It’s Pops’ turn to ‘crossover’

I decided to brave the heavy downpour that Thursday night to go to the other side of town – to the Music Museum in Greenhills where Pops Fernandez was performing for a one-night special birthday concert produced by 105.1 Crossover.

The show, Crossover Presents Pops Fernandez, promised to highlight a different side of the Concert Queen. During an intimate interview with Pops, she mentioned that the song included in the repertoire were her favorites – mellow and meaningful songs in her life that she has never done in her past shows. So, being used to seeing Pops doing a loud, fast and flashy performance onstage, I actually looked forward to this evening to see what she had to offer.

It was also Pops’ first to be featured in one of the most talked about concert series of 2001 – Crossover Presents. She followed the steps taken by Lani Misalucha, Jaya, Regine Velasquez, Joey Generoso, Gary Valenciano, Janno Gibbs, Basil Valdez and Ogie Alcasid who have been featured in the series.

To frequent followers of the series, the toned down, mellow and softer sound of every artist is highlighted in each concert. According to the people behind Crossover, it was their dream to come up with a show that would allow the artist to explore a different music genre composed of contemporary jazz and R&B tunes plus choice Crossover classics that are not heard in other shows or concerts.

The Music Museum was packed that evening. People didn’t mind the long queue or the fact that the show didn’t start on time. I even saw some waiters add some monobloc chairs just to accommodate the crowd who were willing to stand through the two-hour concert.

The talented four-part group The Opera, composed of Manolo, Zebedee, Cecille and Sushi opened the evening with their beautiful Crossover selections. Making the concert even more special was the participation of musical director Gerard Salonga and first-rate musicians Roy Mercado, Cesar Aguas, Bobby Taylo, Mel Villena, Bond Samson plus a string ensemble. After being enthralled with the music of the group, the crowd was just raring to see Pops onstage. She opened the concert with The Best Days followed by Old Songs and Break It To Me Gently. It was a bit disconcerting at first to watch the Concert Queen perched on a high chair singing mellow and classic tunes. But as she went on to perform stirring songs of great artists like Angela Boffil, Vanessa Williams, Karen Carpenter and Clair Marlo, she held her audience spellbound as she stamped her distinct sound in every song and performed it like it was her very own.

And because the concert promised a chronicle of her life, her first hit Dito was included in her repertoire. In her spiel, she was proud to mention that the very first MTV produced here in the country was for that song, which turned out to be a huge hit in the ’80s. But more than her life story, the evening was about love. The different kinds of love that has touched her life which were all reflected in her choice of songs like Didn’t Know I Was Looking For Love, Just Tell Me You Love Me, The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face and even the kundiman Ang Tangi Kong Pag-ibig.

A touching number was her rendition of Maxwell’s Whenever, Wherever, Whatever which featured a special MTV of her children Robin and Ram. Another crowd favorite was her duet with Manolo and Zebedee of Bakit Ngayon Ka Lang.

She ended the evening with an inspirational number entitled Last Day from jazz artist Marilyn Scott. But after a few shouts to encore, Pops gladly obliged with a few fast numbers like If You Could Read My Mind from the movie Studio 54 and Break-out by SOS. Fireworks and confetti capped the fabulous concert which was also her birthday celebration and as Pops blew the candle on her birthday cake which was given to her by the Crossover family, I can only make a guess of what she wished for that evening. Perhaps, continued success in her career? A chance to fall in love again? Well, whatever her wish was that evening, one thing is for sure and that is Pops Fernandez has proven that she has evolved as a singer who can easily shift music genres and keep her audience in awe with her sterling performance.