Josh, Christian swap praises at concert

What happens when singers find themselves face-to-face onstage? Well, they usually honor each other with praises.

That’s what happened last Friday when Josh Groban did his Bridges Tour at the Mall Of Asia (MOA) Arena where Christian Bautista appeared as a “surprise” (unannounced) guest performer.

Josh on Christian: He is as kind as he is talented. Christian on Josh: Your music defined me.

But that’s getting ahead of the story.

In one’s lifetime, great dreams may or may not happen. But in the case of Christian, touted as Asia’s Romantic Balladeer, it certainly did in the eve of Feb. 22 at the MOA Arena at 9 p.m. when he opened for Josh for his Bridges Manila Concert Tour. Christian sang his hits The Way You Look at Me, his current single Ligaya and a medley of well-loved OPM songs which perfectly set the romantic tone of the evening.

To the surprise of audience, midway through the concert Josh began introducing his first guest for the evening. He began by telling the crowd how grateful he was to be given the opportunity to perform with “incredible singers.”

Added Josh, “It’s so wonderful when you can visit a country and you can perform with incredible singers and incredible musicians that inspire you in that country. The next singer I’m about to bring out on stage...I have known him just through the years. I’ve heard his voice, I’ve seen him on Twitter, and I have followed his story. He is as kind as he is talented. It is my pleasure to bring up on stage the wonderful Mr. Christian Bautista, one more time.”

Josh shared to Christian and the MOA Arena audience his great moment of 20 years ago when he stood in for Andrea Bocelli at the Grammys where he got his biggest break singing The Prayer with Celine Dion through the help of music producer David Foster. Josh also asked Christian what it was like for him when he broke into the entertainment scene and Christian replied, “Honestly, when I started competing in a singing contest, I sang all your songs — You’re Still You, You Raise Me up, To Where You Are, all of that. So your music defined me when I was starting. And without you, I wouldn’t be here right now. Such a blessing. It’s true.”

— Photo from Christian Bautista’s Instagram

Josh, who seemed touched, answered, “Aww. Thank you. Thank you for your kind words. Well, it’s a pleasure to sing with you, and it’s a pleasure to be introduced to your voice and your music and to appreciate one of the incredible trajectories of stardom you already have. This next song we will be singing ...here we are after all these years of thinking about each other’s music and we get to sing this song. This is called We Will Meet Again.”

Hours after the show, Christian tweeted words of gratitude to Josh, which Josh retweeted with a message to Christian: Such a pleasure to sing with you, Christian. Thanks so much for joining us here in Manila.

According to the concert producer Renen de Guia of Ovation Productions, it was Josh himself who requested that Christian be invited to perform as “surprise guest” on the show.

3 Filipinos Oscar nominees

Filipino creative talents were on display at last Sunday’s 91st Academy Awards held at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood. This was an impressive year with three nominees of Filipino descent.

The highest profiled one was two-time Oscar nominee Matthew Libatique (photo), nominated for cinematography for A Star Is Born. Libatique worked hand-in-hand with first-time director Bradley Cooper to achieve the look of the film. And those who watched closely saw Libatique making a cameo in the film as the photographer in a photo shoot scene.

Libatique has worked on blockbuster films Iron Man and Iron Man 2, and with major directors such as Spike Lee, Jon Favreau, Joel Schumacher, and his regular collaborator Darren Aronofsky. In 2010, Libatique was nominated for an Oscar for his cinematography on Black Swan.

The other two Filipino nominees were Bobby Pontillas, a Filipino-American, and Trevor Jimenez, a Filipino-Canadian, in the Animated Short category for different short films.

Pontillas, an animator and art director at Taiko Studios, wrote and directed One Small Step, a short film about a Chinese-American girl who dreams of being an astronaut. Pontillas was co-nominated with Andrew Chesworth.

Jimenez wrote and directed Weekends, set in 1980s Toronto, which is about a boy dividing his time between divorced parents. It reportedly took Jimenez 10 years to get the short film made, finally with help from Pixar where he works in the story department.

Representing Filipino fashion at the Oscars was Hollywood-based designer Oliver Tolentino, who created a custom black and white woven print tuxedo for Libatique. It was the second time Libatique wore an Oliver Tolentino tux. The designer dressed Libatique when he was nominated for Black Swan.

(E-mail reactions at [email protected]. For more updates, photos and videos, visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on Instagram @therealrickylo.)