Three OPM artists in one ‘ICONic’ night

MANILA, Philippines- It was a night filled with OPM hits as Rico Blanco, Yeng Constantino, and Gloc 9 perform together for the “ICON the Concert” on Friday.

Considered as three of today’s generation's OPM music icons, Rico, Yeng, and Gloc 9 performed hits that their fans loved, and surprised them by going out of their comfort zones.

They opened the show with the hits that they believed paved way to their individual singing careers: Gloc 9 performed “Sirena,” Yeng belted “Time In,” and Rico sang “Antukin.”

After the opening number, Rico asked the crowd to give themselves a round of applause saying, “Kayo ay mga bayani dahil sa pagsuporta ninyo sa musikang Pilipino. Maraming-maraming salamat po sa inyo.”

In return for their support to OPM music, Yeng promised to give everyone an “iconic na show na talagang ma-i-inspire kayo.”

The set was changed as the three performed a mash-up of the songs “Lose Yourself” by Eminem and “Come Together” by Beatles.  

Yeng then left the stage and let Gloc 9 and Rico rock the night with the former’s hit single “Magdalena.”

The Pop-Rock Princess was the first to do a solo performance of her hits that night, which she marked with her rendition of Miley Cyrus’s “Wrecking Ball."

After the performance, Yeng shared her thoughts on how she can say that a person is an icon.

“Marami po talagang factors ang pagiging icon,” she began. “Siyempre ang isang tinitignan natin talaga ay kung paano ang karakter ng isang artist, at kung maaari ba natin ‘yang gayahin o pamarisan."

“Pangalawa na po siguro ang mga salitang lumalabas sa kanilang mga bibig. Lalo na po ngayon, malaki na po ang platform ng mga artists, mga tao na hangad maging icons, na masabi ang nilalaman ng kanilang mga puso, may social media na. Maaaring nakakatulong ang mga sinasabi natin o maaaring nakakapanira.

“At pangatlo, siyempre ang likha ng mga tao o mga artists na talaga naming nananahan sa puso ng bawat tao.”

As an artist herself, she said she’s not asking much from the people, especially with the success she has right now. All she wants is “kapag lumaon na ang panahon, e, matandaan n’yo pa rin po ang mga awitin na ginawa ko at sana po ay hindi ninyo makalimutan. “

On that note, Yeng performed her hits “Jeepney Love Story,” “Pag-ibig,” and “Chinito.”

Before singing her next song, Yeng talked about how her personal life changed over the years.

“Alam n’yo po, ang sarap po talagang umibig at lumevel-up ang love life. At alam n’yo naman po na very, very soon ay mag-a-I do na po ako,” she said, referring to her fiancé Victor Asuncion.

“Sinasabi nila magbabago na raw ang kulay ng mga susulatin kong awitin, at nagsisimula na nga po. Noong nakaraang taon, nahirapan na po akong magsulat ng malulungkot na kanta, puro masasaya na po."

“At ito na nga, ang susunod kong aawitin, ito po ang bagong kulay ng aking puso ngayon. Kulay pink po siya tulad ng streaks ng hair ko.”

She then performed the song “Ikaw,” which she dedicated to her fiancé, who was there that night singing the said song with the crowd.

Yeng then called Gloc 9 on stage as they performed his single “Takip Silim.” 

After their duet, and performing solo his song “Londo,” Gloc 9 told the crowd “Dahil espesiyal kayo sa akin, bihira lang ako kumanta ng English. Kita n’yo nakakatawa agad? Gusto n’yo subukan ko kumanta?”

He then performed Kanye West’ “Heartless” mashed up with his hit single “Upuan.”

Gloc 9 then turned serious and introduced the next set of songs that he will perform.

“May mga kakantahin po ako. Ang tawag sa kanya ay King of OPM Rap. Siya talaga ang nag-open ng lahat ng pintuan, bintana, eskinita, kalye, para sa lahat ng katulad naming artists,” he said, referring to the late Francis Magalona.

“Isa pa, parang mali na ako’y mag-ko-concert sa Araneta Coliseum na hindi ko kakatahin ang awitin ng taong ito.”

The rapper took off his jacket and revealed his black shirt with Francis M.’s face. He then performed his hits “Man from Manila,” “Meron Akong Ano” and “Kaleidoscope World.”

Before he left the stage he reminded everyone that “walang pangarap na imposible!”

The three artists also gave tribute to other OPM icons by singing the songs “Ugoy ng Duyan,” “Batang-Bata Ka Pa” and “Anak.”

Then Rico’s set started with his blood-pumping hits like “Awit ng Kabataan,” “Posible,” “Hinahanap-hanap Kita,” “Liwanag sa Dilim,” “Elesi,” and “Umaaraw, Umuulan.”

After catching his breath, Rico went a bit mellow as he sang some of his love song hits such as “Start Agian,” “Your Universe,” “214” and “You’ll be safe here.”

Rico then had a duet with Yeng, but not just any other duets since he rarely performs pop songs like the song “Stay” by Rihanna, which they performed.

The three then performed “Salamat” and “Sumayaw Ka” for their finale. Of course, they gave in to the crowd’s request and performed a mash-up of the songs “Hawak Kamay” and “Panahon na Naman.”

Check the slideshow below to see some of ICON the Concert highlights.