Greatest Showman rewrites the charts

Honestly speaking, it was starting to get boring. Pop music was in a rut. Are there no other hitmakers around?  Have we been condemned to wallow in the romantic musings of Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith forever? Why even Kendrick Lamar went all softly confessional in DAMN. And we have certainly had enough of the har-har singing of Moira de la Torre. 

It is fine that Bruno Mars funks things up a lot and that there is Camila Cabello who is a new feminine sound. A light type of hip-hop is also making some inroad. Still I believe it was time for something new that could provide some excitement to popular music. I was waiting for that new sound that would captivate listeners and I was wondering what it would be.

Then it was there. I will not describe it as like the proverbial breath of fresh air because this new sound hit everything with a massive impact. All of a sudden, everybody was listening and singing along to the songs from the musical The Greatest Showman. Who would have thought that songs from a period film would be the ones to give Sheeran and company a run for their money? But this is what is happening right now. The picture has introduced show tunes with a very hip, very appealing bent and everybody loves them.

The Greatest Showman is an original musical based on the life of P.T. Barnum who originated the greatest big top circus in the world and the museum of strange life forms. The film is more of a fictional version than a real bio but director Michael Gracey turned it into such an inspiring tale with fabulous visuals, great performances and wonderful music. Try not to miss this one. Playing the title role is Hugh Jackman, who, as always, is incredible.

Providing the music is the multi-award winning team of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. They are young and judging from their music are very hip but with the right dose of musical theater sensibility. They won the Tony for Dear Evan Hansen on Broadway. They won the Academy award for City Of Stars from La La Land. They are now once more in the running for an Oscar for the song, This Is Me, which is performed in powerful voice by theater actress Keala Settle.  She plays Barnum’s Bearded Lady that was put on exhibit.  Pop star Kesha has recorded her own version.

There are other memorable songs in The Greatest Showman. Never Enough performed by Loren Allred from The Voice as the voice of the Swedish soprano Jenny Lind played by Rebecca Ferguson is a diva showcase. Tightrope sung by Michelle Williams has landed in the hit charts. From Now On by Jackman is also a big favorite. The big winner though is the love song, Rewrite The Stars, which became this year’s Valentine’s Day theme song. It is the love duet of the year.

A few days after Valentine’s Day and Rewrite The Stars is still all over the radio, streaming at No. 1 on Spotify and has most likely been downloaded by many a love-struck soul. This is the beautiful duet between the playwright played by Zac Efron and the trapeze artist played by Zendaya, whose inter-racial romance is doomed by the social mores of the times. The song asks what if they could change things by rewriting the stars.

So who says that Pinoys do not like musicals? The proof is here. The Top 20 titles in Spotify’s Philippines Top  50 are: Rewrite The Stars by Zac Efron and Zendaya; IDGAF by Dua Lipa; Hayaan Mo Sila by Ex Battalion O.C. Dawgs; Dying Inside by Darren Espanto from the movie All Of You; Havana by Camila Cabello; Perfect by Ed Sheeran; Too Good At Goodbyes by Sam Smith; Finesse by Bruno Mars feat. Cardi B; Never Be The Same also by Camila Cabello; Super Far by LANY.

I Like Me Better by Lauv; The Middle by Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey; All The Stars by Kendrick Lamar and SZA; Let Me Go by Hailee Steinfeld, Alesso and the Florida Georgia Line; Meant To Be by Bebe Rexha feat. Florida Georgia Line; Capital Letters by Hailee Steinfeld feat. Blood Pop; What Lovers Do by Maroon 5 feat. SZA; This Is Me by Keala Settle; Malaya by Moira de la Torre; and Titibo-tibo also by Moira.