Unggoy, di ba? Charice blows roof off Araneta Coliseum

MANILA - I know; I was there. Ask wower31, she saw me. 23 October 2010: Charice sang "All By Myself" all by herself, did a vocal dramatic act with "ANY" ... MORE!" and the crowd roared, I heard thunder, and the roof was blown off the Araneta Coliseum. I wish you were there.

All by myself, I was sitting at LB207, taking notes quietly - and exulting with the rest of them. I heard the fellow seating next to me say to his girl companion, "Galing talaga." Delivery was very good, really.

I love music even if I sing off-time, not off-key, and no, I don´t need autotune - and that night the world was witness that Charice doesn´t need autotune either. Not only that - Charice has no equal in her class, business class, under 21. Billboard´s "21 Under 21: Music´s Hottest Minors" is potential; what we were witnessing was actual, baby. What was delivered was very good, really.

That evening, I wasn´t thinking of Asia-known singer-composer Freddie "Ka Freddie" Aguilar, or of arch critic Nestor Torre, both Filipinos like me. Now I am thinking of them. What would they say now? They are both detractors of Charice, and they have criticized her in their own robust language - Ka Freddie in tough Tagalog (Filipino) and Mr Torre in learned English. They attacked the same defenseless little girl. Who would be amused?

If they haven´t heard yet, now I have news for them. I am a good 70 years old, and I have never heard of any Filipino singer blowing the roof off the Araneta Coliseum singing foreign songs. A Filipino singing all Filipino songs, maybe. A foreigner singing all foreign songs, certainly. But a Filipino singing all English songs? Not until now. What would half of the scholars and thinkers of the University of the Philippines say? Aye, there´s the rub.

Remember the Unggoy Uproar that Ka Freddie raised when he chastised Charice and Arnel Pineda for being unggoy (ape), gaya-gaya (copycat), but especially Charice as copycat, for singing only foreign songs? That was last year.

I didn´t know Charice before this, but in her defense, I wrote "Unggoy, Ka Freddie. Aguilar must decrease, Charice must increase" and uploaded it 10 September 2009 (Pinoy Cinderella). Ka Freddie´s outburst happened August 2009; I wrote my delayed response the next month; it was my very first essay on Charice and it happened to be a bold statement of offense and defense: the Filipinos were offended, and I was defending Charice´s choice of foreign songs, mostly American. I admired the entertainer Ka Freddie before this.

And remember the Birit Brouhaha that uber critic Nestor Torre started when he castigated Charice for singing birit (belting) songs, for being capable of only birit and no art? Mr Torre was Editor of the Philippine Daily Inquirer Entertainment Section at that time. As Editor, he was good.

In defense, I wrote "Journeys. Charice sings, Nestor Torre screams!" 29 January 2010 (Pinoy Cinderella). It was also a delayed response; Mr Torre had written his scathing piece in the Philippine Daily Inquirer 16 June 2008 yet, but I didn´t know - and didn´t care - until sometime in August 2009 after I came across the YouTube & Oprah phenomenon called Charice, decided to write a book about her, and was doing my research. I was an admirer of Mr Torre as a writer, actor, director, columnist before this.

I had to muster enough logic and courage to reply to the two, as it happened, independently, in 2 separate years:
To summarize my 2009 muster-piece reply to Freddie Aguilar: Get a life!
To summarize my 2010 muster-piece reply to Nestor Torre: Get real!

And now this, the news that Charice blew the roof off the Araneta Coliseum singing, take note, Ka Freddie, all foreign songs and singing, take note, Mr Torre, all at the top of her voice. Wala kayong bilib sa iba. You have no faith in others. The Doubting Thomases that both of you are, to put it kindly, I urge you to read my account of the night: "Hitman David Foster & Charice in Manila. So, was it a night?" (25 October 2010, Pinoy Cinderella). And take note, Charice blew the roof off the national symbol of entertainment stardom in her own country singing songs not of her own country. I thought you should be alarmed.

And when she did that that wonderful Saturday night, I stood up in ovation as did the rest of the Araneta Coliseum crowd. I felt history was being made that night, and I was elated I was part of it.

Mr Torre, you should have been there when Charice sang "All By Myself" all by herself:
"All by myself / Don´t wanna be / All by myself / Anymore!"
And she ended like this: She stops after singing "ANY" and signals the band to stop even as she does - there is complete silence for a moment - then she lets out a to-the-roof "MORE!" The crowd responds by letting out an enormous roar, and off goes the roof of the Araneta Coliseum. Typhoon Intensity IV: Very strong winds.

Ka Freddie, you should have been listening. Charice sang only foreign songs, all 6 of them:
"The Power of Love" (sung before by Canadian Celine Dion; she wouldn´t sing a Pinoy song, would she?)
"Pyramid" (composed by Swedish songwriter David Jassy and American R&B singer Lyrica Anderson)
"To Love You More" (words & music by American Junior Miles & Canadian David Foster)
"The Bodyguard Medley" - "I Have Nothing" and "I Will Always Love You" (both composed by David Foster)
"All By Myself" (composed by American Eric Carmen).

For singing all those foreign songs, and divinely, I love her so.

Charice is unggoy, di ba? Copycat, isn´t she? Singing only foreign songs, copying the style of the artists who sang them. Of course, copycat. But I already said that copying is a stage in the life of an artist; from being a copycat, the best artist emerges sooner or later; and I already said Charice is now coming into her own (see "Unggoy Ka, Freddie" as cited).

Ka Freddie, if you knew me, you wouldn´t be surprised. I have always been a non-believer in what I call tongue-tied nationalism, I mean, people tie nationalism with the tongue - if you don´t speak Tagalog (Filipino), you are not a nationalist. Okay, I´m an Ilocano.

I was a different kind of activist in college; even after college, whenever I spoke in a gathering of activists, as the speaker I always began, in English of course, "You have to forgive me, because I too am a victim of colonial education." That was a play of words; I just love wordplay - I never did equate love of country with love of language. In other words, I have been writing in English for the last 35 years at least, 50 years if you begin counting from college.

So, Frank H is also unggoy, di ba? And yes, I believe that English is to the Filipino´s advantage in the world. That is why I have no admiration for those who insist on using Tagalog (Filipino) in speaking even to the non-Tagalogs, even in teaching by using Taglish in college even in English courses. I know that happens within the University of the Philippines System.

So that Ka Freddie will know where I´m coming from, I say this: I want English to be the national language of the Philippines! Give me English anytime. English is our comparative advantage, if you know your economics. Like, it is Charice´s advantage - she has mastery of the vocabulary of song in English, which is exceptional. Like, I have mastery of the vocabulary of creative writing in English, which is remarkable - you can remark on it after this.

Mr Torre, to belt or not to belt, that is not the question. The question is: "Can you sing?" Borrowing from David Foster during that Araneta concert of Hitman: David Foster & Friends, I say, "You have 30 seconds to prove that you can sing." If you can´t sing, just sit on the box and listen!

Our very own Charice came and went, singing all English songs to her heart´s content, and to me and the rest of her audience at the Araneta Coliseum. Last year, Ka Freddie chided Charice and said something like she was already there, in Oprah´s show, why didn´t she sing a Filipino song? "Charice, mas bibilib ako sa ´yo," Ka Freddie said on YouTube, "kung kakanta ka ng sariling atin." Charice, I will believe in you more if you sing our own songs. Now the terrible thing has happened: Charice was already there, in her own country, within the confines of the national symbol of stardom in the Philippines, but she didn´t sing any Filipino song! How un-Filipino can Charice get?

So far, I have not heard a whimper from those who favor Original Pinoy Music, OPM over and above English songs. What happened to you, tongue-tied nationalists: Cat got your tongue?