Renowned Philippine singer and television personality Amapola last month announced her latest career move, one that will rank her as the most pioneering personality in her country's entertainment industry.

Starting last Aug. 1, she commenced a month long stint as resident chanteuse on board a "Love Boat" type luxury liner owned by the Royal Viking Lines.

Her engagement will take her to such ports of call as Stockholm, Amsterdam, Helsinki, Hamburg and Leningrad, from Copenhagen, the launching pad of the famed luxury liner.

By landing this contract to sing on a luxury liner Amapola adds to her impressive resume still one more accomplishment that augments her reputation as a pioneer blazing trails for the Philippine entertainers based in the U.S.

Her career in this country began in 1972 when she became the first Asian entertainer to be named full time resident chanteuse of the posh Kahala Hilton in Honolulu. Her appearance at the hotel's famed Maile Lounge earned Amapola rave reviews in the local media.

After several months at the Kahala she moved to San Francisco where she inaugurated show type entertainment at the Mabuhay Gardens on Broadway, a move that helped launch the Gardens as a veritable Mecca for both Philippine singers and the Philippine community.

Amapola's career in San Francisco included concerts and full time engagements at the Miyako Hotel in Japantown and the elegant Fairmont Hotel.

In between breaks from her nightclub shows Amapola found time to perform in concerts in New York, St. Lois and other major American cities. She also returned home regularly for shows and concerts around the Philippines.

In San Francisco she again pioneered in another entertainment venue by launching the first fulltime American weekly television show hosted by a Filipino. The show "Amapola Presents" lasted 6 years on KEMO Channel 20. The weekly affair became a door-opener for Philippine singers and show business personalities who came to the US to begin their careers. For a year in 1978, the show was also aired in Los Angeles over that city's Channel 22.

From 1980 to 1981 Amapola finished simultaneously an Indo-Malaysian tour and the first and only "live" concert album even recorded entirely in Philippine shores - a one-woman concert backed by 33 top musicians, vocals and recording producers and engineers.

The distribution of this WEA produced album was followed with Amapola's personal concert performances all over Asia from 1982 to 1984, culminating with her winning the National Press Tinig Award hall of Fame honors for 1985-1986.

Amapola said that she looks forward to her five country singing cruise on the Royal Viking Sky, a journey that will take her to Russia, thus perhaps becoming the first entertainer from the Philippines to sing professionally in that country.

August 30 - Sept. 5, 1975

AMAPOLA SINGS!

Amapola, for the first time after a near fatal accident, will make a guest appearance at the Brooks Hall in San Francisco's Civic Center Plaza. Amapola, who for years has been the favorite chanteuse hearabouts, will make a special performance on Sunday, August 31. The popular songbird who will again headline the Mabuhay Gardens show starting September 27, will render favorite numbers to the thousands of people expected to jam the Phil-Am Expo.

September 13-19, 1976

Amapola's "Super Special"

If you happen to be in San Francisco between September 17 and the weeks after that, be sure to drop in at the Mabuhay Gardens family supperclub for a treat you will long remembers.

Starting next Wednesday, Sept. 17, the talented and beautiful songstress Amapola will be headlining a completely new show.

According to the petite singer, her new show will feature the very accomplished Harana Dancers and the Pittsburg Dance Company and back-up singers Susan Curreri and Cynthia Frantz, two good looking and equally talented song stylists.

Asked how he would describe Amapola's new show, Ness Aquino, the jovial owner of the supperclub said "It is just like a show you would see at one of the Casinos in Nevada but without losing your money at the blackjack table".

Aquino also said that the Mabuhay Gardens just completed installing additional light and sound equipment which will give the show a beautiful sound and state of the art lights.

Popular RP Vocalist to play Mabuhay Gardens
Week of October 5 - 11, 1972

San Francisco - Habitues of the Mabuhay Gardens, plush Filipino eatery and nitery on San Francisco's Broadway, are in for another pleasant treat when Amapola, talented Filipina songstress, begins her nightly performance starting this Saturday Oct. 7.

Mabuhay Gardens ("where beautiful people find each other"), which has presented popular singers like Diomedes Maturan in the past will present Amapola twice nightly at 9:30 pm and at 11:30 pm

Amapola, who has earned the title of "Best Vocalist of the Philippines" plays at least eight musical instruments besides her excellent singing.

Fresh from her triumph in Hawaii where she was tapped by a television studio, the pulchritudinous Filipinos singer says of her triumph in Hawaii:

"My success in Hawaii as an entertainer can be traced to my very find development in Manila's entertainment media. It is a decided advantage that I am a product of the Philippine entertainment because we in our country are in many ways far advanced in both technique, style and repertoire that our Filipino audiences demand. I am very sincerely thankful for all the opportunities for development that came my way in the Philippines.

The popular movie, TV, radio, recording star attributes her success to her parents Manny and Sheila Cabase. Her father is one of the Philippines's most accomplished bandleaders and a very talented musician, arranger and composer. He leads Amapola's band at the Hotel Intercontinental in Manila.

Amapola is impressive as an entertainer because she can play several musical instruments. She is an arranger and is knowledgeable in music aside from being a vocalist. "My parents devotion and faith in me made all these possible", she said.

Amapola's Farewell Show on December 17
Week of December 14-20, 1972

San Francisco - the Mabuhay Gardens on 443 Broadway St. will feature Filipina superstar Amapola for the last time on December 17 , it was announced by Ness Aquino Garden's owner and manager.

Amapola will present a very special show on Sunday at 8:30 pm Backed by Carlos Aguilar Jr. and the Johnny Rojo band. Aquino also announced that even though the show will commence at 8:30 pm seating and service fot eh special engagement will begin at 7pm. "We shall try to avoid serving people during the show to minimize distraction. So we hope that people who want to catch the show make adquate reservations and come early enough." Aquino explained.

The Sunday, December 17 shindig will cap Amapola's highly successful and widely acclaimed two and a half months engagement at the only Filipino supper and nightclub in the west coast.

The petite, velvet-voiced Filipino who sings inseveral languages with a very versatile vocal style all her own, also plays eight instruments, arranges her own music charts and composes occasionally. She is amont the Philippines beset selling r4ecording artist, is a popular movie and television star in her country and won Best Female Vocalist of the Philippines outpacing many veteran female singers in the country.

Before her San Francisco sojourn at the Mabuhay Gardens, she swept Hawaii's entertainment world off its feet with a very successful extended engagement at the Kahala Hilton Hotel in Honolulu. During her three month stint at the Kahala, she was the most and best reviewed Filipina entertainer performing in the 50th State.

She was also the first Filipina to ever land a regular assignment on Hawaiian television, which accounts for her rapid and widespread popularity in Hawaii.

She will do a special one night show in Hawaii on December 21 after which whe will head home for the Philippines in time for the Christmas Holidays.