When Ms. Salonga changed the lyrics of the song Nothing (from the musical A Chorus Line) into something that would describe her journey into musical theater [The pop scene’s Nothing!; To me, it’s Nothing!], she (sort of) confirmed my long-standing opinion that her luminous place in the music industry was never defined in the pop arena. That’s kind of an obvious statement if we’ll list where all her accomplishments lie. My point is that during her concert, and as always, I am not as impressed when she sings, say Beverly Craven’s Promise Me, as to how I’m blown away by her voice when she starts the first lines of On My Own. That is in no way saying that Lea Salonga’s talent is limited because in her chosen path, she has become a master. You want a pop star? Go to a Regine Velasquez concert. Just humor me and try it once. I may not like who she’s with, how she dresses at times, how she handles herself in public these days, or the way she shouts while singing the high notes, but that is still the most powerful yet the prettiest (for lack of a better term) voice I’ve ever had the privilege to listen to live. I’m not comparing these two ladies; to me, they belong to separate categories. They both feed my inner schizophrenic - Lea is all class, with crystal clear voice that is pure joy to listen to. She is eloquence personified. Regine is Chona, a hero of the masses, with a clean, booming voice, the soft side of which is a pure joy to listen to. The new breed has nothing on these two.
Before I make an attempt at "pop psychology," let’s go back to the concert that I watched last Friday. Filharmonika provided the accompaniment, led by Gerard Salonga; a few theater actors and directors, including the current first lady of Philippine musical theater, Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo, had "supporting roles" throughout. Surprise guest Aga Mulach provided comic relief. He was effortlessly funny. The theme was, of course, Lea’s musical career that now spans 30 years. It followed a timeline, starting with Annie and ending with a preview of the upcoming Cinderella; Les Miserables was the encore. As onyxx commented in my previous post, you can expect nothing less than a smashing good show from a performer of this stature. We got exactly that.
A career in photos (my favorite Lea projects - as Eponine in Les Miserables and as Kim in Miss Saigon)
I’ve just came home from watching Lea Salonga’s concert, My Life … On Stage, at the PICC Plenary Hall. Because there’s still another show tomorrow, I’m saving my comments for later.
But if you’re still not decided about watching and you still got tickets to buy, GO! Go now and buy some tickets. It’s a very special show. And there’s no need to reiterate that Lea Salonga is a world-class performer.
Balcony view
Here’s an upcoming film based on a memoir of the same title. It’s about a British writer who struggles to fit in New York’s high-profile life. Starring Jeff Bridges, Megan Fox, Kirsten Dunst, Simon Pegg, Gillian Anderson, and Danny Huston.
Well it doesn’t really look like something I’ll watch in the theater but Gillian Anderson’s in it and I really like the title (too bad Toby Young beat me into it).
Some of my favorite things:
— Watching Level A players in tournament play
— Mizuno Wave Smash badminton shoes
— RSL Laser 6900 (heavy head, 25 lb tension, semi-stiff)
— RSL Millenium Heat 4900 (even balanced, 25 lb tension, super flex)
— RSL Silver Feather shuttle
— The unexpected prize of coming into a tournament as the underdog. We joined the tourney as an act of loyalty to our home court, which is celebrating its 1st anniversary at its new location. Nobody expected us to win. Well, mostly because of me, he heh. My partner, Rhodney, did most of the work but I’m glad to be of help. We paid P650 for entering the tournament but with the free lunch and dinner, the toiletries we both won from the raffle, a nice Adidas shirt (probably not authentic though), and a cash prize of P1500, what’s not to be happy about?
In two weeks time before the French Open starts, women’s defending champion Justine Henin announced, in a shocking and dramatic fashion, that she’s hanging up her racket for good.
Wow. I want to say a lot more things as a tribute to this diminutive but amazing champion, the current world no. 1 to say the least, but I’m still in shock. She’s really a fan of Graf, huh?! Retiring in her prime because she lost her drive to compete. Because she’s found happiness in her personal life that the one thing that she was brought up to do couldn’t give her any more satisfaction. Just short of a Wimbledon crown, though she was in the finals of the last two years, to have all major tournaments in her credit, Henin said that she’s no longer interested. She stopped before Roland Garros because she didn’t think that she’ll do as well there as she had the last 3 years, when she won 3 consecutive French Open titles in addition to her first in 2003.
I’ll sure miss watching your backhand at work Justine.
My predictions were mostly wrong, but at least I got the final 2 right. It’s going to be Archie vs Cook in the final battle for the American Idol crown.
Both are good and Archie will most probably win but I can hardly care. Which is too bad because I started following this season closely. Well, that’s just me. I get bored like that.
Unless some interesting performers will turn up at the final night, happy watching to the rest of ya! Good luck on your bets.
More X-files news this side of the blogosphere. Actually, this is a not-so-fresh news already. Two Web Ads appeared online before the official trailer debut. You can search for them using the usual keywords, "Mulder," "Scully," and "viral videos." Mulder: "I miss her intelligence and…integrity…her contradicting me…the way she says my name. Yeah, I miss that." These declarations caused quite a havoc among loyal fans, thinking that they meant Mulder and Scully spent the last 6 years (since the series closed) apart. But fear not shippers, Chris Carter, the series and movie creator/director, himself declared that these interviews are David & Gillian’s words, in character. Scully’s last words bring back plenty of memories of Mulder saving his partner from harm. What, with the technology the FBI provides him with, she’s never out of his sight. What are tracking devices for? I’ve always admired Scully’s independence and bravery, but the way she complemented Mulder and how their relationship evolved will always be one of televisions’ greatest products. Because the new film’s plot is very guarded and unannounced, I wonder how much gruesome work these two will work on together. Are they back with the FBI? The trailer seems to suggest so. Will their son be shown? Rumor has it. Will there be alien vehicle tracking? Surely none this time. One thing’s for sure - there’ll be lots of snow. Let’s hope Mulder won’t lose Scully to those frozen depths again. A GPS tracker may not help him this time.
These videos featured our two FBI agents being interviewed separately on what they missed about each other. Below are the excerpts:
Scully: "I miss how much he challenged me. Knowing that, if I was in trouble, chances were he was doing everything in his power to come help me."
X-Philes unite! We’re so near to finally finding out if all those years of waiting for the second film is worth it. The official movie trailer is now playing at IGN. The shipper in me is so happy with the 1-second frame of M&S there.
I’m expecting that publicity for this movie is about to pick up since the release date is just 2 months away. Time to check YouTube for TV appearances of David and Gillian.
While waiting for the season finale of 30 Rock, I searched YouTube for old videos and I found one from the first episode of season 2 - Liz Lemon and Her Wedding Dress. Here’s the deal: she just broke up with her boyfriend; somebody asked her to fit a wedding dress; she bought the dress and wore it at work.
Liz quotes:
at the boutique:
This is going to be my year. Floyd’s (her ex) moving on, I’m moving on, too. I’m just doing it in my own order. I’m gonna get the wedding dress, then I’m gonna have a baby, then I’m gonna die, and then I’m gonna meet a super cute guy in heaven!
when her staff saw her trying on the dress in her office:
I just bought a dress! Because I don’t need society’s permission to buy a white dress. Who says this is a wedding dress, anyway? In Korea, they wear white to funerals. I’m not crazy; I am making a statement. That if need be, I will marry myself!
breaking down, finally:
What is the deal with my life?!!!!
You can watch the video here. It’s freakin’ funny.
My teammates at work and I are looking at a Sunday overtime work schedule, so that means I might have to put off cleaning up our messy apartment space again. It’s been one whole year since my sister and I moved to our place and hearing about friends and officemates looking and finding better housing options makes me want to look for something else myself. Sometimes I like living in a studio-type apartment but sometimes, I long for the privacy of a room and a separate space for all the other stuff. If only it won’t be too much trouble all over again, not to mention the adjustments to be made. I was browsing through the Web and stubled upon the official Web site of Martha Stewart. I drooled over her pink guest house in Maine. How much would I want to live that! The blush colored tones are so soothing and vey feminine. It’s literally pink everywhere, and it’s just so pretty. Speaking of Martha Stewart, this business magnate, homemaking advocate, TV show host, author, and a lot of other things I gather, have her own online flower shop that offers freshly picked gifts styled by Martha Stewart herself. U.S. residents may want to check it out just in time for Mother’s Day.
