Anne proves (again) pulling power

If there is anything that Anne Curtis does best, it is to ingratiate herself in the minds and hearts of the public who gets to simply adore her. It is not difficult to imagine how she does it, since it is simply by being herself.

She is at it again, after her groundbreaking AnneBisyosa concert that filled up the Araneta Coliseum to the rafters last year. This year, it is AnneKapal at the same huge venue, and to tell you the truth, we were scared stiff for her. We had never met Anne in person but have come to like her from what we have seen on television and her live appearances. She is an absolute original! No one can copy her or even hope to copy her.

The scrapes she gets into are also original, like the two major skirmishes she had most recently that filled the pages of publications as well as those of the new media. Goodness, she would even share front pages with international news!

The recent occurrences in her life were being bitten by a dikya or jellyfish while shooting her current teleserye Dyesebel for ABS-CBN; and getting involved in a drunken episode with John Lloyd Cruz. The type of jellyfish that bit Anne, as revealed by the doctors in the hospital where she stayed, is of a dangerous variety. One particular doctor reportedly said that Anne is lucky enough to have been given medical attention in the nick of time. And Anne being what she is, reported back to her set upon being released from the hospital, and back to the exact location in the water with the dikya! Upon hearing of this, we thought to ourselves, this girl can only be crazy or foolhardy. Anne, on the other hand, faced the drunken accusation with a simple apology and admission of guilt. And of course, her fans and non-fans forgave her.

Upon arriving early at the Smart Araneta venue, we found the crowd already there, along with the scalpers. On this second venture, the show has been billed as presented by Viva Live and Annebisyosa Productions. We wondered if Anne’s getting into the picture meant more of the same in the coming months and if she had already decided to not only be a performer but also a producer, like other known actors Piolo Pascual and Dingdong Dantes.

The crowd was getting restless and soon the show began. The opening number of AnneKapal had to top that of AnneBisyosa and having watched both, we can safely say that it did. The audience already had expected Anne to come down from the ceiling which she did and naturally did all those aerial stunts that made her look like a professional Cirque du Soleil performer. We have heard from unconfirmed sources that the Araneta officials had initially turned down the show because of the dangers it entailed by those stunts in the air. They must have been convinced of more safety features introduced to change their minds.

There were many guest performers as expected and among them was Robert Seña doing a duet with Anne the classical piece Nessum Dorma, which made the audience sigh “Ang kapal talaga ni Anne” accompanied by laughter. All throughout the three-hour show with no intermission, this was the expectation — a music-filled, feel-good show with comedy as an important element. Martin Nievera dueted with Anne with a straight face that we couldn’t tell if they were both joking around. There was comedian Ogie Alcasid singing more duets with Anne and Billy Crawford coercing Luis Manzano to sing his first song in public off-key. Spotting Sam Milby in the audience, the pair asked him to say hello on stage. Then, it was time for Anne to sing My Way while “Billy Boy” and “Lolo Boy” (as the hosts were called) continued their antics on stage. Comedy takes a break as Regine Velasquez came on stage to sing On the Wings of Love, possibly the only serious performance in the show.

The audience knew the show was near the end when Anne performed Wind Beneath My Wings and called her mom to come up on stage, as she again sang One Moment In Time. But Pinoy audiences knew that there would be more, and the prepared encore was the hit song of the Aegis, Basang Basa sa Ulan, which Anne performed as she got swamped with water pouring from the ceiling. We can say it was truly another Anne Curtis original.

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