally appear stubborn but her open-mindedness and keenness on heeding advice from trusted friends and relatives could effortlessly placate her inevitable behavioral status.
Since a gamut of musical genes dominantly runs in her blood, Marion had demonstrated early signs of interest leaning towards show business particularly vocal performance. Singing predominantly runs in the family and in Marion’s case, she started way back when she was barely pre-school age… obviously influenced by her Mom Lala who conscientiously trained, scrupulously guided, and meticulously honed her latent inborn talent.
It wasn’t actually difficult for Marion to penetrate the limelight. Her foray into the topsy-turvy and anfractuous but glittery world of the entertainment industry since 1994 to 2011 fall short to provide luster to her star but eventually earned the long awaited recognition due her when her self-penned /composed entry, “If You Ever Change Your Mind,” came out as one among the 12 finalists out of the more than 2,500 entries in the 2013 Himig-Handog Philippine Pop Love Song that eventually won 3rd Place.
Following the moral-boosting honor was affixing her signature on Star Records’ dotted lines as its contract artist under the management of multi-awarded composer Vehnee Saturno.
Good luck comes in streaks. Her original composition, “Do, Do, Do,” got the nods of the screening panel and ended (once again) as one of the 12 finalists of the 2nd Philippine Popular Music Festival but, sadly, she decided to withdraw from the competition as per her talent management’s decision.
On July 4 of the same year Marion released her self-titled album that became one of the most in-demand local releases in the tin-pan-alley while supremely ruling the airwaves. The versatile singer-composer left no stone unturned doing the rounds of radio and television stations and touring mall events promoting her album.
Striking the rod while hot, Marion accepted the offer to interpret Jungee Marcelo’s “Pumapag-ibig,” one of the finalist songs at the 2014 Himig-Handog. Then she also became part of the Middle East Leg World Tour of ABS-CBN’s popular long-running television drama series, “Be Careful With My Heart.”
One thing is certain though, Mom Lala is constantly by her side not only for support but to ensure that her taciturn privacy isn’t invaded at all and her already refulgent showbiz standing won’t just be an ephemeral status but an ubiquitously lasting career. Mom Lala knows it quite well when it comes to this matter for she had been there once-upon-a-generation… and she still is!
Currently, the modestly trendy OPM-Pop singer-composer energetically juggles between recordings, tv guesting, road tours, and helping manage their family business.
Incidentally, Marion’s mom, Maribel “Lala” Aunor,” is Philippine Superstar Nora Aunor’s first cousin and a celebrity in her own right. Although there was a general conception that the cousins have similar vocal timbre, still music authorities believed both have individual distinct style.
In 1977 entertainment impresario Ike Lozada, then an influential radio-tv host of “Dambuhalang DJ” and “Big Ike’s Happening,” grouped equally promising young talents Dondon Nakar, Winnie Santos, Lala Aunor, and Arnold Gamboa aptly called, “Apat Na Sikat.”
Lala Aunor’s popularity was made even more established with the formation of “Apat Na Sikat,” RPN Channel 9’s teenybopper quartet that defined that era’s pop culture and trends. Later, the same exposure opened another opportunity for her… this time, hosting a show of her own: “The Lala Aunor Show.”
As a recording artist, Lala was able to wax several ditties that were consistently patronized by her avid followers and occupied top slots in the local billboard chart but her songs from the album “Dalaginding” by Mayon Records firmly nailed her status as one of the established recording artists in the annals of the industry’s roster of sales supremacy… particularly the carrier single, “Ah, Ewan!”
It’s a given fact: that when one is accepted and popular in a given quarter, it takes as easy as a finger snap to get into another field… and so Lala uncomplicatedly penetrated the movies delineating roles that fit her age and off course, which required her to sing: “Dindong” (1970), “Big Ike’s Happening, the movie” (1976), “Daigdig Ng Lagim” (1976), “Ligaya Ko’y Inagaw Mo” (1976), and “High School Circa ’65” (1979).
For nothing is permanent in this world but change, Lala’s showbiz career, and the rest of her contemporaries, inevitably nosedived during the period of political bedlam that massively displaced a lot in the industry and immensely affected the country’s economy.
But Lala had been conscientiously clever about capital management especially in investing her well-merited earnings. Innately armed with a keen business acumen, well-guided, and driven, Lala ventured into talent recruitment which was one of the highest investment revenues during that period. Aware of the demands and pulse of the public Lala was able to supply the perfect batches of singers, dancers, musicians and bands to Japan that technically established her name as a reputable talent exporting agent.
Lala was all along on the right track. An epitome of a perfect overseas worker, life has never been harsh and ruthless for this hardworking mother of two. She exactly knows the source for survival, masterfully manages the complexity of her balance sheet, sentient of what to procure or when to splurge, and most of all she’s aware of the need to save for the rainy days.
Now Lala enjoys what she has toiled for and derive pleasure from the company of her children.
“I feel blessed having not encountered any problem with my kids. Growing up, they were both God-fearing and family oriented. I try to raise them the way I was raised… and I cannot ask for more but for continued good health,” the former child singer-actress uttered with measured pride.
Certainly, the fruit won’t fall far from its tree! What you sow is what you reap!
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