OPM stars Fly High

MANILA, Philippines – A roster of OPM stars headlined Fly High: That’s So Ravens, the homecoming concert recently mounted by the Immaculate Conception Academy (ICA) Batch 1990.

Singers Ogie Alcasid, Gary Valenciano, Bamboo and Sam Concepcion as well as actors Dingdong Dantes, Richard Gutierrez, Elmo Magalona and Enrique Gil lent their talents and presence to the event held at the ICA Greenhills in San Juan. Other guests were the Perkin Twins and DJ Callum David, with Gretchen Fullido, who happens to be an ICA alumna, as co-host.

It was a rare feat to bring all the artists together on one stage. “It was extremely difficult to gather all of the artists in one stage/night. We booked most of the artists one year ahead,” said Universal Records managing director Kathleen Dy-Go, also a Batch 1990 graduate. “We wanted to appeal to a younger audience as historically, former graduates comprised the bulk of homecoming attendees. This year, the support and attendance from the current students were overwhelming with almost 1,800 attendees.”

The event’s theme, she added, “was just so appropriate for us because it really described what all of us did after 1990. We went to college, we all embarked on our respective careers, and we all achieved successes in our own ways, whether it be in business, the arts or in raising a family.”

One of the highlights of the Fly High concert was Ogie’s singing of the event theme song titled Alaala, which he also composed. Ogie, who was also the main host, provided one of the evening’s funniest moments when he came in his Angelina character (from his former show Bubble Gang) wearing an ICA school uniform.

Another highlight was when 40 members of Batch 1990, together with their children, danced to Beyoncé’s Run the World and Little Mix’s Salute with choreography by Nico Muñoz. “After our performance, our batchmate Joy Cua Alberto, one of the owners of Ducati Philippines, rode her Ducati motorbike across the stage. She was then joined by two other gentlemen on their respective bikes. It was only when they removed their helmets that they revealed themselves to be Dingdong Dantes and Richard Gutierrez,” said Kathleen.

Stepping up the emotional high of the homecoming affair were Gary Valenciano’s numbers. His final song Growing Up with “all the celebrating batches dancing up on stage was so memorable.”

The event’s scriptwriter was Garlic Garcia, while the director was Paolo Valenciano, who also this year helmed the APEC welcome dinner and Sarah Geronimo’s concert.

Among notable graduates of ICA are Johanna Chua-Goach, Citicorp head of Asia Economics and Strategy Citicorp; Candice Alabanza-Iyog, Cebu Pacific’s VP for marketing; Xandra Ramos-Padilla, National Bookstore managing director; interior designer Carol Tan-Cabangon; Pauline Suaco-Juan, Preview Magazine editor-in-chief; and Marcia Gokongwei of Universal Robina Corporation.