Katrina Velarde

Katrina Copino Velarde (born December 5, 1994) is a Filipino singer known for her vocal range and belting technique. She began joining local singing competitions at age 7 and grew online fame for her covers and vocal impersonations. She rose to prominence following her runner-up finished on the reality show Masked Singer Pilipinas and was part of Tawag ng Tanghalan Kids (Season 2) as a judge and the variety show ASAP as a performer.

In 2019, Velarde released her debut EP "SiKat Ako" under Viva Records. In the same year, she staged her first solo major concert 'Sikat Ako' at the New Frontier Theater in Manila, followed by 'Sikat i2' last November 2019. During the pandemic in 2020, she joined Masked Singer Pilipinas as Diwata and grew online fame.

She gained further international acclaim after representing the Philippines to perform in the 2020 Firdaus Holiday Experience at the Expo City Dubai with Firdaus Orchestra and referred to as "Asia's Vocal Supreme".

Her work has earned her a number of nominations from various award-giving bodies, including an Awit Award, a PMPC Star Awards for Music which includes her Female R&B Artist of the Year award and a Golden Screen Award.

Life and career
Born and raised in Tondo, Manila, Velarde started to join singing contest at age 7 to help her family's financial difficulties. She also sold Sampaguita lei made by her mother. Velarde was known as a veteran contender in singing contests. She became part of Little Big Star hosted by Sarah Geronimo together with her batch mate Charice Pempengco and Sam Concepcion.

2011: TV5's Talentadong Pinoy
Velarde alongside Alyssa Quijano and Jennifer Maravilla formed the group New Born Divas to join the second season of Talentadong Pinoy, one of the most popular reality talent shows of its time. After posting consecutive wins, the group was named the 11th Hall of Famer.

2012: ABS-CBN's The X Factor Philippines
After New Born Divas disbanded, she joined The X Factor Philippines season 1 as a solo act. She sang "Dangerously in Love" by Beyoncé and got four yeses from the judges. On her bootcamp performance, Velarde sang (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman by Aretha Franklin. After that audition, the judges called the names of Velarde, Alyssa Quijano, Auriette Divina, Monique Lualhati, Jhelsea Flores and Ashley Campbell to inform them that they were chosen as the last act in groups category that made it to the Top 20 and it was mentored by Gary Valenciano. At the judges' home visit, A.K.A. J.A.M. performed Seasons of Love by the cast of Rent the musical and made it to the top 12. On the first week of their live show, their group performed Got to Be Real by Cheryl Lynn. On the second week, they performed This Is My Life (La vita) by Shirley Bassey. On the third week of their live show performance, A.K.A. J.A.M. performed Survivor by Destiny's Child. Unfortunately, their group didn't make it to the next level after losing to Daddy's Home via text votes of 4.42% and 5.53%, respectively.

2013: Suklay Diva
After she uploaded a video of herself singing Dangerously In Love 2 by Beyoncé while holding a plastic comb as her microphone, netizens started calling her Suklay Diva (Comb Diva). It went viral after catching the attention of the netizens and started to gain international fame through social media. Her video went viral after Chris Brown and Beyoncé's guitarist Bibi McGill shared it on social media from worldstarhiphop.com and became a female talent of the week. Because of her viral video. Velarde got an invitation to showcase her talent on The Ellen DeGeneres Show a segment that open its door for Filipino singer and internet sensation like Charice Pempengco. But due to her Bell's palsy condition, Velarde turned down the offer.

2014-2019: TV5 career
Velarde became part of TV5's weekly drama series "Trenderas" with Isabella de Leon and Lara Maigue where she played the role of Diva Salambangon. Her natural wit and sense of humor brought her to nomination at the 2015 Golden Screen Awards as Outstanding Breakthrough Performance by an Actress. In 2015, she also played a main role in TV5's Wattpad presents #Bitterella. Velarde had a chance to showcase her talent on Wish 107.5 Bus YouTube channel singing her rendition of Go The Distance by Michael Bolton. Because of her ability to imitate local and international singers, she started to upload a video of her song covers that became popular to some foreign reactors on YouTube. In October 2018, Velarde performed in the 2018 Philippine Popular Music Festival, an annual songwriting competition organized by the Philpop MusicFest Foundation. She interpreted "Tama Na", an original song written by Michael Rodriguez & Jeanne Columbine Rodriguez which was chosen as one of the 10 finalists and nominated as Best Ballad Recording by the 32nd Awit Awards. Velarde sang theme songs for VIVA films "Magkaibang Mundo", the Original Sound Track of the movie Just A Stranger starring Anne Curtis and Marco Gumabao. Followed by "Isang Himala" from the box office movie Miracle in Cell No. 7 (2019 Philippine film) written by Miguel Mendoza which also nominated as Movie Theme Song of the Year by the PMPC Star Awards for Movies. Velarde released her first album Sikat Ako. The title of her album was based on her first solo major concert last February 2019 where Regine Velasquez surprised and joined her for a duet of "Araw Gabi". Due to its success, it follows her 2nd major solo concert called "SiKat i2", where she also have been nominated as Female Concert Performer of the Year.

2020-present: Masked Singer Pilipinas and Expo City Dubai
She later joined Masked Singer Pilipinas 2020 as DIWATA where she became 1st runner up over Daryl Ong and was chosen as a judge on a reality singing competition Born to Be a Star.

Velarde has often been referred to as "Asia's Vocal Supreme" since her performance in Firdaus Holiday Experience at the Expo City Dubai with Firdaus Orchestra in December 2022, where she represented the Philippines. She performed her single "Isang Himala", the official soundtrack of the box office movie Miracle in Cell No. 7 (2019 Philippine film), "Hindi Tayo Pwede" from The Juans and "Pasko Na Sinta Ko" by Gary Valenciano.

In February 2023, Velarde participated in Louie Ocampo’s 45th Anniversary Concert, Composer Ka Lang, where she performed the song "Anak". Following the pandemic, Velarde released her first single, "Ako Ba O Siya?", an original composition by Vehnee Saturno. This song was also used as the theme for the Philippine television drama series, "Minsan pa Nating Hagkan ang Nakaraan", broadcast by TV5.

In October 2023, Velarde performed in Pinoy Playlist Music Festival at the BGC Arts Center where she sang "Dadalhin" as a tribute song to the "Asia's Songbird" Regine Velasquez. She also served as a judge for the segment "Stars of All Seasons" in the noontime show, It's Your Lucky Day. Velarde regularly performed on the Kapamilya Channel's ASAP Natin 'To and was a part of the segment, "ASAP Champions". In December 2023, Velarde performed at The Grand Countdown to 2024 at the Marriott Grand Ballroom.

In February 2024, Velarde released her new single under Viva Records "Ika'y Nag-iisa", a Carlo Espinosa-written ballad produced by the Awit Award winning producer Civ Fontanilla Carlo and it's used as a theme song for TV5's drama series "Lumuhod Ka Sa Lupa". Velarde undergone appendectomy last March 2024 then suddenly recovered. She also invited to compete at Britain's Got Talent but for some reasons, she declined the offer.

In April 2024, Velarde staged herself to another concert called "Z Con: The Gen Z Icon Concert" at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater. She also awarded as the "Female R&B Artist of the Year" of the 14th PMPC Star Awards for Music for her single "Sa Panaginip" under Viva Records.