Will Marco get back his ‘stolen’ title?

Somebody (who could he be!?!) "stole" the title Premier Balladeer of the Philippines from Marco Sison when he wasn’t looking (or, to be more precise, when he was busy "counciloring" in his hometown, Biñan, Laguna). But Marco didn’t bother to charge the "culprit" (who could he be!?!) with daylight robbery and simply shrugged it off as, well, one of the hazards of the trade.

But now that he’s finished with politics and is making a big comeback in the mainstream concert scene (in the past years, Marco did some shows, all right, but only in "small" venues, just to satisfy his "artistic urge"), with a show entitled [email protected] on Nov. 8 (Thursday, 9 p.m.) at the Music Museum, the former Biñan Councilor might try to get back his "stolen" title. Why not, no? It’s his own and the one (who could he be!?!) who "stole" it, according to keen showbiz observers, has failed miserably in living up to that title.

Compared to Marco’s cool and soothing voice (doesn’t he sound like he has a cooler in his throat?), the title-thief sounds sometimes as if he’s on the brink of cracking. In short, he can’t hold a candle to Marco even if Marco is just humming while stuck in the traffic jam on his way from Biñan to an intimate presscon at Uva Restaurant (Timog-Morato Rotonda, Quezon City) or taking a leisurely shower.

Ask Marco to sing Make Believe, his first hit released in 1982, and you’ll end up asking for more: Always; I’ll Face Tomorrow; Si Aida, O Si Lorna, O Si Fe; My Love Will See You Through; and his new single, a revival of the Joey Albert hit Iisa Pa Lamang (included in Marco’s 17th album, released by Universal Records which originally recorded, along with its sister company WEA, all of the other songs in the collection).

"I really miss doing concerts," admitted Marco who decided to quit politics after the elections last May 14 when he planned to run for Vice Governor of Laguna but gave way to Dan Fernandez (who won) because of their (gentlemen’s) agreement that if one of them would run, the other would not. "While serving as Councilor, I would do a show here or abroad but it was always madalian. My priority then was my being a Councilor."

In Biñan, Marco has been conducting workshops for his talented kababayan, training aspirants (one of them Nikki Valdez who’s now with ABS-CBN’s Talent Center) in singing, dancing and acting. Even now that he’s out of politics, Marco plans to go on with the workshops, held every summer.

Before they finalized the Music Museum show, Marco and show director Frannie Zamora (with Mon Faustino and musical director) conducted a survey among music-lovers (especially Marco followers) in karaoke bars both here and in Filipino communities abroad and listed down Marco’s most Requested Songs. The Top Three were My Way (originally sung by Matt Monro), Just Once (James Ingram) and My Love Will See You Through (a Marco Sison original).

"So we worked on a concept around those Most Requested Songs," said Frannie.

The show will be divided into three parts: 1) Songs by other artists, chosen by Marco, 2) Requested songs from the audience, and 3) Marco’s hits and songs that he hasn’t been able to record (but would like to if he gets the chance). Marco’s guest performers are Bituin Escalante, Eugene Villaluz, Marco’s son (by the sister of a semi-retired actress) Alain Sison and the PUP Chorale. (Tickets – priced at P1,000, P600 and P300 – are available at National Bookstore outlets and Music Museum, among other outlets.)

If the audience would request for it, Marco might sing Terminal, one of his all-time personal favorites, "Because it reminds me of the days when I’d take the bus from Laguna to Manila... those days when I was joining singing contests, like Student Canteen (where he was the undefeated champion for several weeks)."

So there. If Marco can’t get back his "stolen" title (the "culprit" might hold on to it with the tenacity of epoxy), he can always bill himself as — what else? — The Karaoke King (inspired by that karaoke survey, you know).

Marco won’t allow anybody this time to "steal" that title from him.

Is Carlos Agassi not an Arab?

Here’s an interesting rejoinder to the Carlos Agassi interview on Conversations with Ricky Lo two Sundays ago, from reader Lawrence G.C. of 66-A Iba St., Quezon City:

Dear Ricky,

I’m an avid fan of your Conversations feature which I read every Sunday. I can only read the Sunday edition due to some circumstances beyond my control.

I was fascinated by your article on Carlos Agassi, so much so that I’m now typing this letter to make some comments and addendum.

I believe Carlos is not an Arab as he says so proudly. He’s an Iranian to be sure by blood. Iranians are not an Arab people, but another race belonging to the Indo-European branch of the Caucasoid people, or the White race. The true Arabs are the Saudis, Omanis, Yemenis, Iraquis, and other people of North Africa, although they too are not exclusively Arabs because they themselves have been invaded in the past by other nationalities of different races so that their people are a polyglot of racial features from white, black and (sic) yellow races.

The name Agassi is of Iranian origin, just like the tennis superstar Andre Agassi who is of Iranian lineage. If you look closely at the face and features of Andre and Carlos, you’ll find some extraordinary similarities. Who knows, their roots must have the same origin!

And just like Andre, I believe Carlos is not hairy at all, as he so proudly admits. I see him often on TV and even in close focus, he appears clean-shaven if but for some fine growth of facial hair. But definitely not hairy.

Just compare him to Hans Montenegro on the local scene or Pete Sampras on the US court, and you can see the big difference. They are truly and indeed the very hairy type of men.