Divas sing live

It was a concert launch worthy of somebody on the verge of stardom. Lani Misalucha lived up to the promise she evinced when she joined Zsa Zsa Padilla and Freestyle in The Love Concert a year ago. She filled up the Araneta Coliseum, delivered the songs with aplomb and judging from later comments, totally pleased the audience. It was no wonder then that during the next few weeks, the Big Dome segment of The Crossover Live Tour had become one of the most talked about shows in town and Lani Misalucha had become a concert diva in every sense of the word.

Now here is good news for all those who missed that memorable performance and for all those who watched the concert and now want to listen to Lani hitting those soaring notes again and again. Viva Records has released the live-recorded album of The Crossover Live Tour and you can now check out the two-CD set in the music shops. The production features over two hours of songs that range from Lani’s own recordings, Bukas Na Lang Kita Mamahalin to the show’s novelty number, which is her send-up of the most popular female singers in the country like Pilita Corrales, Kuh Ledesma, Zsa Zsa Padilla, Sharon Cuneta, Jaya and Regine Velasquez.This one turned out to be the most applauded number in the show.

And to prove her versatility, she tackles a truly wide-ranging repertoire that includes opera arias like Nessun Dorma and Il Mio Cuore Va; dance hits like I Will Survive and Never Can Say Goodye; lots of pop R&B favorites like Because You Love Me and Deeper Love; and that medley of Whitney Houston hits that Lani never seems to be without and which in this instance ended up as another great crowd-pleaser. Filipinos do adore hearing performers reaching the highest notes possible in one song after another.

Other songs Lani performs in the album are Queen of the Night, You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me, It’s Raining Men, No More Tears, Till I Met You, Maging Sino Ka Man, On the Wings of Love, Ikaw Lang ang Mamahalin, Last Dance, Could It Be I’m Falling in Love, As If We Never Said Goodbye, One Moment in Time, The Movie in My Mind, I Will Always Love You, Memories, Dahil Tanging Ikaw, Didn’t We Almost Have It All, Climb Every Mountain.

The Crossover Live Tour album in two CDs come handsomely packaged in a box that contains a booklet featuring photos taken by lensman Jun de Leon during the concert.

Zsa Zsa’s new live album

Speaking of Zsa Zsa Padilla, the lovely singer they refer to as the "Divine Diva," also has a new live-recorded album out in the market. This was a performance held at the Captain’s Bar of the Mandarin in Makati. Titled In My Life, Zsa Zsa Live is more intimate and more personal than Lani’s Araneta Coliseum performance. As the title says, Zsa Zsa here is supposed to be singing about her life. So she does her recent hits, We’re All Alone and Through the Years, a lot of old favorites, The Way We Were, Don’t Throw It All Away, In My Life and others. There is also a medley of songs composed by the show’s musical director, Louie Ocampo.

I thought all along that with a concept like In My Life, listeners would be getting the quintessential Zsa Zsa Padilla album recorded live. As it is, I sorely miss her two big hits from the early days, Kahit Na and Hiram. Her stint with the Hot Dog before she turned solo is also not represented. The inclusion of a Hot Dog tune or two would have been nice. But then again, I am most likely mistaken. In My Life does not probably mean a career recap but an anthology of human emotions Zsa Zsa has gone through and now expressed in these old songs.

Some of the other songs included are What the World Needs Now, Say a Little Prayer, Tell Me, Ikaw Lang ang Mamahalin, Kahit Isang Saglit, Sweet Dreams, Time After Time, You Make Me Feel So Young, Evergreen, With One More Look at You, Don’t Give Up on Us and I Honestly Love You. Zsa Zsa sings them all beautifully with her trademark vibrato rendered more expressive by the well-remembered songs.