Martin cooks for the movie press

MANILA, Philippines - Clad only in walking shorts and wrapped in an apron (top photo), Martin Nievera showed his culinary skill by grilling cheeseburgers (right) for the movie writers at the presscon yesterday for the repeat of his 3D (Tatlong Dekada) concert on Nov. 22 also at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

When a movie columnist requested for only the cheese between his toasts, Martin quipped, “Why, don’t you eat meat? Don’t you like my meat?” Of course, the movie columnist did and he actually took two pieces home (including three boxes of the mouth-watering dessert, bottom).

In a pre-concert one-on-one with Funfare, Martin happily disclosed what he had belatedly learned from a friend — did you know that Paul Anka told his fellow Canadian singer Michael Bublé to listen to Martin’s songs and try to sing like Martin?

“How flattering!” said Martin.

Now, he’s seriously thinking of paving the way for artists to do concerts not just onstage but online. It can be a good source of revenue once it attracts sponsors and subscribers.

After grilling a good number of cheeseburgers (enough to feed a barangay), Martin took off his apron and sang three songs (Ikaw Lang ang Mamahalin, Kahit Isang Saglit and This Is My Song) for what he good-humoredly called “the well-fed” writers before tackling the Q&A.

(Note: Ticket prices to the 3D [Tatlong Dekada] Repeat are VIP P4,225, Patron P3,700, Lower Box P2,640, Upper Box A P1,060, Upper Box B P530 and General Admission P256. Call Ticketnet at 911-5555.)