The night Jericho went solo

The two-night run of And I Love Her, Jericho Rosales’ pre-Valentine solo concert at Teatrino, is arguably one of the most surprisingly successful shows of the season. Jericho is widely known and acknowledged as one of the most talented actors in the industry today. His rightful place in the elite roster of Filipino dramatic actors is clearly secured by his brilliant performances in both his top-rating soaps and award-winning films. However, his prowess as a solo concert artist was yet to be tested until And I Love Her.

And I Love Her is Jericho’s first solo, full-length Valentine concert. As an artist managed by Manila Genesis Entertainment and Management Inc., it would have been very convenient and easy for Jericho to have major and established concert artists as his special guests to back him up and could have been a major plus factor as far as marquee marketing for the concert was concerned. However, Jericho and his team seemed to have opted to go toward a different direction by presenting Jericho solo in And I Love Her. Jericho carried the entire show on his shoulders with no assistance on the live stage from the “big-guns” specifically from Gary Valenciano being the most obvious choice since he is not only one of the biggest concert artists in the country but Jericho’s brother under Manila Genesis as well.

The concert opened with the trailers of Green Rose, Jericho’s newest soap on ABS-CBN; Subject I Love You, Jericho’s first Hollywood feature film and a music video of rock band Salamin’s single Prodigal in which Jericho was the guest male celebrity actor.

Old school charm was greatly apparent in the concert’s opening credits which was in sepia. It was then clear that the concert was actually pegged to be like an old school movie. Then a video of Jericho preparing in his supposed dressing room just before he stepped onstage was shown as a semblance of an insider’s glimpse on what happens in an artist’s dressing room before any concert begins. Special guests in the video were Jericho’s good buddy Alvin Anson acting as some sort of cheerleader for him, EJ Caro, Jericho’s make-up artist, stylist Janet de la Fuente and Echo’s road manager Sally.

Then Jericho emerged on stage with a vintage microphone (generously lent to him by another buddy, Robin Nievera), clad in a crisp, tailored classic suit and he belted out a powerful rendition of Crazy Little Thing Called Love. The audience went wild and clapped, danced and sang along with Jericho and after the song, he segued to Misery in mid-spiel leaving the audience screaming for more.

Jericho’s interpretation of Just The Way You Are and Beautiful In My Eyes exuded quiet confidence and sincere intensity that only a seasoned concert artist could render. One could almost feel the voice lessons and rehearsals the charming performer went through just to effortlessly render these current hits.

Then Jericho segued as he tells the audience: “I want the couples to lean on each other’s shoulders as I sing this next number.” His reading of the classic standard Put Your Head On My Shoulder was a vocal masterpiece that caused goose-bumps among the audience. Jericho’s vocal range was further showcased in his version of Alicia Keys’ seminal hit If I Ain’t Got You. Jericho breathed new life to an extremely familiar song and gave it a masculine twist, considering that it is greatly identified as a feminine piece. He then went mellow with his soulful version of Rey Valera’s Naaalala Ka, which was amazingly arranged by his best friend, Gab Valenciano, an emerging gifted musician.

The medleys, on the other hand, were all well-thought of and seamlessly interconnected from Jericho’s Beatles medley (a personal favorite) which he performed with the Children’s Joy Foundation musicians to his Broken Hearted Medley which culminated with his critically-acclaimed original, hit composition Pusong Ligaw. It ought to be noted that two of the strongest songs in the repertoire were Pusong Ligaw from his Change album and another composition Ngayong Gabi from his Jeans album.

One of the highlights was the segment where Jericho sang the theme songs of his soaps while the concert showed footage of Jericho and his former leading ladies (Kristine Hermosa, Carmen Soo and Heart Evangelista) leaving the audience on the edge of their seats as they anticipated Jericho’s special guest. Before doing this number, Jericho affectionately said: “I loved and respected all of these wonderful leading ladies of mine, and yes they loved me as well.”

The curiosity of the crowd was quenched when Jericho’s Mommy Rose Vibar entered on stage and sang Ikaw with her son. This was probably the most touching portion of the concert which made the audience break into tears. Jericho then shouted, “Ladies and gentlemen this is my mom and I love her,” and he reprised And I Love Her which encapsulated the very core of the show’s concept as his mother, Rose limped off the stage.

The biggest surprise was the show’s encore. Just as Jericho exited, a female fan went into hysteria asking for another number. A security guard and some of Jericho’s staff tried to pacify the girl and Jericho went back onstage. Around this time, the audience was starting to feel a bit of tension only to find out that the girl who happens to be theater actress and dancer Chinie Nepomuceno and the guard were actually part of the Ad Lib dancers who performed with Jericho in his encore as he sang How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You.

Paolo Valenciano, who directed the show with Jericho, seamlessly guided the team in delivering an unforgettable show with his innovative ideas and cool, laid-back direction. “Chief,” and mentor Gary V lent his 28-year experience in mastering the stage as he led the team on both nights giving cues, guides and technical direction so that his new protégé would shine through the entire nights, and that he did. And I Love Her may not have promised big names on stage and the high-tech theatrics of other more established concert artists but as it turned out, it was a fantastic roller-coaster experience as Jericho took the audience to a wild ride of emotions and laughter and cool, beautiful music.

And I Love Her clearly established Jericho as a mainstream and legitimate concert artist catapulting him to a whole new level of artistry.

Seen in the crowd were the Green Rose gang of Alessandra de Rossi, Smokey Manaloto and director Manny Palos, the Genesis bosses Angeli Pangilinan-Valenciano and Gina Valenciano-Martinez, Odyssey’s Tessie Fonacier, Star Records’ Annabelle Regalado-Borja, Music Museum’s Precy Florentino, Kiana Valenciano, Mico Aytona, Lesley Martinez, ASAP’s Garlic Garcia and Apple Salas, TV Patrol’s Mario Dumaual, Assunta de Rossi-Ledesma, Dominic Ochoa and wife Denise Go-Ochoa, Marc Nicdao, Chia Yulo, John Nite, Cesca Litton, Maricris Bermont, Freddie Garcia, Chiqui Hollman-Yulo, Josef Elizalde, Freddie Santos, Robin Nievera and Duncan Ramos.