Nice to be happy

Just when you think you’ve had enough of the Taiwanese stars who are seen on TV daily on ABS-CBN’s tele-series Meteor Garden, think again. The F4 fever hasn’t apparently abated, but increased even more with the recent visit of two other good-looking F4 guys for ABS-CBN’s Happy 50 TV concert.

After the successful concert with Ken Zhu and Vaness Wu last September at the Ultra Football Field, the two other F4 guys, Jerry Yan and Vic Zhou, stormed The Fort Open Field in Bonifacio Global City last Saturday. Nearly 35,000 fans came to see the Taiwanese superstars perform. The crowd didn’t mind waiting for several hours for Jerry and Vic to come out onstage and sing only three songs each. Some endured the scorching heat and waited under the sun as early as 12 noon, when the 11 gates of the concert venue were opened.

As early as 9 a.m. that day, fans started flocking to The Fort Open Field, all eager and excited to see the Taiwanese performers. Barbie Xu, better known as Shan Cai in Meteor Garden, who returned to the country with her younger sister, Dee Xu, to also grace the Happy 50 TV concert. The sisters comprise the singing duo ASOS.

There were fans who came all the way from the provinces and traveled for several hours just to camp out in the venue and listen to the strains of the music of the F4 members, even if they could not watch the concert. Enterprising ones sold F4 merchandise, like fans, posters, calendars, lighters, playing cards.

However, unlike The Event, with Ken and Vanness, where more than a dozen people were injured in the stampede at the Ultra Football Field, with reports of car thefts, lost cellphones and pickpockets, the Happy 50 TV concert went on with nary any hitch – thanks to the strict security measures enforced by ABS-CBN. Close to a thousand security men were deployed around the area and inside the concert venue. Gatecrashers were also prevented from barging into the concert scene through container vans which served as the perimeter fence to secure the area. Even lighting in the parking areas was reinforced by Meralco to avoid any thefts.

Medical stations were set up around the concert grounds, with a field hospital equipped by life-support units and manned by doctors from the Department of Health and medical volunteers from the Philippine National Red Cross. There were also ambulances and fire trucks on stand-by. Thankfully, no serious injuries were reported, except for minor cases of fever, high blood pressure and dizziness.

The entire expanse of The Fort Open Field was dominated by nine huge video walls, where even the fans who stood up in the general admission section, got to see the larger-than-life Taiwanese superstars. At 6 p.m., Ai-Ai de las Alas’ box-office comedy hit, Tanging Ina, was screened to entertain the fans.

Surprisingly, the crowd was composed not only of Filipino fans. There were also Chinese, Koreans and even Thais who waved their respective banners from the audience. From ages two to 72, fans from all ages came to watch their favorite Meteor Garden stars. A sick girl, brought into the venue on a stretcher, couldn’t contain her excitement and cried at the mere sight of Vic and Jerry. Another lady who came in a wheelchair was nonetheless thrilled.

John Lapus opened the show and he delighted the crowd with his stand-up comedy act, filled with hilarious one-liners. Then came Ai-Ai in a harness, as she sang Bonnie Tyler’s Holding Out for a Hero, backed up by more than a dozen dancers onstage. That number somehow set the mood for the entire show, which presented the biggest stars of ABS-CBN in different production numbers. At the helm was ASAP and Masayang Tanghali Bayan director Johnny Manahan.

Ai-Ai was the constant celebrity seen all throughout the Happy 50 TV concert. She had a total of seven flashy costume changes, with matching headdresses that never failed to amuse the crowd. What’s more, she shared the stage with Jerry and Vic and even got to hug them, much to the envy of thousands of girls in the audience.

The fans shrieked and screamed at the sight of the Hunks — Piolo Pascual, Diether Ocampo, Jericho Rosales, Bernard Palanca and Carlos Agassi — who entered the venue on board their motorbikes. They sang the novelty hit, Bakit Mama, popularized by the Masculados. They segued to another popular ditty, Mr. Suave, which later saw Vhong Navarro onstage.

For his part, Piolo did his hit single, Kailangan Kita, while Carlos sang with Andrew E. and Vina Morales. Carlos also did the rap part in Jennifer Lopez’s All I Have, with Claudine Barretto performing.

Vina Morales did a fiery song-and-dance number of Destiny’s Child’s Jumpin’ Jumpin. Her spot was followed by a production number with today’s hottest love teams — Jericho Rosales and Kristine Hermosa, John Prats and Heart Evangelista, John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo.

The crowd went into hysterics when Ai-Ai introduced sisters Barbie and Dee Xu, who emerged from a trap door below the stage, which hoisted them up for all concert-goers to see. They sang three rock hits which they are known for as the singing duo ASOS. The crowd cheered them on as Barbie and Dee tried to speak a few Tagalog phrases like "Mabuhay," "Kumusta kayo" and "Mahal ko kayo!"

More local stars performed before Jerry and Vic emerged. Bayani Agbayani thrilled the fans, even the kids, when he danced the otso-otso while singing to his hit single of the same title. The otso-otso act wasn’t spared by Ai-Ai, who gamely countered it with the spaghetti dance, complete with a huge red ribbon as her headdress.

Ear-splitting screams were heard when Vic, better known as Hua Ze Lei in Meteor Garden, came down from a mechanical scaffolding which was lowered to the stage, complete with pyrotechnics. The audience sang with him as he rendered his solo hit, Make A Wish. A mere smile, nod or grin of Vic would easily elicit screams from the fans. Never mind if he didn’t speak a word of English. When Ai-Ai briefly interviewed him, his answers in Mandarin sent the crowd into hysterics even before the Chinese interpreter could translate it.

The crowd went wild when Jerry, popularly known as Dao Ming Si, emerged from the top of the same makeshift scaffolding which was pushed toward the end of the stage near the audience. This was the most popular F4 member before your very eyes, so fans were screaming their lungs out when they saw him in the flesh. Even the local artists cramped the right side of the stage and watched Jerry – and Vic – perform.

After the Taiwanese contingent, the local stars gathered again onstage for the finale, where they dished out the Christmas Tagalog Alphabet, followed by Put A Little Love in Your Heart, a song used in the ABS-CBN Christmas station ID last year. The skies were lit up with a colorful fireworks display and hundreds of balloons were also set out.

There was a typhoon threatening to hit Manila last weekend. But it was a different kind of "storm" that hit The Fort Open Field, with the presence of Jerry Yan and Vic Zhou. ABS-CBN made the fans happier by bringing the Taiwanese stars to Manila in a concert of such magnitude only the giant network could pull off. Now, wouldn’t it be more thrilling to see all four F4 guys in one concert in Manila next year? Maybe ABS-CBN can once again give in to the clamor of the fans. After all, the satisfaction of its viewers is one of the foremost concerns of the network, aside, of course, from being of service to the Filipino people.

The Happy 50 TV concert will be aired as a TV special on ABS-CBN on Sunday, Dec. 7, after the sitcom, Ang Tanging Ina.