La Diva

La Diva is a Filipino R&B, Ballad, Pop girl group which was first established only for the show SOP for one of its segment. They are two winners and a runner-up of Pinoy Pop Superstar namely Jonalyn Viray, Aicelle Santos, Maricris Garcia. They are popular for having blending styles, Jonalyn Viray being the soprano, Maricris Garcia taking the place of the mezzo-soprano, Aicelle Santos as the alto. Their major musical influence is female group Destiny's Child. In May 2008, it was confirmed that GMA Artist Center would be forming a female music trio called La Diva. With its “Three of a Kind” segment, the musical variety show gets ready to introduce a new generation of divas. Member Jonalyn Viray notes that a meeting for the creation of La Diva was held in January this year, with the stipulation that each member of the group would still keep their own identity, and their solo career. While the three ladies of La Diva are uncertain of how the group was formed, the combining factor is that each of them came from the singing competition, Pinoy Pop Superstar. Jonalyn Viray and Maricris Garcia were the Grand Champions of the first and third seasons respectively, and Aicelle Santos was the runner-up of the second season. After their first performance as a group, the ladies started receiving positive feedback. Wilma Galvante, GMA Network's Senior Vice President for Entertainment, and Ms. Darlene de Jesus, Assistant Vice President for magazines, musicals, variety, and specials, had noticed the improvement in their performances, as Maricris notes. They began to display more confidence on stage, and were moving more in sync with the music. With their success as La Diva, the three singers are already garnering attention and creating a following.[2] On December 22, 2009 La Diva won Best Group Award at the recently concluded 22nd Awit Awards, annouced in SOP Fully Charged January 10, 2010. This is the first award of the group to date. Their self-titled debut album is already out in major record bars in most of the locations in the Philippines. Their album has 10 tracks including their own version of the songs "Apologize", "Angels Brought Me Here", "I'm Yours", "Best Of My Love", "Stand Up For Love", "Gaano Kadalas Ang Minsan" and their originals, "Kasping Ka(carrier single)", One Last Goodbye", Rosalinda(Slow and Fast". Their revival of the song, Angels Brought Me Here is the Official Soundtrack of the airing of the Korean Drama, Queen Seong Duk. In addition to that, their song "Rosalinda was used in the recent Filipino Adaptation of the Mexicanovela, Rosalinda. Their album has 2 CDs including the MINUS ONE. Last May 2009, they serenaded David Archuleta on the program, Sis. Archuleta, so amazed by their performance, described them as "a group that fits each other's voices." In 2009, La Diva will be releasing their very first album as a group, featuring their best songs and new tracks. They were chosen by Manny Pacquiao to sing the national anthem before the main event of his November 14 fight against Miguel Cotto.