Martin-Gary 'historic' tandem on a roll in US concert tour

As it did in its maiden run in Manila that was held at the SM Mall of Asia Concert Grounds, the historic “As 1” concert of Martin Nievera and Gary Valenciano continues to prove all pronouncements true that it is going to be the biggest musical event of the year with its ongoing North American tour. The 9-city tour of “As 1” started last October 9 at the Pala Casino and Resort in San Diego, California.

Martin and Gary opened the first "As 1" concert in the US with a bang. The crowd screamed the moment Martin and Gary entered the venue singing “On The Right Track” and “Hataw Na.” Martin delivered punchlines all throughout the night and even danced with Gary, while Mr. Pure Energy contributed his own fair share of funny anecdotes to give their audience a good laugh and a good time.  

All their production numbers were a hit—whether it was the classic Broadway medley of Martin, Gary V’s “Shout For Joy”, the Michael Jackson portion, their heart-tugging duet of “Take Me Out of the Dark,” or their best soap opera and movie theme songs like the “Kahit Isang Saglit,” “Ikaw,” “Ikaw Ang Pangarap” of Martin, and “How Did You Know,” “Tayong Dalawa,” and “And I Love You So” of Gary. 

They did a request portion and sang a couple of their biggest hits like “Natutulog Ba Ang Diyos,” and “Warrior Is A Child” as popularized by Gary, and “Be My Lady” and “Say That You Love Me” by Martin. They sang each other’s recordings, and performed hits from the 80s that sent the audience wild! They also sang the carrier single of their newly released album, “AS 1,” and people wildly cheered as they bowed to say goodbye.

The tickets to the Nob Hill Center were likewise sold-out, and Gary and Martin appeared in the television shows “Adobo Nation” and “Balitang America” as they visited the headquarters of The Filipino Chanel in San Francisco.

The crowd was even wilder at the Bay Area concert and they refused to let the duo go, giving them standing ovations again and again. Even as all the musicians left the stage, they had to come back because the crowd would not leave their seats until they do so.

Other cities in the tour are Massey Hall in Toronto, Canada (Oct. 30), Mayfield Trade Center in Edmonton Canada (Nov. 7), and Jubilee Auditorium in Calgary Canada (Nov. 8).

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It seems that getting married is the "in" thing these days that's why sexy actress Michelle Madrigal and hunk actor Jon Avila are next to tie the knot this Halloween on TV5.

But it seems it's not a good idea to get married on Halloween because of the urban legend about the curse of the bloody bride and that's what’s going to cause trouble on the wedding of Kat (played by Michelle) and Bullet (played by Jon) in the Halloween special episode of Midnight DJ that's titled "Trahedya De Boda."

There's the belief that the bride should not wear the wedding gown before the wedding day. Will Samboy (played by Oyo Sotto) and the whole Midnight DJ team be able to save the bride-to-be and will they be able to stop the curse of the bloody bride especially now that it's Halloween where the powers of the evil forces are believed to be strongest?

Watch what happens to lovers Michelle and Jon if they would fall victim to the curse on their wedding day this Saturday on the special Halloween episode of Midnight DJ, 8:30 pm on TV5.

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Director GB Sampedro is happy with the Special Mention Award given to his debut film "Astig" by the Pusan Film Festival held in Korea. For the first time, a Filipino film won an award in the said festival.

"Actually, they were only giving two awards in the festival, but according to the head of the jury, there was such a tight contest, especially among the top three films which include Astig, that's why they decided to give Astig a special award," said the young director at Western Union's Galing ng Pinoy launch last Monday.

According to the organizers of the Pusan Film Festival, the special mention received by Astig was the highest award ever given to a Filipino film that joined the festival. Direk GB also said that Astig is also going to the Rome Film Festival this November, where it will be featured in its exhibition segment.

Direk GB is already planning his next indie film, but should there be an offer to do a mainstream movie, he's certainly open to doing it.