MANILA, Philippines - For those like me who work and play non-stop for six days a week, lazy Sundays are best spent in bed with a bag of chips and a DVD of The Vampire Diaries. So when I woke up to a call from Warner Music asking me to suggest a place where they could bring Jason Derülo out, I thought to myself: “It’s a Sunday, for goodness’ sake.” But the words that came out were: “I have the perfect place for a steady night. Let’s do this.” Little did I know that a Sunday party with Jason Derülo would be anything but steady.
After Jason’s performances at three venues in Manila, capped off by an awesome Friday night at Encore Superclub and a much-awaited appearance at Party Pilipinas, it was time to throw him an intimate going-away party hosted by The Reserve.
When you first meet him, Jason has this “I’m-a-20-year-old-R&B-superstar” vibe going on. But after you get him to loosen up, you forget that he’s responsible for the smash hit Whatcha Say. He talks about being from Miami and how much he misses home. But with all the traveling he does for his album tour, he’s gotten used to the plane rides, the hotel rooms and his crazy fans, especially those from Manila.
When asked what he likes most about our country, Jason quickly replies: “the girls, the beautiful girls.” Now, who can argue with that, right?
A close second is our hospitality and how much he appreciates everyone being incredibly nice to him. He quickly learns how to say “Salamat” but when we taught him how to speak more words in Filipino, he became frustrated at how we don’t have an adequate translation for the word “Cheers.” Come to think of it, we really don’t or maybe it was just my brain refusing to fire its pistons on a Sunday night.
So with his glass raised up high, he shouts “Sam-ba-YOU!” and there we have it ladies and gentlemen, Jason Derülo has just coined the Filipino word for “Cheers.” A couple of rounds of impromptu mini-golf and two hours later, the guys are still there making the most of their last night in Manila. In the morning, Jason heads back to California where he is scheduled to perform his newest hit single, In My Head, at the Teen Choice Awards, where he is also nominated for Best Male Artist, Best R&B Album, Breakout Male Artist, and Best R&B Track. Jason and his team were looking forward to a quiet way of ending a busy week, but we ended up with a smashing start to a new one.
It looks like my Sundays are going to be spent at home for a while. It won’t be easy finding a better reason than Jason Derülo to get me out of bed.
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Special thanks to Tyrone Corcuera of The Reserve.