Kitchie Nadal: Dealing with Faith and Fame

Torn between her studies and her blossoming music career back in 2003, Anna Katrina "Kitchie" Nadal decided to concentrate on her schooling. The decision did wonders to her spirits. Refreshed, the singer-songwriter reentered the entertainment industry in 2004-with a great big bang. Within months, her hit single "'Wag Na 'Wag Mong Sasabihin," from her self-titled album, Kitchie Nadal, was a chartbuster. Kitchie admits she had high hopes for the album. "I knew na it will go somewhere. I'm also open kung hindi mangyari 'yon. Kasi when I did the album, parang medyo mini-meditate-an ko... I expected hard work, 'yon lang. And then 'yong vision na it's gonna hit the charts. Kasi alam mo 'yong saying na ‘People with no vision, cast off restraint'? It's something biblical. You have to have a vision, otherwise don't do it na... It's more of meditating and praying na ‘God, this is what I want to happen.'" Kitchie is now a part of the Victory Christian Fellowship congregation. She is still taking up education and psychology at De La Salle University. And of course she's swamped with gigs. Still, Kitchie found time for a new project-renovating her late grandfather's former study and turning it into her own bedroom. The fourth of five siblings, the 24-year-old Kitchie lives with her family in her maternal grandparents' two-story Makati home. "This is an old house, 50 years old na," says Kitchie's mom, Marjorie Nadal. Mom explains why the family decided to give Kitchie the spare room: "As much as possible, when Kitchie's at home, she wants to sleep, she wants it quiet... para she can write. And during her free time, she really wants to be home... She's very attached sa amin." Kitchie herself says that her mom, who studied classical piano, was her greatest influence: "Bata pa lang ako, from Barry Manilow to Chopin to Mozart, 'yon na ang naririnig ko. Paggising ko ng umaga, 'yon na ang naririnig ko." Today, whether Kitchie likes it or not, she is a celebrity. "Ngayon, I have to be careful where I'm going," she admits. "Dati, parang I don't care where I go." But she's more ready now to make it big: "I have to have that vision, e. It's something God wants. He wants us to have a vision." - Philippine Entertainment Portal