Sheena Easton at Big Dome Feb. 12

More than one dozen artists had concerts here in 2008, a record foreign “invasion.”

Brace yourselves for more this year.

Leading the pack is none other than Sheena Easton who stars in the Valentine concert For Your Love Only at the Big Dome. The title is obviously a spin-off of the ’70s James Bond movie For Your Eyes Only where not only Easton’s soaring, powerful voice was heard, she was also seen on the big screen. Easton’s other hits include Almost Over You, Telefone, We’ve Got Tonight, Do It For Love and Modern Girl.  

Danee Samonte of Steve O’Neal Productions (which is co-producing the concert with BDS All Hits Productions) furnished Funfare the following interesting trivia about Easton:

• She’s the only English female solo artist to have two singles in the UK Top 10 at the same time;

•  She has earned eight Top 40 hits and three Top 40 albums to date,

• She has sold over four million albums in the US alone and 20 million records worldwide;

•  ?She has 16 albums, 23 singles and 15 Top 40 hits on the US Billboard Top 100;

• She became the only artist in the history of the US Billboard charts to have a Top 3 hit on each of Billboard’s key charts: adult contemporary, dance, pop, country and R&B; and

• She’s the third British female solo artist to reach No. 1 on the Hot 100 US singles chart.

“Sheena is pretty excited about her coming show here,” Danee told Funfare. “She has performed in numerous places around the world, but this is the very time she will have a concert in Manila, that’s why she wants to make the event very special and memorable for Filipino fans. Sheena knows that she has a lot of following here, and she does not want to disappoint them.” 

(Note: Tickets to For Your Love Only are priced at P6,300, P4,200, P2,835, P1,575, P840 and P315 and are available at Ticketnet outlets at SM Department Stores and at the Araneta Coliseum ticket office. For reservation and inquiries, call Ticketnet at 911-5555.)

Peter Cetera also at Big Dome Feb. 14

As Funfare reported a few issues ago, another foreign artist scheduled to have a Valentine concert, also at the Big Dome (on Feb. 14), is Peter Cetera who will bring back the exhilarating sound of the ’70s and ’80s with his hits like If You Leave Me Now; Hard To Say I’m Sorry; Baby, What a Big Surprise; You’re The Inspiration; Stay The Night; Love Me Tomorrow; Happy Man; Feeling Stronger Every Day and Along Comes a Woman.

Billed as Peter Cetera Live In Manila!, the one-night musical presentation from Music Management International and Ovation Productions marks the local debut of the original Chicago singer-songwriter’s acclaimed “Symphony Tour” group which features a 42-piece symphony orchestra.

Renen de Guia of Ovation Productions (which is producing the concert) notes that as a songwriter, Cetera contributed to the Chicago band the hits Wishing You Were Here (No. 1) and Happy Man, but his biggest singing and songwriting accomplishment with the band came in 1976 with its initial international No. 1 single, the ballad If You Leave Me Now.

His 1977 composition, Baby, What A Big Surprise (No. 4), also became a major hit and reinforced Chicago’s status in the late 1970s as a “ballad band.”

The 1984 album, Chicago 17, became the group’s most successful selling album in its history when it sold over seven million copies in the US alone.

After parting ways with Chicago in mid-1985 to embark on a solo career, Cetera continued his streak of success with the release of 10 landmark CDs, led by his first solo single after leaving the band, the epochal No. 1 and Academy Award-nominated Glory Of Love (from the motion picture The Karate Kid Part II).

(Note: Tickets to the Peter Cetera concert are priced at P7,875, P5,775, P4,725, P3,150, P1,575 and P630, and are available at Ticketnet outlets at SM Department Stores and at the Araneta Coliseum ticket office. For inquiries, call Ticketnet at 911-5555 or Ovation Productions at 532-8883.) 

Rex Smith is coming, too!

Last (so far) but not the least is Rex Smith of whom Filipino music-lovers can’t seem to have enough. Smith has been coming and going and still, his fans look forward to his every coming.

On Feb. 13 at the PICC Plenary Hall, Smith, to quote a line from one of his songs, will enjoin his fans, Let’s Make a Memory, which is the title of his concert also produced by Danee Samonte’s Steve O’Neal Productions (again in collaboration with BDS All Hits Productions).

The series of concerts will kick off on Feb. 7 at The Pavilion in Bacolod City; to be followed on Feb. 12 at the Main Ballroom of Heritage Hotel, Pasay City; and, after the PICC show, at the Cebu Parklane International Hotel in Cebu City on Feb. 14.

Smith starred in a successful seven-date, six-city Philippine tour in February last year.

Smith is expected to rekindle that old romantic feeling among the audience as he performs a string of timeless love songs and romantic ballads, such as Simply Jessie, Forever, You Take My Breath Away, Let’s Make A Memory, Foolish Heart, Everlasting Love, Could It Be Magic, Speechless, Don’t Give Up On Us, Everybody Have Fun and many more.

He will also treat fans to excerpts from hit Broadway musicals like Phantom of The Opera, West Side Story and Grease! which he will perform with Olivia and Faith.

(Note: Tickets to Let’s Make A Memory at the PICC are priced at P3,090, P2,060, P1,575, P1,030 and P800, and are available at Ticketworld outlets at National Book Stores, Robinsons Department Stores, Ayala Malls, Tower Records and Music One. For inquiries and reservations, call Ticketworld at 891-9999.)

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