Gary's 'thrilling moment' with Justin

By a curious stroke of fate, Gary Valenciano found himself with Justin Timberlake in the Business Class of the same Philippine Airlines (PR103) flight that arrived early yesterday morning from L.A.

Justin is performing with Jojo in the Changing Lives: Timbaland Shock Value II Tour set for tomorrow night at the SM Mall of Asia (MOA) Concert Grounds.

“Justin was on the second row, left side while Gary was on the fourth row, right side,” said Gary’s wife Angeli Pangilinan who was on the aisle seat beside Gary. “I was so starstruck that I couldn’t talk to him. We respected his privacy.”

Besides, it was a no-no.

According to Funfare’s “roving DPA” (on the same flight), Justin, rather his manager Renee, reminded the flight crew that Justin wouldn’t entertain any request for autograph, wouldn’t pose for photographs, would prefer to be left in sweet slumber and no food please! “Justin brought his own food,” added the DPA.

Justin was in an entourage of 10, all of whom, observed Angeli, “were so humble and so down-to-earth.” Every now and then, Justin would exercise on the aisle along with a companion, which is a “must” on a long haul to prevent blood-clotting.

I could believe Angeli when she described Justin as “humble” and “down-to-earth.”

Back in 2000 when Justin was still with ‘NSYNC, I interviewed the boys in Salt Lake City where they had an SRO concert at a university gym. After the TV interviews, we Asian journalists queued up to get the autograph of Justin and those of the other members. The big, burly guard shooed us away but Justin intervened, saying, “No, they should stay. You know, these guys flew halfway around the world to talk to us,” adding as he smiled at us, “Let me have the pictures. I will sign them.” With that little gesture, Justin readily won our hearts and undying admiration.

Angeli managed to give Renee two Gary CDs during their on-flight brief chats.

Too shy to approach Justin or to introduce himself or simply to say “Hi!” to him during the 12-hour flight, Gary was able to shake hands with Justin on their way to the Centennial Terminal, although Justin was clueless that Gary is, like him, a music icon in his own right.

Said Gary, “It was a thrill that I unfortunately had to hide will all possible effort. I thanked him for visiting this country and I told him that I hope he enjoys his stay in the Philippines, none of which, of course, he’ll probably remember.”

“Justin is one of if not the most fascinating musician-performer-singer-dancers all rolled into one. I’m happy that he agreed to perform here in the Philippines in this benefit concert.”

For sure, Gary and Angeli, together with their children Gab, Paolo and Keana, will be at the Changing Lives concert tomorrow to cheer for (especially) Justin.

It’s actually Justin’s second visit to the country. The first was more than a decade ago when he was still with ’NSYNC.

Incidentally, tomorrow’s concert is presented by Smart Buddy and Smart Bro, with Pioneer Insurance (one of the country’s leading non-life insurance companies) among the sponsors. Tickets are priced at P4,500 for VIP Donation, P3,000 for Gold Donation, P1,500 for Silver Donation and P300 for Bronze Donation. Call TicketWorld at 891-9999.

(E-mail reactions at [email protected] or at [email protected])