Nikki Gil

Nikki Gil

Gil at the Star Magic Concert held in Ontario, CA, June 2009
Background information
Birth name Monica Pauline Gil
Born August 23, 1987
Manila, Philippines
Genres Pop
Occupation(s) Singer, actress, host, model, VJ
Years active 2005–present
Labels EMI, Walt Disney, PolyEast, Universal Records
Website Official Forum
Official Website

Monica Pauline "Nikki" Gil (born August 23, 1987, Manila, Philippines) is a Filipino singer, actress, host, model and a present myx VJ.

She is known for being part of the afternoon remake of Carlo J. Caparas' Pieta in 2008-2009 as Guia V. Angeles, and also in 2009, she portrayed Princess Punzalan's role in the afternoon drama which ran in 2009 and 2010 as Julie Bernardo in Nagsimula sa Puso. She is also well known for her lead portrayal as Jennifer "Jenny" La Peña in the 2012 remake of the 1990 radio serial of Salvador Royales's Mundo Man ay Magunaw, originally played by Jennifer Sevilla in the film version and was produced by SEIKO Films.

Biography

Monica Pauline Gil was born in Manila to Dino and Julie Gil. She is of Filipino, Spanish and German descent. Being born to a musically-inclined family, her father a piano player and her mom a church choir member, she was already singing and doing voiceovers for commercials as early as four years old. She graduated from Shekinah Christian Training Center in March 2005 as batch valedictorian. In 2009, she graduated from Ateneo de Manila University, majoring in English literature. Her sister is Dani Gil, also plays the piano and sings.

Discovery and early career

Gil released her first self-titled album, Nikki Gil, in 2005 under EMI Philippines with “Sakayan ng Jeep” as the carrier single. It was later repackaged in 2006 and released with the addition of a graduation song titled “Glowing Inside”. In July 2006, EMI Philippines and Walt Disney Records introduced her, with other Asian artists Vince Chong of Malaysia and Alicia Pan of Singapore, to sing and to star in the music video of Disney Channel’s original movie High School Musical’s theme song, “Breaking Free”. Gil sang “Gotta Go My Own Way”, which also climbed the charts and boosted High School Musical’s status to double platinum record.

In 2008, Gil released her second music album, Hear My Heart, with “Hear My Heart” as the carrier single, a song she co-wrote with her younger sister Dani. She later finished a project again for Disney in Hong Kong when she recorded a music video for the pop version of “It's a Small World After All”. She was then asked in 2008 to perform the Tagalog version of "It's A Small World" at the grand opening of It's a Small World in Hong Kong Disneyland.

In 2010, Gil released her third music album, Somebody to Love, with "Somebody to Love" as the carrier single, a song written by her younger sister Dani. Gil played the character of Elle Woods in the Manila production of the musical Legally Blonde which is based on the 2001 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer motion picture Legally Blonde and the novel by Amanda Brown.

In 2014, Nikki moved to her new recording company Universal Records for her upcoming 1st album and her 4th full-length album sometimes soon.

Acting career and TV hosting

In 2005, Gil was given a VJ stint for ABS-CBN's music channel subsidiary, MYX. She was also picked to host the now-defunct talk show MRS on ABS-CBN and morning show Breakfast on ANC. She later would join the cast of the weekly variety show ASAP Mania. In 2006, she was joined by Toni Gonzaga and Bianca Gonzalez as a host for the first season of Pinoy Dream Academy, a singing reality show from Endemol. In 2007, she became part of an anime-inspired fantasy series “Rounin” and as an extended cast for the drama series “Pangarap na Bituin”. In 2008, she was again chosen to be the host for the season 2 of Pinoy Dream Academy with Toni Gonzaga and Billy Crawford. In 2009, she appeared in “Pieta”, an afternoon teleserye with Ryan Agoncillo, and also appeared in the teleserye “Florinda” with Maricel Soriano. Nikki Gil is one of the mainstay on ABS-CBN with ASAP XV. In 2010, she started hosting E-Live along with Luis Manzano and Ogie Diaz. She also did a fair share of hosting occasionally on Showtime replacing Anne Curtis.

In 2007, Gil did her first movie appearance by doing a cameo role as John Lloyd Cruz’s best friend for One More Chance. In 2009, she appeared along with Bea Alonzo, Sam Milby, Derek Ramsay for a Star Cinema movie entitled And I Love You So. In 2010, she was the lead actress in a romance film entitled The Red Shoes produced by Unitel with Marvin Agustin, which won the Best Picture in the 27th Bogota International Film Festival.

In 2012, Gil became part of the TV remake of the Salvador Royales film Mundo Man ay Magunaw as Jennifer la Pena.

In 2013, she played a special participation role in Apoy Sa Dagat as young Odessa, and later became a star antagonist in the remake of Maria Mercedes as Misty. The same year, Nikki Gil won as Best Single Performance By An Actress for her role in "MMK" in the recent 2013 PMPC Star Awards For TV.

In 2014, she is recently part of the cast of Hawak-Kamay as Meann.

In 2015, she is currently part of the cast in a gospel drama series Oh My G!.

Theater

Filmography

Movies

Year Title Role Network
2007 One More Chance Helen Star Cinema
2009 And I Love You So Audrey Cruz Star Cinema
2010 The Red Shoes Bettina Unitel International Pictures
2012 Moron 5 and the Crying Lady Bank Teller (Cameo) Viva Films
2013 Badil ????? Film Development Council of the Philippines & Waray Republik Productions
2014 My Big Bossing's Adventures Princessa Reyna Beatriz APT Entertainment, M-Zet Films]]

Television

Year Title Role Network
2005 Extra Challenge Herself/Guest Co-Host GMA Network
Eat Bulaga! Guest GMA Network
2005-present ASAP Herself ABS-CBN
2005–present myx VJ myx
2005 Breakfast Herself Studio 23
2006 Pinoy Dream Academy Host ABS-CBN
Komiks Presents: Da Adventures of Pedro Penduko Joseline ABS-CBN
Star Magic Presents: Love and the City Trina ABS-CBN
Your Song: If I Keep My Heart Out of Sight ABS-CBN
2007 Rounin Leal ABS-CBN
Pangarap na Bituin Sapphire Gomez ABS-CBN
Your Song: Ang Pag-ibig Kong Ito ABS-CBN
2008 Sineserye Presents: Florinda Mara Bautista ABS-CBN
Lovebook Presents: Break-Up Diaries Monica ABS-CBN
Carlo J. Caparas' Pieta Guia V. Angeles ABS-CBN
2009 Maalaala Mo Kaya: Kalendaryo Nene ABS-CBN
Your Song: If You're Not the One Rain Navarro ABS-CBN
2009–2010 Nagsimula sa Puso Julie Bernardo ABS-CBN
2010 Agimat: Ang Mga Alamat ni Ramon Revilla: Tonyong Bayawak Angie Inocencio ABS-CBN
2012 Mundo Man ay Magunaw Jennifer La Peña ABS-CBN
2013 Apoy Sa Dagat Young Odessa Villarosa ABS-CBN
Maalaala Mo Kaya: Ilog Precy ABS-CBN
Maria Mercedes Misty Delaver ABS-CBN
2014 Hawak-Kamay Meryl Anne "Meann" Marcelo ABS-CBN
The Ryzza Mae Show Guest GMA Network
2015 Oh My G! Older Anne Reyes ABS-CBN

Discography

Albums

YearAlbumReleasedLabel
2005 Nikki Gil2005EMI
2008 Hear My HeartMay 16, 2008[4] PolyEast
2010 Somebody to LoveMarch 17, 2010[5] PolyEast

Singles

Year Title Album
2005 "Sakayan ng Jeep" Nikki Gil
2006 "If I Keep My Heart Out of Sight"
"Forever Is Not As Long As It Used to Be"
2008 "Hear My Heart" Hear My Heart
"Million Miles Away"
2009 "If You're Not the One"
2010 "Magbabalik Ka Pa Ba" Somebody to Love
"Somebody to Love"
"Kung Wala Ka"
"You Are My Life" (featuring Billy Crawford)

Other appearances

Year Song Album
2006 "Breaking Free" (with Vince Chong and Alicia Pan) High School Musical
"Kasi Naman" Hotsilog: The ASAP Hotdog Compilation
2007 "Gotta Go My Own Way" High School Musical 2
2014 "Babalikan Mo Rin Ako" Philpop 2014

Awards and recognitions

Year Award-Giving Body Category Result
2010
Vietnam International Film Festival Best Actress Nominated
2010
Aliw Awards Best Actress (Musical) Nominated
2011
BroadwayWorld Philippines Awards Best Leading Actress (Musical) Won
2013
Aliw Awards Best Actress (Musical) Nominated
2013
PMPC Star Awards for TV Best Single Performance by An Actress Won

References

External links