SINGER Tootsie Guevara has relocated to the United States after scoring a number of hit songs. After 20 years, she feels she owes her fans a return trip to the music scene. Thus, setting the table for her upcoming concert to be held in her home state of California.
“I want to go back to my first passion. I feel like I have an unfinished business having left the music business practically at the peak of my career,” said Tootsie.
The show is billed “A Night of Musical Bliss with the OPM Diva Tootsie Guevara,” scheduled this April 6 at the View Music Lounge in Knox Street, Torrance, California.
The concert by Rubilou Productions will feature as guests Fil-Am singers Michael Jurolan, MJ Calingasan, Caren Mempin, Ruby Villaverde, and Garth Garcia, with whom Tootsie sang in duet Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody,” a track she used to perform in her early days as a singer.
“A Night of Musical Bliss with the OPM Diva Tootsie Guevara” is under the direction of Jensen Carlo Quijano, with Dennis Lizada as musical director.
Tootsie is the voice behind such hits as “Pasulyap-sulyap,” “Nang Dahil sa Pag-ibig,” “Sabi Na Nga Ba,” “Pangako Ko Sa’yo,” “Mahal Ka sa Akin,” and her signature hit “Kaba.”
Tootsie lorded the charts and brought home gold and platinum awards in the late 1990s and early 2000 and is now working on a five-song EP featuring mostly covers of songs that meant a lot in her journey as a singer.
Born and raised in the Philippines, Tootsie won the Yamaha Music Mate singing competition as its youngest contestant. She was discovered by Vicor Records which released her first album “Tootsie.”
In 1996, she signed up with Star Records which released her album “Really Wanna Tell You” that spawned the hit single “Pasulyap-sulyap.” Other albums and hit singles followed as all her work under Star garnered gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards.
In-spite of her hectic showbiz schedule, Tootsie graduated with a bachelor of science in Hotel, Restaurant and Management at St. Paul University.
In 2004, she moved to the U.S. to be with her family. She first ventured into real estate, and then to healthcare – a path that has earned her a spot in the Marquis Who’s Who in America.
She is now included in the prestigious list as Emma Monaco, her legal name. She earned the distinction with her apparent “two decades of excellence in business development, operations, and clinical strategic growth in health care.”
“Gusto ko ‘yung I have lived my life like I have two lives. I can be Emma and I can be Tootsie. I also believed that if you want to do this and that, pray for it and it will come true in time,” shared the mom of two who resides in a beautiful home in Orange County, California.
She is married to Italian-American Mike Monaco in 2012 and is currently the director of post acute strategy, marketing and physician relations at the Garden Grove Hospital Medical Center and Huntington Beach Hospital.
Tootsie plans to visit the Philippines to reconnect with her fans sometime next year.
