Mommy Tiger earns her stripes at 50
Before her trademark tiger print shoes and sparkly eyelashes, Mommy Tiger was Esterlina Olmedo.
After showing off her clear, powerful singing in the GMA-7 reality-singing competition “The Clash”, the Talisay City bet easily made her way into the hearts of many.
As she came home to Cebu, the 50-year-old “Most Loved Clasher” told her story on the Banat News online show “MARKado,” revealing just how she earned her stripes.
Born and raised in Nasipit, Agusan del Norte, Esterlina, nicknamed Lapad by family, learned how to sing at six years old with her father who relentlessly trained her. The fourth of six children, she was almost always singled out for not sharing her siblings and relatives’ Spanish features. Apart from that, Ester stood out because of her remarkable singing – constantly showing off her talent even while doing the daily chores.
A ball of energy ever since, Ester liked joining singing competitions. She skipped class just to have her share of the spotlight and maybe come home a victor. Because of that passion, and because the siblings took turns going to school, young Ester put her singing before her education, quitting before she could finish her third year as an AB English major at a night college.
“I was the only one who didn’t finish college out of my siblings. One year I’d stop to make way for my siblings, the next year I’d be back while they waited it out. Soon, I got tired of it,” Esterlina said.
By then, Ester dominated competitions in Nasipit and Butuan so much that organizers wouldn’t let her join anymore. Instead, she was given the honorable spot at events as a guest or even a judge. But Esterlina was in love with performing and was not ready to throw in the towel just yet.
At 22 years old, much to her father’s disapproval, Esterlina decided to accompany her aunt to try her luck in Cebu. It was 1992.
Here, she joined singing competitions by local radio stations. At some point, one of her neighbors signed her up for a competition in Minglanilla after hearing her sing in passing. That was when Ester set out to do what she came to Cebu for—sing. And sing she did. Her winning pieces? Imelda Papin’s “Katarungan” and Diana Ross’s “When You Tell Me That You Love Me.”
“When my neighbor told me about the contest, I said, ‘Sure! This is what I’ve been looking for!’ People would be so shocked how a newcomer like me would win competitions this early,” Ester recalled.
Bringing her bright and bubbly personality to Cebu, a guy fell for her – although she wouldn’t believe it at first. It was in Cebu that she met the love of her life, Walter Econas. He would volunteer to drive Ester to gigs and competitions near and far, being a tricycle driver at the time. His parents were also very supportive. After less than a year, the two decided to tie the knot in 1993.
“His parents also wooed me,” Ester laughed. “And you know how some neighbors talk about you…So I said sure, let’s get this over with! It was easy. He’s a comedian. We were always laughing and he always made me laugh. Mao to na ‘envelope,’” Mommy Tiger joked.
Esterlina gave birth to three kids, now 18, 15 and 13 years old. Despite her sunny disposition, Ester, who apart from singing, sold snacks and did laundry for a living, suffered stormy times. There were periods when they would make ends meet, moments where she’d burrow into her pockets and find nothing, days where she wanted to just end it all.
“Hapit ko muambak sa bridge. I had thought about it,” Esterlina admitted, sharing how distressed she was when her children got sick and they couldn’t pay the medical bills.
“Pait. Pwerte jud paita. I would wonder what a 20-peso bill looked like. No one was willing to share. I even tried writing letters, thought about suicide. But one of my neighbors would lead me away from that and reminded me that there will be people who can help.”
As she got older, Ester realized that she should have done better with her studies. It didn’t help that as she was growing in years, people seemed to prefer younger, newer singers.
“Ay sus, all I ever wanted was to become a famous singer and become a recording artist, but then I turned 20. And suddenly I was 30, and I said, maybe my dreams will never come true. Then I got married and had kids. And that was it. I said it was never going to happen,” Ester quipped.
Despite the struggles, her husband remained supportive of her singing. Ester shared in a previous interview with The FREEMAN how Walter, who now drives a taxi, would tell her off when he learned he was doing other people’s laundry. He married a singer, he’d remind Ester again and again.
“By 30, I did regret it in a way. But now at 50, and that I made it on ‘The Clash,’ I don’t regret it. I’m happy. It wasn’t too late after all,” said Ester, who was in a band in high school, interpreted for the Cebu Pop songwriting competition, and even joined “Stars on 45.”
So even when the competition – which used to be a breeze for Ester- suddenly became stiff – Ester still joined all sorts of contests. She would ace her auditions, even for nationwide TV shows. But not once would she get a call. But things turned around in April 2016, when “The Clash” began scouring the country for talents. A bunch of scouts had already known Esterlina, and urged her to join the auditions.
“There wasn’t an age limit, so I joined,” Ester shared. “I said I wasn’t going to make it. There were so many out there younger than me. All of them beautiful and handsome.”
“The panel wouldn’t look at me when I came in. I wondered if they would still entertain me. But when I started to sing…” said Esterlina, who had the judges’ attention when she sang “Chandelier” by Sia and “Ako Ang Nagwagi, Ako Ang Nasawi” by Dulce.
When the call came, she thought it was a joke. “Abi nako ug komedya. Akong anak sige nag ambak ambak, GMA daw lagi to,” she recalled.
Esterlina didn’t even read the network agreement she was asked to sign. Just signed it with nothing in mind but the promise of maybe, this was going to be her big break. Joining “The Clash” was another battle in itself. There were 62 of them in the beginning. Esterlina, then 49 years old, was one of the six Cebuano bets in the show. After saying goodbye to her family at Cebu airport, Esterlina flew to Manila all by herself, admitting that she was confused and scared travelling alone. To keep up with the competition and to make sure people know her songs, Ester spent a lot of her time practicing, learning new songs and watching YouTube videos inside internet cafes.
Alone in a bigger city, Esterlina stayed with the owner of the taxi her husband drives. Even when she was already on TV, Ester didn’t want to feel like a freeloader, so she worked between rehearsals and competitions.
Certainly, Esterlina didn’t feel at all like a star. She would tidy up and do the laundry. She would even sell hotdogs and strangers often recognized her from TV (she would deny that it was her). When rehearsals and tapings finished late, Esterlina, who didn’t want to bother the people at the house she was staying at, opted to hang out at a fast food branch until the wee hours of the morning.
“I didn’t want to wake them up so I would stay outside,” Esterlina explained.
“At rehearsals, we would do hip-hop routines. The next day I couldn’t move! I had my first workshops in ‘The Clash’ too. That was the first time I learned about vocalizing,” Ester, who didn’t have any special routines to take care of her voice, added with a laugh.
Even when feeling alone, Esterlina survived the competition, wowing the audience and the judges, and going viral for her performances. That was all Esterlina had going for her. She prayed that she wouldn’t get cut just yet, not knowing what to do if the show stopped giving allowances once you lost. They didn’t have consolation prizes. But for as long as you were a contestant, you received a weekly P3,000 allowance which Esterlina would send as much as she could back home.
“When people would ask me how I felt, I told them that I just had to endure. See this through. Mao man ni akong gipasukan, baka sakali, magka-pera ako dito. Antos antos sa. Basin mao na ni,” she said.
Esterlina relished her experience – the good and the bad. She often saw the bright side of things. Although she finished among the Top 8 Clashers, Esterlina was still able to rub elbows with her idols Regine Velasquez who called her “Mother Goose,” Ai-Ai Delas Alas who gave her the moniker “Mommy Tiger” because of her outfits and styling, as well as judge Lani Misalucha.
She says that she’s always been a fan of Clash Master Regine, pulling the host aside to share how she would run to her neighbor’s house to watch her on TV, only to have the children close the windows on her face (and fingers). Regine, who constantly gave Clashers advice, told her that she experienced the exact same thing. She was also a bit sad to see her sign with another network.
Mommy Tiger also understood that she had to go. When she was called into the judges’ dressing room after she lost, she reassured them that she was alright.
“Kung walang matatalo, hindi matatapos,” she told judge Christian Bautista. The seasoned performer acknowledged that it had been a tough call seeing that the people left had been good singers.
Throughout “The Clash,” Esterlina also found a family among her fellow competitors. She was the mom of the batch, and the contestants treated her like so. Anthony Rosaldo would treat her to coffee. On the occasion that Mommy Tiger wasn’t comfortable with her hairstyle and for the first time asked the stylist if they could do something about it, Miriam Manalo (who saw how the stylist could have been more delicate with Ester’s hair), wouldn’t having it. According to Esterlina, Miriam told her to ask help from another stylist, and reminded the stylist to not treat their “mother” like that. Ester even helped the eventual “The Clash” grand champion and fellow Cebuana Golden Cañedo pick out her songs for the finals.
“I was close with the Cebuanas of course. We had to help each other out. But I was close with the other Clashers as well. Golden shared how she had ran out of songs for the finals. I told her that she was young. There are many songs,” Esterlina shared.
Despite not making it to the top, Mommy Tiger knows she didn’t lose entirely. Already signed with GMA Artist Center, Ester is expected to perform in the weekly variety show “Studio 7” with the rest of the Clashers. She has a string of appearances and performances. She’s also spending her time in workshops and rehearsals.
Curve balls and plot twists notwithstanding, Esterlina remains hopeful. One thing’s for sure, a lot has changed for her and her family. Take this Christmas for example: Esterlina looks forward to a different celebration this year.
On a bigger picture, where Esterlina used to watch videos of other people online, today, she’s all over the place. When she thought her time had passed, here she was on TV, people wanting to take pictures with her. When she wanted to end it all, here she was encouraging others not to kick the bucket.
“Wa jud damha. Sikat na tingali ko noh?” Esterlina quipped, reflecting on where she’s been and where she is now. “I’m so happy. I don’t know. It’s another feeling altogether. I’m happy, but I want to cry.”
Like her audition piece, “Ako Ang Nagwagi,” Mommy Tiger did come out victorious. Apart from fulfilling her dream, she also showed that her life was as colorful as her lashes, her willpower as formidable as her singing. Most importantly, she proved that there was no such thing as too late so long as you mustered the courage and kept the faith.
“Never surrender. You need to constantly push for your dreams. Don’t be discouraged. It’s natural to have ups and downs. Keep pushing. Go lang nang go.”