Jona knows where Natalie Yanson is standing, because she has stood there herself. Long before she had concerts of her own, Jonalyn Viray was a child going from one singing contest to the next. She was first runner-up on IBC’s children’s contest Birit Bulilit, made the finals of MTB Teen Pop Star singing Mariah Carey’s “Never Too Far,” and at 15 became the first grand winner of GMA’s Pinoy Pop Superstar, the reality singing contest that started her career. Twenty-one years later, the concert stage is hers, and she keeps room on it for the next kid with a big voice.

That was the spirit of her introduction on Saturday night. She’s always here for the young ones, she told the crowd at New Frontier Theater in Cubao, and then she called Natalie Yanson onstage.

Natalie is 12. She and Jona sang “You’ll Be in My Heart,” the Phil Collins ballad from Disney’s Tarzan, and it was a beautiful duet, to the audience’s delight. She knows the song well. Nine days earlier, she sang it in a trio with Scarlet Snow Belo and Zia Dantes at RMA Studio Academy’s “Destination: World Stage” at the Proscenium Theater in Rockwell, Makati. This time she sang it beside the star of the night, in a three-hour concert built around Jona’s own voice.

When the duet ended, Jona stepped back and asked everyone to cheer for Natalie as she went into her solo, “Nais Ko,” a Ryan Cayabyab song first recorded by Basil Valdez in 1981. The audience fell in love with her voice, and count me among them. The song choice carried a small echo: Cayabyab, the National Artist for Music, once told Natalie she reminded him of Lea Salonga when she sang “Journey to the Past” from Anastasia.

The Aliw Awards, the annual awards for live entertainment in the Philippines, have named her Best Child Performer (Female) three times. A voice like hers deserves more listeners than an awards night can bring her. I can’t wait for her to go mainstream.

“It’s Bagay for My Voice”

Natalie and Jona first met at the Aliw Awards. In a short interview with members of the press after her segment, Natalie gave Jona the credit for the duet. “Ate Jona chose it because it’s bagay for my voice,” she said. Bagay means it suits her, and on Saturday it did.

The solo was her own pick, and she knew exactly why. “It is very expressive and I can also showcase my dancing moves as well as my singing,” she said, “and also to inspire people.”

“I Love Theater”

My question was about Lea Salonga, her idol, and Natalie didn’t need time to think. “I am very into musical. I love theater,” she said. She hasn’t done a stage role yet, but she would love to act alongside Lea Salonga one day. She has talked about landing a Broadway lead since she was nine.

Her favorite singers tell you where her ear is: Lea Salonga, Celine Dion and Ariana Grande. Two songs sit at the top of her playlist right now. One is “You Raise Me Up,” her solo in Rockwell earlier this month. The other is “Voilà,” the Barbara Pravi ballad that finished second for France at Eurovision 2021. She has already sung “Voilà” at RMA’s “That’s Amore” concert, and she hopes to take it to bigger stages.

The Other Route

Natalie’s segment also brought out Elha Nympha and Lyca Gairanod, who won the second and first seasons of The Voice Kids Philippines. Elha’s year has had its turns; last month she withdrew from Inday: The Musical a day before opening. Jona told the audience that all three young singers, Natalie included, are the future of the music industry.

Lyca is having a comeback year. Her old viral moments resurfaced online, and in September her 2015 hit “Puede Nang Mangarap,” written by Jungee Marcelo, trended all over again. On Saturday she sang it with Elha and Jona. She also shared the birthday spotlight. Jona’s birthday falls on November 15, the day after the concert, and Lyca’s is on November 21, the date that made her a meme in 2021, when broadcaster Karen Davila learned on camera that they share it and blurted, “Liar! Birthday ko ‘yun!” Jona and Lyca played their onstage birthday moment for laughs with a nod to that clip.

Natalie is taking a different road to the future Jona spoke of. Elha and Lyca, like Jona before them, became household names through TV singing contests. Natalie’s story starts in Bacolod, where she has loved singing since she was a toddler, she said, and where she started performing at eight. Her first audiences were family. At her grandmother’s birthday, she sang Diana Ross’s “If We Hold On Together” with her cousins.

Her mother, Pia, found her a vocal coach in Bacolod and added piano lessons. Natalie now trains with voice teacher Jade Riccio through RMA Studio Academy, the Manila performing arts school whose student concerts have earned her all three Aliw trophies. The first came in 2023 for “Art Is Calling For Me,” shared with Amari Sotto. The latest came at the 38th Aliw Awards in 2025, for “That’s Amore.”

Her next stage is already lined up. She’s joining an R&B concert soon, with details yet to be announced.

Jona’s Night

Natalie’s segment was one stretch of a nonstop three-hour show directed by Frank Lloyd Mamaril and co-presented by mWell. Jona opened in the theater lobby, performing for a few minutes before singing and dancing her way inside to the stage. Her first chapter paid tribute to the divas, Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, followed by a set for Adele. She then went through the hits from her 21 years in the industry and previewed “Dance with You” and “Romantic,” two singles due next year. Between songs she honored the friends in the industry who helped build her career, her friends and relatives, and the night’s beneficiaries, the street dogs and cats she loves dearly. She gave the glory to God in the final segments, and Chapter 5 closed the show as a celebration.

Natalie, for her part, is ready for Christmas. “My Christmas wish is to make everyone happy and to inspire people,” she said. On Saturday night, she got a head start.