No one ever expected a Filipino pop song that was released four years ago to become everyone’s surprise national anthem. Yet here we are, since late 2019, unable to scroll through social media without seeing a video of someone enthusiastically dancing to Sarah Geronimo’s "Tala." First dominating airwaves back in 2016 as the lead single to the singer's 12th studio album, The Great Unknown, "Tala" found love from the public early on its own after it was hailed Favorite Song and Favorite Music Video at the 2017 Myx Music Awards.
Now a full-fledged dance challenge gamely taken on by TikTokers, Twitter users, and practically anyone with a camera and a decent set of dance moves, the tribal beat-infused infectious pop song has become an ubiquitous tune years later, returning for more as the comeback kid of the last decade. Most recently, the track made its debut on the Billboard Charts' World Digital Song Sales Chart at number 12.
But what exactly caused the great "Tala" resurgence of 2019? Several factors—including Geronimo's performance of the song during her This 15 Me concert, which was released on Netflix—contribute to its newfound fame. However, sources on Twitter, original "Tala" dance choreographer Georcelle Dapat-Sy, and Geronimo herself all credit the roots of the sudden craze to the LGBT community, particularly to one Bench Hipolito.
A drag queen and known Sarah G impersonator, Hipolito has continuously incorporated the song into her numerous performances at O Bar, a gay entertainment club in Ortigas, as early as 2017. Her weekly high-energy delivery of the song’s music video choreography, not to mention her striking resemblance to the Philippines’ well-loved Pop Princess, has helped turn "Tala" into an LGBT nightlife staple and subculture.
Along with Hipolito, subsequently adding fuel to the song's popularity in the community is DJ and Nectar Nightclub host Peabo Orilla, who’s known to often drop the song amongst the clamor of enthused club-goers after hyping up the crowd with the line “GUSTO NIYO BA NG TALA?” So much so that the question may as well be seen as a rhetorical one by now, meant to hype up any queer-friendly space, always ready to undoubtedly welcome the song with unfettered cheering and dancing.
Having met Hipolito for the first time in 2017 during her The Great Unknown Concert in Davao City, Geronimo has since expressed her gratitude to the drag queen and the queer community. “Sa LGBT community, talagang tinangkilik nila ’yung song na ’to pati ’yong choreography,” she said in a December 2019 video, while teasing a possible new version of "Tala" in the works. She’s even danced the song alongside Hipolito in an appearance on the morning talk show Magandang Buhay in October 2019.
Most recently, the viral dance craze had been part of a humorous Internet video, used by a group as their protest against a certain Aling Nelia. The "act of defiance," which quickly made noise on Twitter, saw a team of gay volleyball players arguing with a perceived grumpy old lady who had gone to great lengths to prohibiting them from playing on a public court situated in front of her house, even bringing the police into the mix. Their answer to Aling Nelia spoiling their innocent fun? Breaking out their "Tala" dance moves, of course.
It seems that the dance craze has successfully spilled over to a new decade as regular folks, celebrities—think Maine Mendoza, Arjo Atayde, Darren Espanto, and Paolo Ballesteros—and even Jollibee, continue to bust out their dance moves in time to Sarah G’s contagious pop vocals.