00:00 singer behind hits like "Give Me a Chance" and "Till I Met You" will celebrate four decades in
00:05 entertainment with an anniversary concert on September 1st. We talk about Odette Quesada's
00:11 journey in music as she joins us now live in the studio. Odette, great to have you with us!
00:17 Great to be here, thank you for having me. Congratulations, it's a sold out concert but
00:20 nevertheless you're still with us here on The Final Word. I know, I'm here to brag.
00:25 So, 40 years in the entertainment industry. What does this mean to you?
00:30 Well, it means the world to me because actually I did not expect it to last this long, my songs,
00:38 to be still in people's hearts and minds in karaoke. I know, "Give Me a Chance", "Till I Met
00:46 You", "Friend of Mine", the list goes on and on and on. Growing up. Growing up, farewell.
00:55 What got you into songwriting at such a young age? You were a teenager and you were already
01:00 writing songs. I was in high school, it all started in high school. My high school friends
01:08 and I wanted to join a group singing contest in school and the category had, the criteria had,
01:21 you have to do a folk song and an English song. So, what was that song? And we couldn't decide on
01:30 the English song so I said, "Why don't I just write a song?" And I was, I don't know. What was
01:37 that song? It never really became any of my more famous songs but I never even recorded the song
01:44 but that's my springboard. That's where I started. And you were one of the most beloved hit makers of
01:51 the 1980s and you wrote a song for the late Rick Sigreto, "Give Me a Chance". We started together,
01:58 yes. What was the inspiration behind "Give Me a Chance"? I was watching this movie called "Fame"
02:05 and one of the songs in the movie was "Is It Okay If I Call You Mine" by Paul McCrane and
02:12 when I got home I said, "I really, really like that song" and for some reason it was the catalyst,
02:18 it inspired me to write "Give Me a Chance". And "Give Me a Chance" was your first song that won
02:25 at the Metro Pop? Yes. Is that correct? I came in second in the amateur division but I think,
02:32 I think it's safe to say. Coming in second, what, do you still remember? Winning or coming in second
02:38 in that competition and what did it feel to you as a songwriter? Well, it felt like, wow, I mean,
02:45 I was, I just turned 17 at that time so it was such a big deal. Wow. It was very big. Third year
02:51 high school. You were? No, you're saying third year high school. Me? 17? No. 17. No. Fourth year?
02:58 College? No, I was, I was starting college. College already? Wow, those were, those were the
03:08 days and of course "Till I Met You" was popularized by Kool & The Desma. Yes. What was the inspiration
03:14 and motivation behind this song "Till I Met You"? Oh, you'll be surprised that eavesdropping can
03:22 pay out really well. So I. Nice to know the stories, the back stories behind these songs.
03:28 This is a humdinger. So I got on the bus, I was on my way home from College of Music,
03:33 UP College of Music, and I got on the bus and sat down in front of the two girls behind me and they
03:40 were talking and one of the girls said, "You know, I never knew what love was till I met this guy."
03:45 And of course I was eavesdropping. I never knew what love was till I met you. Yeah, and then I
03:49 changed it to you. You know, I'll tell you something. I sang this song in a singing competition
03:56 and I won third place. Really? Yes. So what was the prize? What was the prize? Just a medal. Oh,
04:02 a bronze medal. I can't get any 20% off of that. No, no 20% from the cash prize. From the cash
04:10 prize. Did you ever think that these songs "Give Me a Chance" or "Till I Met You" or "Friend of
04:19 Mine" would really be hits, OPM hits? No, when I wrote those songs, it's just a way to express
04:27 myself and start writing songs for the sake of writing songs. And it's just the cherry on top
04:37 for having them become hits and then lasting this long. What is basically the secret to songwriting
04:44 that, you know, it will resonate Odette through time and with so many people? What is the secret?
04:51 Yeah, is there any kind of secret? If I knew that I'd be richer than Taylor Swift, I have no clue.
04:59 To me, it's come in different forms. It's an inspired work for me. It's a commission work for
05:08 me. So I had to learn to write songs based on other people's ideas, like when I'm given a script
05:15 to write a theme song for a movie. So sometimes you can't wait for inspiration to hit. But I'm
05:21 curious, when a song becomes successful, what are the elements? Is it the lyrics first or the melody?
05:30 Or the melody or the lyrics or both? To me, it usually comes together. So I just have a gist
05:40 of an idea of what I'm going to write or a thought like the trigger, which is like, I never knew what
05:45 love was until I met this guy. So that was the trigger. And I decided, you know, I'm going to
05:52 write a song about that. And with Give Me a Chance, because I saw this movie and, you know, sometimes
06:00 you don't know where it's going to come from. That's true. Where the inspiration will be coming from.
06:04 It's like, it's like, it's like, like, like a page, like an empty page. And then you just start
06:13 painting, painting the words, painting the music. What do you make of OPM music today, vis-a-vis
06:21 OPM music during your time 40 years ago? I have to, I have to be truthful about this. I'm not really
06:28 versed on what's going on with the pop music scene. Only the ones that are, you know, really,
06:35 really big hits, and they come through. Because most of the times I listen to my own playlist now.
06:41 I don't listen to the radio. And I don't have any clue what's going on with the OPM. What is on
06:48 your playlist right now? What would be your top five songs on your playlist? Mostly Stephen Bishop
06:53 songs. Rupert Holmes. Yes. You know, a lot of our favorite. Yeah. I like singer songwriters. American
07:00 singer songwriters from the 80s and the 90s. Yes. Are you continuing to write songs? Yes, I am.
07:06 Will you be singing some of these new compositions in your 40th anniversary concert on September 1st?
07:13 I guess everybody who bought tickets will find out on September 1st. Sold out tickets. What about
07:18 all our viewers who... I know. I wish we had a second night. Who can't watch. I wish we had a second
07:24 night, but I have to fly back home. And get back to work. Get back to my new job. The daily grind.
07:32 Yeah. So tell us, the sold out concert, where is the venue? And who are your supporters?
07:38 The venue is at the Newport Performing Arts Theater at the Newport World Resorts. And
07:47 the people that are going to be with me on that night are, you know, I'm going to brag about
07:54 having Kulidesma there. Oh my. Martin Rivera. See, until I met you. Yeah. Well, we don't know.
07:59 We don't know. Maybe. Maybe more. And then... Everything is still under wraps. Yeah. Well,
08:05 it's going to be a surprise even for me. And I have Martin Rivera. I have Regine Velasquez,
08:10 Raymond Lauchenko, who sang a few of my songs. And I have Between Escalante and Armand Pierre.
08:17 Our stars studded. Yeah. I know, right? You'll be playing the piano. Yeah. And you'll be singing
08:22 duets with all of these performers. You're reading my mind. You're already telling everybody what the
08:28 show is all about. It's not going to be much of a surprise anymore. But that's pretty much it. Yeah.
08:35 Thank you so much. And of course, you have your sponsors before we go.
08:39 I'd like to thank my sponsors, Joy Nostalgia for the hotel where I'm staying,
08:44 Greenfield Development Corporation, Mossimo, McDonald's, Crossover Radio Online, House of
08:51 Tunes, and True FM Radio 5. Wow. Give me a chance. Till I met you growing up, friend of mine together,
09:00 the hit maker, the OPM hit maker, Odette Quesada, singer-songwriter. Thank you so
09:06 much for joining us in The Final Word. It was a pleasure. Thank you so much, Rico.
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