Most talented girl in the world

I haven’t seen a concert in a long, long time. A lot of things have become predictable even when there’s so much effort not to be.

This is not to trivialize the enormous talent of our concert artists, it’s actually about me who has packaged, managed singers and produced concerts on the side for a long, long time. It can be boring. And the only way to kill boredom is to stay out of it and comeback with new, fresh, unadulterated energy.

This is how I felt when I went to Charice’s concert at SMX last Saturday with my friend Melo Esguerra who is now editorial consultant for the magazines of another good friend Emil Yap. We entered the cavernous SMX Hall which is sadly one level and which makes it uncomfortable for concert audiences who have to stretch their necks to get a glimpse of the performer on stage, in the company of Star Records “stars” Annabelle Regalado-Borja, Jonathan Manalo, Rox Santos and the unsinkable Nixon Sy, gorgeous Garlic Garcia who joined us in the front row. Thank you for the tickets Annabelle.

The day before the concert, I was actually looking for tickets to buy and I wanted the most expensive because I wanted to support Charice. I feel that the least we can do for this “most talented girl in the world,” according to Oprah is to buy her CDs and tickets to her show.

Her success is ours and she has fulfilled the dream of many. Her triumph is of national importance.

When she sang in Ellen, we all wept with joy. When Oprah hugged her, we too embraced the wealthiest woman in global television. She has opened doors. It won’t be long before others will go though these open doors to sing, dance or act for the world.

This is how important Charice is to every Filipino who loves to sing, dance and act. This diminutive lass from Laguna has tucked under her belt a gargantuan feat. Charice excites me because what many dreamt of achieving, she conquered without a drop of blood.

 It happened without a scientific, calculated career plan. It happened because she worked hard and she was born to be. Charice belongs to the global arena and she carries the Filipino spirit with her.

When Ellen said there “was this girl who traveled all the way from the Philippines to perform in her show,” the mere mention of the Philippines made our hearts leap with joy and pride. That was a huge promo for this much maligned country.

I never thought a Filipino girl would actually sing a duet with Celine Dion at the Madison Square Garden — not in this wired lifetime. Thank you Ellen, Oprah, David, Andrea, Paul, Josh, Alicia, Celine for believing in Charice — a true Filipino talent.

Back to the concert. The theater was jampacked. People were squabbling for seats. There was a mild commotion but this was fixed before anyone engaged in a hair pulling incident.

Then the Triggerman’s voice boomed to announce it was five minutes to showtime. You could smell the euphoria in the air. Then the journey began. I was happy I was there.

Bravo, Charice!

Ready to fall in love again

I had a chance to chat with Jericho Rosales on The Buzz. He has this Sunsilk promo that will have the winner spend a date with him in Palawan. Of course it’s a promo but Echo is genuinely thrilled.

Even amidst talks about him seeing former girlfriend Heart Evangelista or him getting cozy with Karylle are rife, Echo seems like he is not yet committed. With his Sunsilk Palawan date, he is excited about the thought of meeting someone, making friends with her and going whereever the wind takes him. “The possibilities are infinite,” I told him. He shot back with a naughty chuckle. Echo is so ready to fall in love again!

Kristine Garcia’s son proposes marriage

I got a letter from Kristine Garcia who is now living happily in Las Vegas with her children and husband. Kristine asked me to announce that her eldest son Charles Calimbahin is proposing marriage to Jamie Santos on The Buzz. Wrote Kristine, “If you could give us a few minutes of your valuable time on the show to announce that my son Charles Calimbahin would like to ask Jamie Santos this one question — ‘Will you marry me?’“

It was a romantic idea that we were all kilig in the show. Today I got a text message from Kristine which reads, “As a mother, no words can ever describe the depth of my gratitude to you and to Kris for making my son’s wish come true. Tears of happiness fell as we watched you make the announcement because it is something that can never be bought with money. It will always remain in our hearts for the rest of our lives. God bless you and Kris.”

God bless you too, Kristine!