‘Bautista x Bautista’: A bond beyond a shared name
Christian Bautista and Mark Bautista look and sound nothing alike. But for some reason, to this day, sharing a last name is reason enough for people to mistake them for each other. While this has been nothing but an amusing running joke for the two, looking back at their careers shows that they actually have more in common.
Both are runner-up success stories from the peak of the early-2000s singing contest boom. Neither won their respective competitions—Mark in “Star for a Night” and Christian in “Star in a Million”—but they’re still standing more than two decades later.
Both had Anne Curtis as a muse for their music videos and appeared in her primetime drama series “Kampanerang Kuba.” They started out as mainstays in ABS-CBN noontime shows and continued performing in similar roles when they later moved to GMA 7.
Both applied their vocal discipline to theater. Christian starred in shows like “Rama, Hari” and “Ghost: The Musical”; Mark is best known for his role in “Here Lies Love” in the UK. While Mark turned the West End into his playground, Christian did the same in Indonesia, where he became a star in his own right.
And in a full-circle moment, these two, once young hopefuls, have transitioned into respected judges and mentors.
Friendly rivalry
So maybe the confusion isn’t totally unfounded. “Come to think of it,” Christian tells Lifestyle Inquirer, “we’re family-oriented people, we like the same sport—tennis and pickleball—and we even agree when it comes to coffee!”
All things considered, they have always been very good friends, which must have felt a little bit awkward back when the media painted them as rivals—and that’s not totally unfounded either. As singers, there will always be a part of them that wants to show off. Not to best each other, Christian says—but to bring out the best in each other.
He draws a rather unexpected analogy: “When you watch the anime ‘Naruto,’ you see characters who are friends but also call themselves rivals. You can be friends and push each other. And to do that, you have to be the best version of yourself.”
You can see this in how they perform together or as part of a group. Their history in singing contests may have fueled their competitiveness at first, but that disappeared the moment they turned pros. And being professional means, among other things, knowing when to take the spotlight and when to retreat from it.
“If you have a trained ear, you will know when a group is helping each other or trying to out-sing one another. With Mark, it has always been give and take. We would ask each other, ‘Hirap ka ba today? Ako na dito sa high note na ‘to,’ or ‘do you want to take the lower or higher part in this harmony?’ ‘Take the last line because this is your song,’” Christian says.
“To achieve that, you need to have wisdom and read the room kasi baka ‘yong pagiging competitive mo end up offending someone,” Mark adds. “In the end, friendship should still prevail.”
A test of friendship
This has proven true time and again, particularly in life’s most challenging moments. When Mark came out as bisexual in 2018 via his memoir, “Beyond the Mark,” the singer faced a degree of scrutiny, with some dismissing his vulnerable moment as something “we knew all along.”
But Christian was among those who stood by him. “Doon ko na-test ang friendship namin. When things got uncomfortable and crazy, andiyan siya and he didn’t distance himself from me,” Mark says.
“I’m sure it was a hard time. Any news that tries to put us down will truly affect us,” Christian says. “I didn’t ask him how he was doing, but I assured him I was always there for him as a friend, and that he could always reach out to me if ever he needed anything.”
After years of friendship and sharing the stage, it’s a wonder, they say, that they still haven’t headlined a show together. But that’s about the change with their upcoming concert, “Bautista x Bautista” on March 6 at the New Frontier Theater. While their career trajectories and camaraderie go beyond a shared last name, this outing may well highlight how different they are.
The little moments count
While they’re both balladeers, Christian has a romantic sound that maintained its boyish quality even as he matured. Mark, on the other hand, is a baritone that brings to mind old-time OPM crooners. Christian mostly sticks to midtempos. Mark has a more natural feel for upbeat ditties. Christian is a perfectionist. Mark is experimental and is known for his physical daring onstage.
“I can barely dance,” Christian says, laughing, “but Mark can do those aerial stunts.”
In any case, this collaboration will go down as one of those little moments that make up their friendship—like Mark flying all the way to Bali for Christian’s wedding and Christian returning the favor by singing at his sister’s wedding in Cagayan de Oro.
“Friendship isn’t defined by a single big moment, but by an accumulation of many,” Christian says. “You do it by showing up. Regardless of how difficult, you’re there when you should be there.” And at this point, they’re brothers—making their shared last name not a coincidence after all, but an inevitability.
