Cocoy: The total singer / RP finalist in UK tilt

Many years ago, I wrote a feature article on Cocoy Laurel entitled “Total Performer”. He is still the total performer but in his latest show at the Teatrino Promenade, he conveyed greater appeal, charm, spontaneity and exuberance. Singing in a strong, smooth, sonorous, soothing voice, he drew from his vast resources as stage actor and dancer, animating and enhancing his renditions with quick-silvery facial expression, graceful movement and a bit of dancing.

Exhibiting depth, range and versatility while pointing up cultural diversity, Cocoy sang in English (Broadway hits), in Spanish and in French (Edith Piaf’s La Vie en Rose — he could also have sung in Tagalog and Visayan, the latter being his mother’s dialect — each number movingly felt and clearly articulated. He performed with every pore and fiber of his being, heart, his rousing climaxes leading to thunderous applause even before each song ended.

The show was both God-oriented — Cocoy kept thanking the Almighty for his blessings — and family-oriented. In this regard, he shared the limelight with his sister Iwi and niece Denise, sang La Historia de Un Amor which he said his father Doy and mother Celia Diaz used to sing to each other; Cocoy then interpreted a song composed by his father and another which his mother had taught him as a child.

Further, Cocoy turned some of the love songs, e.g., “The Very Thought of You” and “The Way You Look Tonight” into tributes to his mother who, having just gotten out of the hospital, made a valiant effort to be present at the concert and listen to her son.

Cocoy also kept expressing his considerable gratitude to the Manila Philharmonic Orchestra and to Rodel Colmenar who demonstrated his versatility by alternating as conductor and pianist, and by totally capturing the mood, substance, spirit and rhythm of the music. How robustly the orchestra played Cocoy’s own Tango Sergio! — a composition which showed another facet of the singer’s multifarious gifts. Cocoy briefly introduced each number, thus heightening audience interest and fascination, while infusing the selections with eloquent, vivid expressions of joy, pain, anxiety, amusement, ecstatic love or passing fancy.

The full house could not have enough of Cocoy, and youngsters screamed wildly as he interpreted “Lollipops and Roses” — sung in an early movie appearance with Nora Aunor. Pouring his heart out in another encore, “The Impossible Dream” from Don Quixote, he brought the house down.

Cocoy does have reason to thank the Almighty for his talent which has elevated the popular song to its highest standard and quality of rendition.

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Benedict Carandang is the British Council finalist in the Young Screen Entrepreneur competition recently held in London. Benedict, son of Veronica Elaine S. Carandang of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, is a BS in Applied Economics and Commerce graduate of De La Salle U. He is Secretary-Treasurer of the Tuldok Animation Studio, Inc., a non-profit organization that aims to promote the creative talent of Filipino artists in the field of animation. Through its initiative, Benedict and his colleagues secured a grant from the NCCA to produce a 20-minute animated short film Libingan through an innovative approach to production, collaborative without the use of a physical studio. Thereafter, numerous print, web and television media have featured this web-based group for its ingenuity and demonstration of what is possible with limited resources, and most importantly, for advocating independent animation production in the Philippines.

At present, Benedict, 27, is working with the Commission of Information and Technology and the NCCA on a 40-minute animated short film and an animation instructional video to be distributed free. Hopefully, the project will help spur the involvement of more Filipinos in the promising industry which can provide jobs and alleviate poverty in the country.