ICONS AT THE ARENA… PROMO NA MAY BAYAD?!

Posted on June 21, 2012 by Pssst!

SUPER successful ang katatapos lamang na Icons At The Arena show sa SM Arena, sa MOA, last Saturday kunsaan pinagsamasama ang mga malalaking bituin ng music industry at OPM stars.

Maganda ang pagkakahabi ng programa dahil sa dalawa’t kalahating oras ng palabas ay hindi kami nainip at higit sa lahat ay may pakiramdam pa na bitin dahil hindi namin naramdaman ang oras at gusto pa namin ng mas marami pa sanang awitan.

Hosted by Pops Fernandez and Jim Paredes, mabilis ang takbo ng programa sa kabila ng mahigit sa 20 performers na naging bahagi ng show. The Company and Christian Bautista opened the show with songs written by Jose Mari Chan that has been playing in the airwaves for more than 40 years.
Pagpapatunay lamang na ang OPM ay hindi kailangan maging Tagalog. And then the icon Jose Mari joined his singers on stage to the delight of his more mature audience.

Ang Diva Medley nina Rachel Alejandro, Vernie Varga at Dulce ang pinakafavorite ko dahil sa kabila ng birit ng tatlong divas ay maganda ang combination ng kanilang tinig. Malakas ang palakpakan para sa nag-iisang Dulce!

Solo at isang awit lamang si Freddie Aguilar pero sapat na ‘yon para maramdaman ng Pinoy audience kung ano talaga ang mensahe ng isang mapusong awitin. Ano pa nga ba kundi ang ‘Anak’.

Sumunod ang mga Kapamilya drama theme songs na isinulat ni Ogie Alcasid. Performed by Richard Poon, Juris, Jed Madela and Piolo Pascual na talaga rin namang nakipagsabayan sa birit sa mga singers niyang kasama sa stage.

Sumunod na rin sa stage sina Ogie at si Regine Velasquez, they sang three duets. Pumayat na nang konti si Regine, kaya seksi na naman siya in her red gown.

Hindi naman nabigo ang  mga audience sa expected comic treat ng trio nina Pokwang, Jose Manalo at Wally Bayola, riot ang bahaging ito with Pokwang doing her famous Mommy Dionisia spoofs and Jose and Wally doing their Martin and Gary ‘As One’ spoof.

Bamboo and the G-Force showed the viewers that rock music can be danced and at the same time makabayan pa rin!

Sinundan ito ng international level performances ng nag-iisang Pinoy Tony award winner na si Leah Salonga kasama ang nag-iisa ring Pinoy international soloist ng Journey na si Arnel Pineda. This one is a real treat dahil two international singers in one stage in a duet in a night of Stars. Leah‘ voice despite the crispness and clarity was upstage by the solid  performance of Arnel.

Erik Santos and Martin Nievera joined Basil Valdez on stage singing ballads of George Canseco, Willy Cruz and Ryan Cayabyab. But it was obvious that Basil’s voice got lost in the powerful tenor of Erik who was obviously belting it higher to cover the loss of Basil’s voice in some portions of their number.

Gary Valenciano was not personally present in the show but his number in video was the final song of the night dahil it was written and dedicated to the Mall Messiah Mr. Henry Sy who was present to witness the grand opening of The SM Arena.

The curtain call has all the performers on stage singing ‘The Impossible Dream’ probably requested by the old man but noted were the absence of Ka Freddie and Pokwang, Ogie and Regine, Wally and Jose, in the lineup. The Kapuso Stars obviously declined to be part of this number dahil sa Kapamilya station ito ipapalabas.

Musical direction by Ryan Cayabyab with the  ABS-CBN Philharmonic na binuo ni Gerald Salonga and direction by Johnny Manahan.

In the end lumabas na promo ng SM Arena ang show, pero bakit may bayad ang entrance kung for publicity pala ito?