Remember the time

I first heard news of Michael Jackson’s death during my daily work commute, and my mind quickly returned to my work on the previous season of American Idol, one week of which was dedicated to his songs. One idea led to another, and it culminated in this article, which was thankfully given a go-signal and eventually first published on BuddyTV shortly after his death was officially confirmed.

The feeble connection with American Idol is, of course, the very first week of the finals of the past season. “Tonight, we’re celebrating the hits of Michael Jackson,” Ryan Seacrest said, before the Top 13 kicked off their trips to stardom singing songs from the so-called King of Pop. (That episode will be aired again this Monday from 8pm on Fox.) I’m just in my early 20s, and I’ll admit to being too young during his heyday, so watching that show was quite a revelation: “I didn’t know he sang that!” was my most prominent line, once song after song after song started to sound so familiar.

I suddenly remembered that when news of the musician’s death started filtering through. The sketchy details – of him suffering a heart attack, of being found not breathing in his home, of him being brought to a Los Angeles hospital – gave way to unconfirmed detail after unconfirmed detail after confirmed detail. And then, the tributes, in 140-character bursts, from celebrities to my friends who, for the most part, were too young to have a grasp of his hits.

From here to the red-haired rocker

I was looking at the screen more closely than usual. I was coming off a pretty big surprise moments ago, when my predictions – which have been right for most of the past few weeks – have gone seriously off kilter. Three people remained standing, and another verdict was to be delivered.

“Adam, you are safe.”

Yeah, that was a given. It’s always been that way for most of the past few weeks, expect for the week before, when he surprisingly appeared on the bottom three. But that wasn’t the purpose of the moment. In my five years of watching American Idol – the first two seasons weren’t aired in the Philippines – I’ve never felt so nervous about what was going to happen in the next two minutes.

Eraserhead mob rule

I lost my belt because of the Eraserheads.

I isn’t a really fancy belt. It’s something my mother bought at Divisoria, for an obviously cheap price, composed of fabric (or whatever) and a huge metal buckle. But I wore that belt for most of my college years, and continued to do so at work. Who would’ve thought I would lose it to security – or, to be specific, their inability to track who owns what?

Then again, I should’ve been very aware of that possibility. I don’t go to many concerts – the last one was the Vertical Horizon gig, and that was because of free tickets – so I don’t really know what to expect when a band as well-loved as the Eraserheads reunite, for a second time, simply to finish the task at hand. Then there’s the millions of fans who want to see the saga rounded off. Then there’s me, the guy who was forced to go to watch over his persistent siblings.

Four years late and still enthusiastic

It’s been a week since Vertical Horizon visited Manila for their first concert in Asia, and up to now the folks are reeling over their much-anticipated concert. Never mind that publicity was almost nil until two weeks before the concert, held last 7 December. Never mind the fact that the band has long since disappeared from the radar, after the 2003 release of their last album Go. For some reason, this concert epitomized what is considered as the perfect one – good music, and better crowd.

Also tagging along was Rivermaya, long proclaimed as the “banda ng bayan“, in their first major performance with their new vocalist Jayson Fernandez. Providing comic relief (and, admittedly, a little more risque) is stand-up comedian Jamie Kennedy.

And if anything turned out as a surprise in this concert, it’s the simple fact that, as the band genuinely put it, the crowd was beyond receptive. You’ll actually notice if a band is just saying the obligatory “you guys are great” line – in this one, it felt so real.

The Niko and Karylle story

I am officially a Cinemalaya casualty.

I’m actually blaming myself for this, although funnily enough Derek, who I went with to the CCP Main Theater for yesterday night’s viewing of Ligaw Liham, was much more apologetic than I expected. Thinking we lost Sars since he stopped to get himself a quick snack, we decided to walk to the CCP Main Theater from DLSU. We decided to dash to the entrance, via the driveway, which is very rough. It’s perfect for vehicles, but not for a person who’s running uphill, trying to stop, and yet gets hit by another person who just couldn’t.

I got into the entrance with a badly scraped left elbow and right palm, which was bad since I’m right-handed and I’m doing important stuff for out shooting for FEATURE over the weekend. We realized that Sars replied to my text message. “Hay naku,” she wrote. “Sa CCP na lang tayo magkita. On the way kami.” So much for the fuss. So much for wounding myself in three places! We eventually met up at the line to the ticket booth, me still applying pressure on my bleeding wounds, and later Derek and I made our way to the clinic to have myself cleaned and bandaged.