One of my friends who's the daughter of a neurosurgeon once told me that the reason why people tend to forget memories of so long ago is that our brain loses a certain amount of neurons per day. Goodbye neurons, goodbye memories of yore. Perhaps I have been losing more than the usual number of neurons coz I can't even remember how much of these brain cells spontaneously combust per day.
About an hour and a half ago, I had one of my most memorable experiences of this year and I fear that if I put off writing about it tomorrow, I might not be able to mirror the same feelings of excitement and happiness that are enough to act as stimulants to keep my brain from going zzzzzz. Gosh if I could do this every night, my caffeine would dramatically drop to extraordinary levels. Then again, my savings would plummet to an all time low.
So what the heck am I talking about? In two words - Lea Salonga.
I know, I know, I wrote about her just a few entries ago when I watched the musical "Baby." But, as my sister calls it, I am an "aswang ni Lea." I have unshamefully declared that I am a huge fan and a great admirer or her work. If she were a rock star, I'd be more than a groupie probably. Perhaps my dream job after wanting to become a lawyer would be becoming her child's nanny...not that she's pregnant.
Anyway, tonight was her Christmas concert. The first time I laid my eyes on that humongous tarpaulin strategically positioned in EDSA-Guadalupe, I knew I HAD to watch it. This Christmas concert was going to be the first time Lea would perform in Araneta Coliseum - the BIG DOME as they call it. A performance in the Big Dome is an important point in any concert artist's career. It stands as living proof of an artist's command, talent and standing in show business. One of the greatest challenges is filling the coliseum.
I wanted to be one of those people present on the night Lea sings for the first time in concert at the Big Dome. Sure she has lit up different stages from London to New York and even LA but it is always good to receive the same accolade in the home court. Her previous concerts in the PICC have always been brimming with people but the image evoked by an Araneta Coliseum concert is more universal and withstanding. Of course, she wouldn't be able to single me out from the crowd but I simply wanted to be one of those in the audience who would make her realize her dream. So off I went to my mother, dropping hints here and there...some subtle, others blatant. How happy is when she finally bought me and my sister tickets..but of course declaring beforehand that this was to become my Christmas present. No objection here!
My sister and I got to Araneta at around 6:30. We were pretty early...actually, very early. There were no people yet inside although the rafters and upper boxes (free seating areas) were already full of people. My sister kept on whispering to me "Manang, I don't think Lea can fill this." I gave her my darting dagger look and stuck my tongue out. The coliseum was huge and I actually got kind of nervous. What if the turn out was poor? How would she feel then? I know I'd feel bad.
So my sister and I entertained ourselves by looking at the people around us, above us, below us. When we got bored, we'd call our mother (thank Heavens for Sun!)...which we did...several times, as a matter of fact.
After less than 10 minutes of sitting down, we saw Ligaya Salonga, Lea's mother, walking near the stage. We called up mom to tell her that she and Ligaya had the same pink-almost-peach shawl. As my sister talked to my mom on the phone, my eyes began wandering again. It went up to the rafters, down to the lower box, crossed to the stage, settled on the first three rows of seats near the stage, back to the upper box then...ooooh! My eyes darted back to the stage. I sat back for a moment, forehead furrowing and eyebrows meeting. That...that couldn't be...can it? I moved my head forward a bit, eyes still focused on what I was seeing. My eyes must be crazy...but no, they're not. I leaned back and elbowed my sister. With my finger pointing to a three people huddled near the stage I said, "Is it just me or is that person Robert Chien?" My sister followed my gaze and she was murmuring "Of course not...it's not him...wait, can it be? Is it Robert Chien?" My sister and I sat there, still as tigers waiting to pounce on their prey. Then the bespectackled guy we were looking at pushed his eyeglasses up his nose and my sister and I gasped and said in hushed yet excited tones "Oh my goodness, it's him!" Ladies and gentlemen, we have just gotten a first look at Lea's husband!
Sorry if this may seem like such an anticlimactic moment but my sister and I found it pretty wortwhile looking at him. I never expected to see him there. I remember watching their wedding and bawling so hard. As I slowly stacked a miniature Barad-dur of wet tissue beside me, I mumbled as tears flowed from my eyes "Robert Chien, you are so darn lucky for marrying Lea Salonga."
He was fair and looked every inch the Japanese-Chinese that he was. His hair was longer than it was during their wedding. He was dressed simply in jeans and a white collared shirt and looked like he lost a bit of weight...or the shirt was just good in making him look that way. He actually was pretty cute...no wonder Lea fell for him. The glasses looked pretty good on him too.
Until the concert started, my sister and I entertained ourselves by playing optical volleyball between Lea's mom and husband. Or if I wasn't doing that, I would channel Ligaya Salonga's spirit and play the part of the nervous mother, looking around with anxiety at the empty seats. When the orchestra started shuffling in at around quarter to 9, I knew the concert was about to start. I looked around and I gasped since the seats which looked like gaping mouths before now had squishy butts squeezed into them. I silently cheered "She's done it...she's filled the Big Dome!" as if it were a war cry.
The orchestra started with the usual overture after which Lea emerged from the top of a giant staircase. She looked elegant in a sparkly top, black slacks and heels and began singing "I'll Be Home for Christmas." Sure I have seen several times but I found myself screaming to no end. The opening number was actually a combination of both "I'll Be Home for Christmas" and a fast-paced version of "Jingle Bells."
All of Lea's numbers were breathtaking. I have been to several concerts and most of them bank on special effects and amazing choreography to keep the momentum going. Lea had none of this. All she had as weapons were a magnificent backing from the orchestra and her crystal clear voice and these got us soaring till the end of the show.
Her guests included The CompanY, Ogie Alcasid, Eric Santos and Christian Bautista. The CompanY sang "The Twelve Days of Christmas" with Lea after which Lea left for a costume change. The CompanY did a classy (acapella) version of the Viva Hotbabes song "Kikay" which got everybody in stitches. Lea's friends from the musical Baby also sung a couple of songs with her such as "Sasakyan Kita" by Gladys and the Boxers, "Jumbo Hotdog" of the Masculados and of course the pitted "Ocho ocho" and "Ispageti."
Christian Bautista, I have to say, caught me by surprise. I am not alien to his amazing voice but I was floored by the fact that he looked very attractive in person although he was too thin that he looked like a scarecrow. He and Lea sang "We Could Be In Love" which was originally a duet Lea did with Aladdin co-star Brad Kane. Their voices blended beautifully and I found myself turning into a Christian Bautista fan inch by inch. I finally saw the reason why thousands of teenage girls from Indonesia and South Korea were hoarding this Filipino guy's album. He was dubbed as the Filipino version of Josh Groban and he did sound good.
After Christian, Eric Santos took the stage. Probably I was just expecting too much from the Star in a Million Grand Champion or I still had Christian-itis. Whatever the reason was, I was greatly disappointed by Eric's performance. It felt so bland to me and his voice, in stark contrast to Christian's, sounded muddled and scraped. It was like eating banana with the peeling still stuck to it. Lea joined him onstage to sing "A Whole New World" from Aladdin and as Lea began to introduce the song, I gripped my armrests as if my life depended on it. Oh no, Eric was about to murder one of my ultimate favorite duets. When they did, I wanted to scream "Stop in the name of all that is beautiful." But then someone from the bleachers screamed "I lab yu Eric!" I changed my mind. I wanted to live long enough to see the rest of the show.
Ogie Alcasid was the most entertaining of all of Lea's guests. Aside from the fact that he kept on promoting his chain of hotdog stands which I believe were called "Ogie Doggies," he and Lea began pitting their schools against each other. Lea was dressed in blue while Ogie had a green tie on. Anywhere you go, the Archers and the Eagles always get into a fight. My sister, an Archer, leaned over to me and whispered "Too bad, no Dragons." I glared at her and said "When the Dragon joins the battle, we'll be having fried Eagle and barbecued Archer for dinner." Just a digression, if you Reader don't know who the Dragons are, shame on you!
Ogie also sang an alphabet of Christmas songs which started with songs beginning in "A" ("Ang pasko ay sumapit...") until the letter "Z" ("Zilver bells..."). He and Lea also sang Jim Brickman's "The Gift" which Lea originally did with her Korean ex-boyfriend Michael Lee.
But then, the best part of the show, undoubtedly, was when Lea sang her wedding song "Two Words" to her brother and musical director Gerard and his fiancee violinist DJ Francisco. Before Lea sang "Two Words," she actually first sang George Canseco's "Ikaw." In the last line of the song, Lea crooned with her eyes closed. Rob, who was sitting on the front row, immediately bounded out of his seat and dashed to the backstage. My sister grabbed my arm and muttered "Is he singing?" Oooohhh I got excited!
Lea sang the first verse and the chorus. When the second verse came, Rob entered the stage and sang. Lea looked on with surprise and the entire coliseum roared. I was frozen on my seat, trying to capture everything on my camera phone. I didn't get anything visually but I could hear everything clearly. I had always known Rob had a good voice but I still enjoyed their number very much. As I looked at my childhood idol and her husband sing to each other, I just felt so happy that she had finally found the man she was created for. Call it severe autism but I was simply happy for her.
Lea during her wedding early this year (left) and singing "Two Words" with Rob during the concert.
The entire Christmas concert was worth the price and the waiting. I had rarely thoroughly enjoy myself in a concert but this one never had any dull moments. Lea certainly made my Christmas worth it and when she thanked the crowd for making her Araneta dream come true, I was truly glad.
N.B. I wandered into another blog (http://alex-a.blogdrive.com) which is where I found the concert pictures. Just giving credit where it is due.
