Ever wondered why Baby Dolls' viral songs "Oooh Lala Baby" and "Ikembot Mo" sound oddly familiar?
If the two catchy tracks have been stuck in your head lately, there's a good reason why they seem so recognizable.
Long before Baby Dolls turned them into today's viral dance anthems, both songs were originally associated with It's Showtime host Vhong Navarro, who performed them in his 2014 horror-comedy film Da Possessed.
Now, more than a decade later, the songs have found a brand-new audience through the seven-member girl group composed of Arianne Dela Cruz, Chole Florendo, Johaira Moris, Juby Sabino, Jelai Ahamil, Eriel Reyes, and Ina Ortega. Released as part of their debut extended play ZoomBaby Dolls under StarPop, the refreshed versions have quickly become staples on TikTok, Zumba sessions, and social media feeds.
The biggest surprise? Both songs have very different origins in the film.
"Oooh Lala Baby" traces its roots to "Da Vhong," the official theme song of Da Possessed.
In the movie, Vhong's character Ramon became completely captivated by the beauty of Solenn Heussaff's character Anna. The playful novelty track perfectly matched the film's lighthearted and comedic tone, eventually becoming one of its memorable musical numbers.
More than 10 years later, Baby Dolls gave the song a youthful makeover.
Produced by Christian Martinez, with Dominic Benedicto serving as arranger, mixing, and mastering engineer, "Oooh Lala Baby" was reimagined to match the group's energetic image and the concept of their EP, which celebrates fitness, daily glow-ups, and living life with confidence and positivity.
"Ikembot Mo," meanwhile, was inspired by the Bollywood-style dance number of Vhong and Solenn in the movie, a colorful musical sequence that became one of the film's standout moments as he was possessed by a ghost.
For Baby Dolls' version, the song was also written, composed, and produced by Christian Martinez, while Albert Tamayo handled the arrangement, mixing, and mastering.
Following the group's Grand Baby Dolls Day, "Oooh Lala Baby" climbed to the top of YouTube's Trending for Music chart.
The music video has since amassed more than 4.6 million views, while its lyric video has surpassed 10 million views. On TikTok, the song has inspired more than 6.9 million posts, while Spotify streams have reached 4.7 million.
The group's rising popularity also earned them the cover of Spotify's Viral Hits Philippines playlist, where "Oooh Lala Baby" currently ranks No. 5.
Meanwhile, "Ikembot Mo" continues to gain momentum with its official Zumba performance video reaching 647,000 YouTube views, 2.4 million Spotify streams, and over 2.4 million TikTok posts.
Baby Dolls also now have more than one million monthly listeners on Spotify.
Vhong himself admitted he was pleasantly surprised to learn that his songs had been sung by the young performers.
Speaking with ABS-CBN News, the actor-host shared that Baby Dolls first approached him to tell him they had recorded versions of his songs. Because Da Possessed had been released years ago, he initially couldn't remember them.
"Iba lang 'yung tunog kasi 'yung panahon na 'yun medyo mas matagal nang konti. In-adapt namin sa character ko rin doon sa pelikula," he said.
After hearing the new versions, however, Vhong said he immediately felt proud of what the group had accomplished.
"Na-proud ako kasi ang ganda. Nakakabilib kasi parang mas para talagang sa kanila 'yung kanta. Pasok sa boses ng mga girls, masang-masa. Talagang tatatak sa pandinig mo."
Watching Baby Dolls perform the songs during Grand Baby Dolls Day on It's Showtime also became an emotional moment for him. He also wished for the girl group's success.
"Very emotional 'yung production number nila kasi ramdam mo 'yung paghihirap nila para maabot nila 'yung kung anong meron sila ngayon. Perfect timing naman lahat. Hindi naman ibibigay sa'yo ni Lord lahat nang ganoon lang eh. Dapat talaga paghirapan. Sana ma-sustain nila at maabot pa nila 'yung pinaka-rurok ng kanilang kasikatan."
Held on July 17, the Grand Baby Dolls Day gathered several personalities to join the dance craze, including Pinoy Big Brother ex-housemates, Nicole Cordoves, CJ Opiaza, Emma Tiglao, Max Collins, Dasuri Choi, and AC Bonifacio. Tawag ng Tanghalan alum, P-pop groups WRIVE, AZTER, INBITUIN, and DIV9, It's Showtime Online U hosts, All-Star Games basketball and volleyball players, Reina Filipinas queens, It's Showtime kids, and many more Kapamilyas from across the country also joined the grand celebration.
Apart from "Ikembot Mo" and "Oooh Lala Baby," the Baby Dolls EP also includes "Dulce Tirah Tirah," "Kitang Kita," and "Clap Clap Alright."