standing ovations abound on Power of One

(continued)

The show continued with the next guest, the Concert King, Mr. Martin Nievera who flew in from the States just for this concert and who had to run right after his stint to make it to his 1am flight to Europe. Martin sang his Tagalog hits, Ikaw, Kahit Isang Saglit and Ikaw ang Pangarap. Martin must really like Erik because after he was done singing his medley of Tagalog hits, Erik joined him for another medley, this time of Broadway songs. This medley was special because it was Erik’s dream to one day sing this with his idol when he watched Martin sing it ten years ago in a concert. And now his dream came to fruition as they belted out Something’s Coming, Maria, One Hand One Heart, Don’t Cry for Me Argentina, Music of the Night, That’s All I Ask of You, Memory, You’ll Never Walk Alone, Climb Every Mountain and Somewhere. After their duet, the audience stood up and gave them the first standing ovation of the night. Erik was all praises for Martin and very thankful for gracing the show. Martin, who in Erik’s Valentine concert this year called Erik the Concert Prince, tweeted after the show “Erik Santos rocks!”

After his number with his foremost male musical icon, Erik then gave a tribute to international female musical icons, namely Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, and Mariah Carey. These top female singers are known for their lung-busting power ballads, and Erik gave his all in interpreting their hits All By Myself, On My Own, and Butterfly. And what better way to answer that tribute than to have our number one female musical icon, Songbird Regine Velasquez singing another diva’s song (Madonna’s Papa Don’t Preach) but in her own Songbird way! Coming in her red gown and flowing hair, Regine gave a fine, chilling performance despite her slightly under-the-weather condition. Erik came onstage and they had quite a funny banter, and this happened both nights. Regine recalled how when they (along with Pops Fernandez) toured in the US Erik would scour every Target store. Erik answered that while Regine and Pops would come back bearing Louis Vuitton shopping bags, he only had Target shopping bags with him. Erik also asked if when she was young Regine visualized herself being the “Regine Velasquez” she is now and Regine said she might not have visualized but she just knew she would be a singer. Erik followed up asking if she visualized Ogie Alcasid to be the one for her, and Regine jokingly replied that in her visualization it was Piolo, Richard Gomez or Erik Santos, but later on said that although Ogie might not be the ideal tall, dark and handsome guy, she’s got something greater! She even went on to say that at least Ogie accepts her even when she wakes up in the morning  looking like an uod, which brought the house down laughing (Wala akong kilay! May nakita ka na bang uod na may kilay?)!  Erik also imitated Ogie, and Regine laughed saying, Ogie is not that short (Erik was almost kneeling) and that also made Regine’s mom laugh (she was seated near us). Regine said that Erik really has come a long way, because now he’s a host and a dramatic actor and she is proud to be there in the concert. Erik thanked her for accepting the invite for this concert without thinking twice, and for two nights at that, in spite of her busy schedule and upcoming wedding, too. They proceeded to sing Regine’s signature songs What Kind of Fool and Sometime Somewhere, songs which helped Erik win in Star in a Million. The audience got up on their feet once more. The second standing ovation of the night!

After giving out his thank-yous, Erik did his finale of Lupa and May Bukas Pa, after which the crowd went shouting for more! He came back for an encore and gave the audience I Believe I Can Fly and This is the Moment, two songs that will forever be connected to the name Erik Santos. This was such a powerful rendition that those who initially were about to leave came back and then the audience gave Erik the third standing ovation of the night.

For the second night there are some changes, as there is a different set of guests and some songs had to be cut off for brevity since the first show lasted three hours. There is a short video before every guest comes onstage so Erik need not introduce the next guest. For the second night of the concert, instead of the introductory video for Rachelle Ann Go it was now for Asiansation Christian Bautista who crooned Beautiful Girl to the welcoming audience. After his solo spot, Erik joined him and gamely imitated Christian’s singing. Christian said, “Naku harap-harapan talaga ha. Ganyan ba talaga?” (Do I really sound that way?). To which Erik replied, “I’m just exaggerating.” Obviously these two balladeers are at ease with each other, Christian even kidding that “natuloy din ang concert natin (our concert finally pushed through)…” (referring to the aborted Faceoff concert). They then proceeded to take turns singing Smile and Fly Me to the Moon, with them jokingly introducing Richard Poon who is known for this musical genre. Richard was also present that night. After their number, Erik thanked Christian for guesting and Christian called Erik Mr. Powerful.

After Christian’s spot came his Iduyan Mo/Se segment followed by his thank-yous to the sponsors. Female Icons medley came next and on Martin’s spot for the second night was Ultimate Hunk Piolo Pascual who sang the theme song of his teleserye Noah. When Erik came onstage there was more laughter as he kidded Piolo that they look alike, and even proceeded to do an impersonation of him singing Kailangan Kita. Erik kept teasing the audience since they were shouting “I love you Piolo!” by saying “Concert ko to!” and jokingly asking the guard to take the one who shouted away. Turning serious, Piolo once again said that he’s very vocal that his favorite singer is Erik Santos, and from there they sang Martin’s Ikaw ang Pangarap and Kahit Isang Saglit, much to the delight of the audience.

Erik afterwards did the Broadway Medley on his own, and the audience still gave him the first standing ovation for the second night for this number. This was quickly followed by Regine’s spot which again garnered another standing ovation!

Erik proceeded with his thank-yous. What’s so funny is when he thanked ESFO, we were all waiting for him to say Erik Santos Friends Online like he always does, so we were silent. He again said, ESFO and pointing to our block so we then cheered for POP! He went on to sing Lupa and May Bukas Pa, which was given another standing ovation!

This time he didn’t go backstage (to shorten the time, I suppose) and he launched into I Believe I Can Fly and This is the Moment with the UP Singing Ambassadors. He really gave his utter best for this one and you can feel he was taking in the sight of the audience cheering him on, giving him the fourth standing ovation of the night. As Regine said he was singing like there was no tomorrow… Erik was singing with the Power of One that night that the audience gave him back the love four times ! Power of One ended on a truly high note that left the audience asking for more. This concert was truly a spectacular show, a milestone in Erik’s career, one that merits a repeat or two! So when the time comes, i hope to see everyone of you there! Bravo, Prince of Pop!