By DAVID DIZON
abs-cbnNEWS.com
When your star's on the rise, you know you've got it made when someone tries to sell a sex video about you in an attempt to cash in on your fame.
Journey frontman Arnel Pineda is all smiles when he talks about the alleged sex scandal involving him. "It really does look like me!" he says outside an ABS-CBN studio.
His manager, Bert de Leon, also laughs off the news. "It couldn't be you because you aren't singing 'Open Arms' while doing it."
"And it doesn't end with me singing the Hallelujah Chorus," adds Pineda.
It's refreshing to see this future rock star in high spirits, which he says only masks the jitters he's been having since he got back from the US after recording Journey's latest album.
"Everything hasn't sunk in yet. It's like a dream," he says.
The 40-year-old vocalist freely admits that he is psyching himself for the long journey ahead. Pineda's baptism of fire as official Journey frontman starts at the Festival de Viña del Mar at Quinta Vergara Arena in Chile on Feb. 21, 2008. He will also perform at Estadio San Carlos de Apoquindo in Santiago on February 23 and at Grand Hotel and Casino of Viña del Mar on February 24, both in Chile.
The band is also set to perform for a private Remax Convention event at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on March 6 before taking a brief respite ahead of a US and Europe tour. Before the end of the year, Journey is slated to do concerts in Japan, Australia and finally, the Philippines.
"Well, it would be a breathtaking experience for me. I hope I do very, very good. I also get to fulfill my dream of traveling," Pineda says.
Pineda's story is now official YouTube legend: Journey axeman Neal Schon discovered the Pinoy vocalist after a fan, Noel Gomez, posted videos of Pineda and his band Zoo singing covers of Journey, Foreigner and Air Supply hits on the popular video-sharing site.
Pineda says he initially dismissed as a hoax Schon's e-mailed invitation to audition for Journey. "I told Noel, this must be the work of a prankster. A guitar god like him would not do something like this - contact a Filipino singer like this. But [Noel] was persistent. He said it might be a chance of a lifetime, and it was."
He says Schon called him up 10 minutes after he replied to the guitarist's e-mail. "He really did have to spend time convincing me that he really was Neal Schon. But what nailed it was when he asked me to audition in San Francisco for the band," he recalls.
Pineda credits his mom for his early training on music by getting him hooked on Karen Carpenter and Barbra Streisand songs. He also credits his past experience in different bands for giving him valuable vocal training.
What keeps his feet on the ground, however, is his family.
Pineda downplays criticism from avid Journey fans that he would never fill the place of the band's most famous vocalist, Steve Perry.
"When I heard the criticisms, it just made me even more proud to be from the Philippines. It's amazing how this band has come to embrace so many cultures, including our own," he says.
To prepare for the tour, Pineda has been hitting the gym and vocalizing regularly. "I know it's a job but I want to do it well and I want to do it right," he says.
He also reveals his secret to staying away from groupies and possible sex scandals. "I'll just pass it on to the road manager and let him handle it. I'll just stay in my room and live like a monk," he laughs
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