Still a ‘Mega’ in more ways than one

Watching a Sharon Cuneta concert wouldn’t take much convincing for me, ever the Sharonian that I am. In a span of one month, I’ve watched Sharon perform live twice – in her 40th birthday show at the Ultra last month and last Sunday in her Mega Valentine concert at the Araneta Coliseum.

In both instances, I was downright pleased with her shows. Both venues were also packed with her loyal fans, proving that Sharon is still the megastar and no one perhaps can take that title away from her.

Returning to the Big Dome after four years (her last one was the Mega Event), Sharon was thrilled at the sight of the crowd which packed the venue, composed mostly of loyal Sharonians who have followed her career from the time she started in the business. In two years, she will celebrate her 30th year in showbiz. Remember, she started when she was only 12, when her single, Mr. DJ, soared on the airlanes.

Sharon more than made up for her absence by performing for two-and-a-half hours. She was generous to all her fans who missed her. And obviously, she missed the live performance stage, too.

She opened the show with Barbra Streisand’s bouncy number, The Main Event, which readily perked up the mood of the crowd. Then she followed it up with the hit tunes of The Carpenters – Rainy Days and Mondays, We’ve Only Just Begun, For All We Know and I Won’t Last a Day Without You – and the audience sang with her.

From her album, Sharon Sings Alcasid (under Sony-BMG Records), she rendered hits like Mahal Kita, Walang Iba, Pangako and Bakit Ngayon Ka Lang, where Christian Bautista joined her. They both sang other Alcasid-penned tunes like Kung Mawawala Ka and Kailangan Kita. For his solo spot, Christian did his own hit, Everything I Do. Later in the show, they did a hair-raising duet of The Prayer and You Raised Me Up.

Then Sharon gave a generous serving of Barry Manilow hits in a medley – Ready To Take a Chance, Could It Be Magic, If I Should Love Again, Somewhere Down the Road (we would have felt disappointed if this was not included in the line-up), Even Now, Looks Like We Made It, This One’s for You, I Write the Songs.

Christopher de Leon, "who I idolized since childhood," did the haunting Sana’y Maghintay ang Walang Hanggan with Sharon, the song in their first movie together, Bituing Walang Ningning, shown 22 years ago. They recorded the Tagalog ballad as a duet in Christopher’s new album. He crooned another cut in his album, the Rey Valera-George Canseco composition, Sinasamba Kita.

Another stellar guest that night was Kuh Ledesma, with whom Sharon did a Ryan Cayabyab medley that included Kahit Ika’y Panaginip Lang, Paraisong Parisukat and Magbalik Ka na Mahal, the theme from the musical, Rama Hari.

Sharon also paid tribute to her musical director by carrying out a Louie Ocampo suite — Hagkan, Tell Me, Paalam Na, Ikaw Lang ang Mamahalin and Ikaw (the last one beautifully accompanied by harpist Noelle Cassandra).

The three guests gathered on centerstage with Sharon and they did upbeat love medleys – I’ll Never Fall in Love Again, Love Will Keep Us Together, Put a Little Love in Your Heart and Love Will Keep Us Together.

Sharon did not only churn out beautiful music that night. She also imparted memorable lines to her fans. "I hope you come out of this concert a little more inspired, blessed and hopeful," she told the crowd. "Hope will only get you this far (motioning an inch through her fingers), but faith will make you go the distance."

The megastar also provided comic relief in the show. I doubted if she needed a script that night. She could pull off a full-length concert impressively without having to rely on a prompter for her spiels, unlike most entertainers. Why, she even made fun of her build. She had considerably lost those pounds which she gained after giving birth to her third baby, Mariel.

It took Sharon several months to lose weight, with more to shed. A month before her Big Dome show, she confessed to starving herself. "Earlier tonight, I had wanted to eat rice," she laughed. "But I managed to control the urge. I’m making a movie with Aga, so I have to lose more weight. But I’m happy now because I can see my toes."

Sharon performed before a celebrity-studded audience. Seated on the front row were her husband Sen. Kiko Pangilinan, Mommy Elaine Cuneta, father-in-law Donnie Pangilinan and Gary Valenciano, with wife Angeli Pangilinan behind him, boxing champ Manny Pacquiao and wife Jinky.

Spotted in the crowd were couples Aga Muhlach and Charlene Gonzales, Anthony Pangilinan and Maricel Laxa, newscaster Karen Davila and husband DJ Sta. Ana, Dr. Vicki Belo and boyfriend Joey Santos, Julius Babao and Christine Bersola, Mang Gerry and Tessie Velasquez (Regine Velasquez’s parents).

Robin Padilla made a "dramatic appearance" when he initially showed up in the bleachers, thus creating a minor commotion among the fans in that area. But two guards quickly escorted Robin down and made him come up on stage to join Sharon as she was singing Hari ng Sablay.

Others who watched the concert were Arnell Ignacio, Ara Mina, German Moreno, Pinoy Big Brother housemate Uma Khouny, Ciara Sotto, Carlo Orosa, TV/film directors Joyce Bernal and Mac Alejandre, GMA 7 host Rhea Santos, Beth Tamayo, Rachel Anne Go, Faith Cuneta, talent managers Ethel Ramos, Tita Angge, Shirley Kuan and Jacob Fernandez, BMG Records bosses Rudy Tee with wife Myrna, Narciso Chan and Vic Valenciano.

And, in support of Sharon’s return to television, ABS-CBN bosses were likewise in attendance – Cory Vidanes, Mariole Alberto, Leo Katigbak, Joanna Gomez, Jeffrey Remigio and director Lauren Dyogi, who will work at the helm of the upcoming Sharon-Aga screen reunion under Star Cinema.