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.

Switch on the “rise” button

Let’s get the celebrity spottings out of the way first. Yesterday at the NBC Tent, we spotted Rico Blanco, Chiqui Roa and Mike Grape (of Kala). Admittedly, for one person who’s more than surprised to actually get invites to the xFM launch party, it’s a starstruck event.

But let me clarify – I wasn’t there for the celebrity spottings. Sure, it was a media launch, and I managed to get a pair of invites courtesy of Loi Landicho. It felt weird, actually, when I finally got my invites and saw the label. Niko Batallones. Blogger. Just to add to the sense of surprise, the reception desk asked me about my company affiliation. “I just wrote a blog entry about the station,” I said. They did let me in.

Appropriately, the party was called Rise. If you’ve been tuned in for most of xFM’s month and a half, you’ve probably gotten used to hearing the liner “a culture on the rise” play in between the songs. True enough, my access card had a moon in front. But for one person who’s basically never been in a party all his life, and is even more surprised to realize he deserves this invite, it’s about the radio station more than anything.