December 13

(1) She started with a set of pop songs in a pretty/casual black outfit.  I was thinking, “O-oh, please don’t have a mostly pop repertoire.” Lea as a pop singer to me is a great singer, but she doesn’t shine with those. It’s when she hit those theatrical tunes that her clarity and technique become no-one-else-can-sound-like-that amazing.

(2) Song: Rehab! Gee, mommy can dance.

(3) She had to give the stage to those urban pop/hip hop youngsters. They were good, but the number felt out of place. They were shouting and jumping all over the place, urging the unimpressed audience “If you’re a Pinoy, when I say Oh, you say Yo!” (No reaction). When they finally bowed, I can almost hear a collective, “Thank you but go away now.”

(4) Song: Poker Face. Ahh, so that song has lyrics pala! Nice.

(5) Most of the earlier songs featured Lea’s lower-register voice. I didn’t mind.

(6) Jet Pangan! Song: Salamat. Last time I saw him was on “Spring Awakening”. He didn’t have a singing number there. The other (balladeer Richard Poon) guest was OK.

(7) Lea says, “I’m a huuuge techie. Girlie things don’t impress me.” At least I have that in common with her. But I can’t afford her most cherished possessions yet- her iPhone and her Mac book.

(8) My, my, Ai Ai! It was a R-I-O-T! Essentially, she was there to poke fun on Lea’s “sosyal” concert being held in a “sosyal” venue, where she only sings “sosyal” songs. Their Aegis’ “pang-Japan” duet was the highlight.

(9) Songs: Broadway medley – I Dreamed a Dream/On My Own/Memory/Defying Gravity (with all-green lighting that makes it all the more “Wicked-y”). If this were tennis, then that is her money shot. Lea is the quintessential Broadway star; what she isn’t is a belter. I love “Wicked” so much, and I’ll put my money on anything Lea, but I’m still convinced she shouldn’t do Wicked as Elphaba.

(10) Overall it was a great night. PICC is such a lovely place. The only thing that marred my excitement was having to wait for a cab for so long, but, sure, that was forgettable, compared to the one before that. I’d vow that I’m going to watch every Lea Salonga concert from here on, as long as it’s geographically possible. Or maybe someday I’ll get to go to the States to visit Disneyland and stay at orlando condos and she’ll have a show there at the same time; two birds in one stone.

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