Wednesday, December 16, 2009

went to watch Lea Salonga singing live at Esplanade Concert Hall this evening. and wow, it was much more worth it than watching Vienna Boys' Choir concert.

Lea was supported by 6 musicians - 2 in keyboards, 1 in guitar, 1 in base, 1 in drums and 1 in piano. the man playing piano was her brother, also her musical director and the occasional conductor for the night.

clad in black top and glittering long red flowing skirt, she sang about 17 songs including 2 for encore (if I counted correctly). in between, she interacted with the audience as well by sharing some of her experiences - how she met her husband, how she loves her job, how singapore is a wonderful place to be, etc.

the esplanade requested her to include 2 specific songs in her repertoire - one was a tagalog song and the other was two words. this song was a gift from her best friend for her wedding 6 years ago, and it is now a popular wedding song.

her opening piece was michael buble's I'm feeling good. she sang john lennon's imagine, michael jackson's gone too soon, mulan's reflection, another tagalog song composed by jose mari chan dedicated to all her kabayans (translation: fellow countrymen) in singapore.

my favorite was on my own - the song she picked as audition piece for les miserables' eponine when she's 17 years old. as this was her favorite, she's been singing this piece in all her concerts - for 21 years now. she also included I dreamed a dream, another les miserables favorite, sung by Fantine, an older character she acted as. what made the songs special was her heartfelt rendition.

almost at the end of the concert, she invited anyone from the audience to do a duet with her for a whole new world. instantly, a guy volunteered himself and ran all the way down from circle 3 to the stage. he bravely rejected to use the score offered by Lea, and sang an almost perfect duet with her. the tune, the tempo, the lyrics, everything. the audience loved this guy. Lea said she's been inviting audience to do this song with her with varying degree of success, and this guy's the winner *clap clap* I guess he must have really, really prepared himself. or.. is it possible that the organizer planted a local singer among the audience? hmm..

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