Sitti Katrina Baiddin Navarro-Ramirez (born November 29, 1984
in
Las Piñas
Las Piñas (, officially the City of Las Piñas (), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of ...
), known professionally as Sitti, is a Filipino
bossa nova singer. After releasing her first album, ''
Café Bossa'', in 2006, other bossa nova acts in the Philippines followed.
Navarro was also featured in the segment "A.S.A.P. Sessionistas" of the variety show ''
ASAP
ASAP usually stands for " as soon as possible".
ASAP may also refer to:
Arts and media Music Performers
* ASAP (band), a hard rock band fronted by Adrian Smith
* ASAP Mob, a recording group from Harlem, New York
** ASAP Ferg (born 1988), Americ ...
''.
Early life
Sitti Navarro was born to lawyer Rolando Navarro and Lydia Baiddin, in
Las Piñas
Las Piñas (, officially the City of Las Piñas (), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of ...
,
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
. Sitti is of
Sama and
Tausūg descent. She identifies herself as being
Jama Mapun (Sama Kagayan), one of the
Sama-Bajau
The Sama-Bajau include several Austronesian ethnic groups of Maritime Southeast Asia. The name collectively refers to related people who usually call themselves the Sama or Samah (formally A'a Sama, "Sama people"); or are known by the exonym ...
subgroups in
Tawi-Tawi
Tawi-Tawi, officially the Province of Tawi-Tawi ( Tausug: ''Wilaya' sin Tawi-Tawi''; Sinama: ''Jawi Jawi/Jauih Jauih''; ), is an island province in the Philippines located in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). The capit ...
. She graduated from the
University of the Philippines Diliman
The University of the Philippines Diliman (also called UPD; ), also referred to as UP Diliman, is a State university and college (Philippines), public, coeducational, Research university, research university located in Diliman, Quezon City, Ph ...
in April 2005 with a degree in Business Economics and was a
dean's list
A dean's list is an academic award, or distinction, used to recognize the highest level scholarship demonstrated by students in a college or university. This system is most often used in North America, though institutions in Europe, Asia, and Aust ...
er at said university.
In high school, she was editor-in-chief of the school paper and graduated as valedictorian of her class at
Saint Francis of Assisi College
Saint Francis of Assisi College (SFAC) is a system of private, Catholic-oriented but non-sectarian Philippine educational institutions. Named after Saint Francis of Assisi, it offers complete education from pre-school up to the graduate or mistra ...
, Las Piñas Campus.
In college, she was an active member of the
AIESEC
AIESEC ( ) is an international "youth-run" and led, non-governmental and not-for-profit organization that provides young people with business development internships. The organization focuses on empowering young people to make a progressive soc ...
Local Committee where she was the Vice President for Outgoing Exchange from 2003 to 2004.
She was also a member of the Organization of Business Economics Majors (OBEM) in UP Diliman.
Sitti has won two
beauty pageant
A beauty pageant is a competition in which the contestants are judged and ranked based on various physical and mental attributes. Per its name, beauty pageants traditionally focus on judging the contestants' physical attractiveness, sometimes sol ...
awards: the title of Miss Visayas 2001 in the Miss Travel Girl Pageant, and the first runner-up in the search for "Miss Silka" where she was also named Miss Friendship and Best in Swimwear.
Musical career
Sitti has been performing since the age of 16.
In 2004,
MTV Philippines
MTV Philippines was a 24-hour music/entertainment television network owned by All Youth Channels, All Youth Channels, Inc., through a partnership with MTV Networks Asia Pacific. The network originally started its broadcast on January 1, 2001. ...
started ''MTV Supahstar: D' Super Search'', where Sitti was one of the winners. She also appeared in the group's music videos. It led to her recording contract.
Her debut album, ''
Café Bossa'', was released in 2006.
Four songs have been released': "Tattooed on My Mind", a
remake
A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same s ...
of the
D'Sound hit; "Hey Look at the Sun", "
I Didn't Know I Was Looking for Love", and "Para sa Akin". A live album, ''
Sitti Live!'', was released in late 2006, and ''Café Bossa'' was
re-released with a
VCD
Video CD (abbreviated as VCD, and also known as Compact Disc Digital Video), (not to be confused with CD Video which is a type of LaserDisc, Laserdisc) is a home video format and the first format for distributing films on standard optical di ...
in 2007.
Sitti collaborated with
Club Myx to release ''
Sitti in the Mix - The Dense Modesto Remixes'', a collection of songs from ''Café Bossa'' that were made into
dance
Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
-
electronica
Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...
songs with the help of DJ Dense Modesto, in mid-2007, before the release of her second album ''
My Bossa Nova'', which focuses on more recent songs. ''
My Bossa Nova'' was re-released in mid-2008 with a VCD of ''
Sitti Live! 2'' called ''
My Bossa Nova Live!'' and is now a certified Platinum album at the moment.
In 2008, Sitti released her first
Christmas album
Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or in the case of carols, may employ lyrics about the nativity of Je ...
, ''Ngayong Pasko''. Unlike her past albums, this album is purely a
cover version
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
s album with only one original song, the carrier single and title of the album, ''
Ngayong Pasko''. This album also has reached the Gold status in less than a month after its release.
Sitti collaborated with singer
Christian Bautista
Christian Joseph Morata Bautista (born October 19, 1981) is a Filipino singer, host, and model. He was a finalist of '' Star in a Million'', a Philippine reality show aired on ABS-CBN channel, winning 4th place in the competition in 2003. Af ...
for his album ''
Captured'' for a duet of the song of the same title. They once again collaborated for Sitti's Christmas album on the song "
Baby It's Cold Outside".
In 2009, Sitti released her third studio album entitled "
Contagious", which contains an original which was also the carrier single, "Is This Love", co-penned by Andrew Fromm, who also penned Christian Bautista's hit song, "The Way You Look at Me".
On March 8, 2012, she released her fifth studio album, ''Sessions'', which spawned two singles; "Sino'ng Mag-aakala" and "Wag Mo Na Munang Sabihin". The album allowed her to experiment with other genres apart from bossa nova.
In the first Tokyo-Manila Jazz and Arts Festival, Sitti announced that
her record label's Japanese branch will release one of her albums there, and that the label will decide on its release date. The album, released in May 2012 on
iTunes
iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...
and in October 2012 on stores, entitled ''Bossa Covers''.
In 2013, she participated in the Philippines' highly esteemed Elements National Music Camp, where she was mentored by the likes of
Ryan Cayabyab
Raymundo Cipriano Pujante Cayabyab (born May 4, 1954), known professionally as Ryan Cayabyab (), is a Filipino musician, composer and conductor of Original Pilipino Music (OPM). He was the Executive and Artistic Director for several years fo ...
,
Joey Ayala
José Íñigo Homer Lacambra Ayala (born June 1, 1956), professionally known as Joey Ayala, is a Filipino singer, songwriter and former chairman of the music committee of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts. He is well known for his ...
, and
Gary Granada.
On June 25, 2013, it was announced that she will be entering the second
Philippine Popular Music Festival as an interpreter with
Julianne Tarroja for the song called "Pansamantagal" written by Jungee Marcelo.
Television work
Sitti was also co-host of ''
Pinoy Big Brother Season 2'' on
Studio 23
Studio 23 (officially Studio 23, Inc. and stylized in all uppercase as STUDIO 23) was a Tagalog television network owned by ABS-CBN Corporation. The network was named for its flagship station in Metro Manila, DWAC-TV and carried on UHF chan ...
, alongside
Asia Agcaoili, ending with the victory of Beatriz Saw.
She ventured into acting in
Judy Ann Santos
Judy Anne Lumagui Santos-Agoncillo (born May 11, 1978) is a Filipino actress and film producer. Prolific in film and television in the Philippines, and is known for her dramatic and comedic roles in blockbusters and independent films, as w ...
' primetime teleserye, ''
Ysabella
''Ysabella'' is a Philippine television drama series broadcast by ABS-CBN. Directed by Rory B. Quintos, Don M. Cuaresma and Cathy Garcia-Molina, starring Judy Ann Santos, Coney Reyes, Ryan Agoncillo and Derek Ramsay. It aired on the network's P ...
'', where she portrayed Tere, an aspiring lounge singer. Sitti was featured in
ABS-CBN
ABS-CBN is a leading Philippine media and content company. It serves as the flagship media brand of ABS-CBN Corporation, a subsidiary of Lopez Holdings Corporation. Once the country's largest free-to-air television network, ABS-CBN has since ...
's ''
Your Song
"Your Song" is a song written by musician Elton John and lyricist Bernie Taupin, and performed by John. It was John's first international Top 10 chart single.
"Your Song" was first released by American rock band Three Dog Night in March 1970 ...
'', where her song "Ikaw Lamang" was the single for the episode she acted in with
Sam Milby
Samuel Lloyd Milby (born May 23, 1984) is a Filipino actor, model and musician. He came to prominence after joining the first edition of '' Pinoy Big Brother''.
Biography
Samuel Lloyd Milby was born on May 23, 1984 in Troy, Ohio, USA to parent ...
.
She also had a few hosting stints in Studio 23 such as ''
Pinoy Dream Academy
''Pinoy Dream Academy'' (also known as PDA) is a Philippine television reality competition show broadcast by ABS-CBN. Originally hosted by Toni Gonzaga, Nikki Gil, Sam Milby, Bianca Gonzalez and Roxanne Barcelo. it aired on the network's weeken ...
'' and ''Travel Time''.
Sitti is currently a semi-regular on ABS-CBN's top-rating Sunday variety show, ''
ASAP '09''. She appears on a segment called ASAP Sessionistas together with
MYMP,
Aiza Seguerra,
Nina,
Richard Poon and
Duncan Ramos.
Stage acting
Sitti was part of ''Katy! The Musical'' which was staged on December 27, 2008 at Harbor Garden Tent Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila wherein she played as Mary Walter. Alongside her was
KC Concepcion
Maria Kristina Cassandra "KC" Cuneta Concepcion (; born April 7, 1985) is a Filipino actress, singer, dancer, TV host, entrepreneur, socialite, and humanitarian. She has starred in films '' For The First Time'' (2008) and ''When I Met U'' (2 ...
,
Jericho Rosales
Jericho Vibar Rosales (; born September 22, 1979), also known as Echo, is a Filipino actor, singer, songwriter and film producer. Known primarily for his leading man roles in romantic drama, he has starred in some of the most distributed Phil ...
, Mitch Valdez,
Dulce, Eugene Villaluz,
Rachel Alejandro
Rachel Jingco Alejandro (born February 18, 1974) is a Filipino singer and actress.
Biography Early life
Alejandro's parents separated when she was four. Her mother, Myrna Demauro, then remarried and moved to the United States. Together with h ...
,
Bituin Escalante,
Jonalyn Viray,
Aicelle Santos,
Maricris Garcia
Maria Cristina "Maricris" Yu Garcia-Cruz (; born September 26, 1987) is a Filipino singer and actress. She came to prominence after winning the third season of ''Pinoy Pop Superstar''. She is the Philippines' Divine Siren.
Early life and educa ...
, Frenchie Dy,
Gian Magdangal
Gian Luca "Gian" Alzate Magdangal
Philippine Idol features section (; born November 18, 1981 ,
Gab Valenciano and
Jennylyn Mercado
Jennylyn Anne Pineda Mercado-Ho (born May 15, 1987) is a Filipino actress and singer. She is known for playing dramatic roles in film and television. She rose to prominence after winning the reality talent competition '' StarStruck'' in 2003. M ...
.
In 2009, Sitti played the role of "Martha" in the Philippine staging of the
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...
-winning, 19th century stage drama ''
Spring Awakening'' from Atlantis Productions. ''Spring Awakening'' was directed by Chari Arespacochaga and features the set design of Tuxqs Rutaquio, choreography by Dexter Santos, costume design by Rajo Laurel, lights design by Voltaire de Jesus and musical direction by Jojo Malferari.
Personal life
She is married to Joey Ramirez and has two daughters. She is a practicing Christian.
Discography
Albums
Studio albums
Live albums
Remix albums
Singles
*"Para sa Akin" (2006) (also covered by Jason Dhakal)
Filmography
Awards
References
External links
Sittiat
Multiply
Multiplication is one of the four elementary mathematical operations of arithmetic, with the other ones being addition, subtraction, and division. The result of a multiplication operation is called a '' product''. Multiplication is often de ...
*
{{Authority control
1984 births
Living people
Filipino television presenters
Participants in Philippine reality television series
Filipino dance musicians
Filipino women pop singers
Reality show winners
Singers from Metro Manila
Star Magic
Bossa nova musicians
Bossa nova singers
University of the Philippines Diliman alumni
Visayan people
Tausūg people
Filipino women television presenters