Pinoy forever

Los Angeles – Pinoys remain Pinoys, wherever they may be.

1) Pinoys love chismis, especially about couples breaking up, and making up.

Why are we not surprised that the Kris-Joey affair made it to the headlines? For days, reporters pursued the story diligently and the public followed all the juicy accounts with a passion. Networks bannered the story as if it affected the lives of every breathing Pinoy in a major way.

Miles away are Filipinos with whetted appetites for more, more, and a lot more details.of the affair. In Carson City, the Joey- Kris affair became the bind that connected Pinoys to each other. In Jollibee, Chowking, and Red Ribbon (popular Pinoy foodchains here in LA), strangers talked to each other hoping to get the latest.

Sad stories do sell. But so do happy endings!

Martin Nievera and Pops Fernandez successfully kicked off their seven-city US tour in Los Angeles last week. The selling point was: the Concert King and Queen of the Philippines, formerly a couple, were doing it again after seven years... performing, that is.

The concert was produced by a year-old, sister company of MaxiMedia International, known for staging various concerts in Manila. MaxiMedia USA is composed of a predominantly Filipino crew with a mix of some Caucasians and other nationalities. They tried their hand at concert production in July last year with the US tour of Martin and Regine Velasquez. The tour was fully-booked in all five cities.

"We expected the turnout to be good. They haven’t been together for such a long time and people crave for them being together," said Butch Garcia of the technical committee. And he was right. Tickets were sold out days before the concert.

2) Pinoys love being with family.

Understandably, the bulk of the audience at the concert were ‘80s people. It was during the Penthouse Live era when Martin and Pops flourished as partners on and off cam. Pinoys followed the love story of their idols through every piano-act at the closing of each show. Fourteen thousand Pinoys of all ages flocked to the Pauley Pavilion at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) compound.

As is typical of Pinoys, they came with the whole barangay. Some brought along with them their wives and husbands of other nationalities. There were kids, too, as young as six. At the start of the show, the former husband and wife tried to explain what the difference was between their concerts then and now. The funny answer came from Martin: "There’s no more necking backstage. And no more questions like ‘Where do we go? Your place or mine?’ after the show."

In one act, Pops came out in an exquisite green gown that fit her perfectly. Martin, always kidding around, commented that she looked so good. "You look like you came out of the ocean. Is Nemo there?" Then he started peering down Pops’ neckline. People started laughing, of course. I doubt the kids knew what was happening. But at least, they knew who Nemo was.

As Martin kept looking for an opening, Pops goes, "What are you doing?" Martin retorted, "I’m just trying to see. I haven’t seen that in a long time."

"Well, you know what? It’s so different now, Mart," said the former wife. "And I have a secret. I’m not wearing anything."

At this point, the people were already getting hysterical. But leave it to Martin to drop the bomb. "You know what? What I’m wearing, you can floss your teeth with it!"

3) Pinoy time is timeless.

Tickets said show would start at 7 p.m. Patrons started arriving as early as 4:30 p.m. By 6, the lines at the different entrances to the venue were awfully long. By 8 p.m. the people began clapping their hands to show their impatience. They were on time. They wanted the show to start on time.

Martin and Pops came on stage and kicked off the show at 8:30 p.m. By then, the audience was already restless and sleepy. It wasn’t until after the third song that the crowd began to liven up.

4) Pinoy chaos is everywhere.

A volunteer for All-Access, the security crew for the concert, observed that at the start, checking of tickets at the gate was orderly. People showed some discipline lining up and waiting to be admitted inside the Pauley Pavilion. After a while, however, the act was over. Some ticket holders transferred from their assigned seats to the areas closer to the stage. They managed to con the ushers composed mainly of UCLA student volunteers.

Credit goes to Filipino ingenuity.

5) Pinoys make bola. Pinays make pakipot.

Martin played the role of the husband who made a mistake and was asking for a second chance while Pops played the role of the wife who was hurt and was not sure of taking her husband back. Both acknowledged at the start of the show that it was a very special occasion for them. After everything that they went through in their personal lives, they were back together again.

"On stage for now, but we’ll start from there," Martin added, riding on the energy of the fans who were full of kilig. They kept on shrieking and asking Martin to kiss his former wife.

The couple told the story of their lives through songs. The mushy duets told the story of how they fell in love and got married. But it didn’t stop there. Pops started singing the brokenhearted’s anthem: At first I was afraid! I was petrified! Kept thinkin’ I could never live without you by my side...

"I hate that song," said Martin. "It’s your loss," replied Pops.

The theme for the rest of night was love, getting hurt and asking for a second chance. Martin and Pops managed to keep people guessing and make the audience really think, "Will they actually get back together in real life? Someday? Someday soon?"

Nobody knows for sure. But that’s certainly one more thing that thrills Pinoys, minding other people’s business! Pinoys love chismis.