TJ Monterde delivers ‘most romantic’ night in Philippines concert scene
Whatever magic spell TJ Monterde’s hit song Palagi holds, the air at the Big Dome was so filled with romance that multiple wedding proposals took place during his duet with wife, KZ Tandingan, on the last of his three-night “Sarili Nating Mundo” concert.
From the VIP section to the bleachers, men went down on their knees and pulled out rings to propose. TJ joked about bringing out a pastor to conduct an instant mass wedding.
The STAR learned from concert producer Cornerstone that a total of 10 proposals also happened on the first two days of the show, including one involving TJ's own band member. But Day 3 (Feb. 3) would draw the most number as the OPM couple serenaded them in the background.
February has just begun, but Valentine’s Day indeed came early. For sure, couples left Araneta Coliseum feeling even more in love — while the single ones left feeling, well, even more single. Either way, it was the most romantic concert experience we've had so far.
Perhaps, the most romantic moment of the night was courtesy of TJ and KZ.
“Aside from being a great artist, singer, songwriter, head of his own label, husband, dada to our dogs, son, son-in-law, brother, TJ is my inspiration. Kasi as an artist, I also feel I’m in my season of waiting and sometimes, I feel like it’s time to throw in the towel and give up on music and everything,” the former “The X Factor Philippines” champ told her hubby onstage.
“But every time I wake up in the morning and I look to my left, I see this man and I am reminded that a few years ago, he was about to give up, but he chose to fight.
“And in less than a year, he’s now one of the most-streamed artists in the Philippines. He’s the first male solo act to sell out Araneta Coliseum for three nights in a freakin’ row.
“So, on behalf of all of us, thank you for reminding us that dreams do come true. I love you so much, wala ka nang magagawa. You signed away your rights, hahaha!
“Seriously, I never imagined that I could love you even more after 10 years of being together. And I’m excited to spend 10 more lifetimes with you.”
TJ then kissed his wife and they hugged onstage amid the teasing and cheering of the crowd.
Talking to the media post-show, TJ shared that he had asked KZ’s permission to finally kiss her onstage but she thought it was a joke.
“Sabi ko, ‘Mamaya kiss kita onstage ha.’ ‘Huwag kang magbiro nang ganyan,’ (sabi niya). Kaya ilag na ilag siya,” he mused.
However, TJ acknowledged that the concert's success was just as much KZ's credit as his.
“Lagi ko rin sinasabi sa kanya na wala rin naman ang lahat ng ito kung hindi dahil sa kanya,” he said.
“I can safely say that this concert exists because of Palagi, and she’s the inspiration when I wrote the song. This is all because of her.”
In case you don’t know the story yet, Palagi was TJ’s gift to the singer on the 10th anniversary of their first meeting. It was also born out of the lowest moment in his career when he thought he was done with music.
In fact, he was already thinking of shifting professions, but Palagi came to him — a song about enduring love that he released independently and wrote, for the very first time, sans the pressure of producing a chart-topper.
It became the biggest hit of last year, with even the likes of esteemed songwriter Ogie Alcasid wishing he had written it.
Palagi has since reached one billion streams on Spotify and was declared the No. 1 song in the Philippine charts for 2024 by Billboard Philippines.
Besides his Palagi duet, TJ took his audience on a visual and emotional journey with a setlist of about 20 songs, ranging from his love and heartbreak anthems like the opener Sariling Mundo, Tulad Mo, Puhon, Dating Tayo, and the closing number Ikaw at Ako (which started it all for him 13 years ago), to a couple of covers and his new single Silver, which he debuted live with his collaborator, South Korean OST hitmaker 10CM.
The third night also featured fellow Cagayan de Oro native Arthur Nery as a special guest and even the concert king Martin Nievera, who was instrumental in introducing TJ to KZ, as the front act.
All of this was heightened by a dynamic stage setup, LED screens, LED wristbands for the audience, a string ensemble supporting TJ's band and even a choir joining the singer at one point. Congratulations are also in order for the director, John Prats.
During the interview, TJ was asked about any plans to reward himself after successfully mounting sold-out shows for three consecutive nights.
He revealed that he initially wanted to purchase a watch to mark this important career milestone.
“I want to buy a watch — to celebrate that I was able to (headline) Araneta,” he said.
For weeks, he had been eyeing a luxury brand, even asking his manager how much his talent fee would be for this concert so as to check if he could afford to buy such item.
But he had the biggest surprise before Monday night's show when he received his dream watch as a gift from KZ.
“Before the show started, KZ gifted me with the watch. Sobrang na-touch ako kasi hindi pa naman ako sure kung bibilhin ko yung relo na yun.
“But she bought it for me. It’s my first of this brand of watch. Na-touch ako kasi binigyan niya ako nun pero wala siya nung relo na yun. Inuna niya ako.
“I'm happy. It’s the gesture (that touched me).”
Meanwhile, a “very grateful” TJ admitted that it might be hard to top his concert series, named after his 2024 album Sariling Mundo, which is set to go on tour soon. The scene at the Big Dome was a far cry from his earlier years, wherein some 13 supporters only showed up for his first fan signing event, he recalled.
He further said, “I’m so proud of the show. We all worked hard on this. This was all a collaboration (with) direk John Prats, the band, everybody. And aside from that, we were just very happy… Every single day we'd come here, everyone was just smiling and excited like ‘Game, let's go, Day 2, Day 3.’ Parang nag-ha-hype lang kami sa isa't-isa.
“So, it is hard to top. Kaya kanina, ina-absorb ko lang, ‘di ko alam kung mauulit pa ‘to. I’m just enjoying my moment.
“But towards the end… I broke down because wala eh. I just told myself, ‘Bro, you did it!’ We did our best and thank you, Lord, for this opportunity!”
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