Netizens can’t get enough of Mika Salamanca’s old song covers that resurfaced and went viral on social media, following her recent victory at Pinoy Big Brother Celebrity Collab Edition.
The PBB big winner, whose singing ability was highlighted in some of the tasks, once shared about her humble beginnings during her stay at the iconic yellow house, not knowing that a few months later, her old videos would be viral sensations.
“Nag-start ako hindi sa vlogging, sa kanta talaga. Ang hilig ko talaga ko kasing gumawa ng videos ever since bata pa ako. ‘Pag pumunta kayo sa red app, i-search niyo yung pangalan ko, makikita niyo (na) sobrang dami kong videos na umaarte ako na ang pinsan ko ang nag-re-record,” she told her fellow housemates.
The video of little Mika singing Sarah Geronimo’s “Sino Nga Ba Siya” caught the attention of netizens due to her dramatic interpretation of the song.
@swwadyy I think she’s the real terra talaga HAHAHAHAHAHA @Mahika #mikasalamanca #mikasalamancaoldvideos #pbb #breka #fyp #mikbrent ♬ original sound - wanda
Netizens continued to dig deep into Mika's old content and found her song covers of Taylor Swift’s “White Horse,” Miley Cyrus’s “The Climb,” Aegis’s “Sinta” and Sheryn Regis’s “Hindi Ko Kayang Iwan Ka."
Reacting to the social media buzz sparked by her old videos, Mika said on her Instagram broadcast channel: “Pa-plano plano pa ako ng album this year eh meron na pala. Kahit saan ako pumunta.”
The story behind the viral videos
Others may laugh about Mika’s old videos now, but they served a deeper purpose back then.
Talent Manager Jan Enriquez relayed the story behind viral videos from no less than Mika herself.
“So I asked Mika (kung) [saan] galing ‘yung viral videos niya nung bata siya bilang all over my timeline. Apparently, galing pala ito sa [YouTube and social media accounts] ni Nanay Bambie (mom niya),” he wrote in a Facebook post.
According to Jan, Mika’s old videos were originally made to make her mom feel connected despite the physical distance that separated them.
“The reason why may ganung videos ay sinesend nila para kay nanay. During that time kasi [nasa] abroad na si nanay at nasa Pilipinas sina Mika. So, para ‘di mangulila si nanay, pinapadalhan lagi nila ng videos para maaliw at mapangiti ito,” he said.
Mika joining the trend
The content creator-turned-actress hopped on the trend to the delight of several netizens, re-creating two of her viral videos.
Mika’s remake of “Sino Nga Ba Siya,” which was an updated acapella version, gained significant traction with over 860,000 likes, 11,400 comments, and 34,000 reposts on TikTok as of this writing.
@mikasalamanca ‘Wag nyo na akong i-tag, salamat. chereng!
♬ original sound - Mahika
“‘Wag niyo na akong i-tag, salamat. Chareng,” she captioned her TikTok post.
In the other video, which was taken within the vicinity of PBB house, Mika can be seen lip syncing her old rendition of “The Climb.”
@mikasalamanca give ko ito kay mika liit
♬ original sound - azzii
“Give ko ito kay Mika liit,” she wrote in the caption, honoring her younger self.
Mika's PBB batchmates Esnyr Ranollo, Will Ashley, Bianca de Vera, and Ralph de Leon also joined the trend, teasing the batch's big winner.