Bieber concert tonight expects 25,000 fans

SOME 25,000 people are expected to watch the Justin Bieber concert tonight at the Mall of Asia open grounds, said a source in the production team, who added that tickets are sold out, except for the Bronze and General Admission sections.

Another source claimed that Smart, the country’s leading telecom company, bankrolled the event, spending at least P50 million to bring in Bieber and hiring a production outfit to mount the show.

“He’s a clown, like any other teenaged boy,” Poreotics dance crew member Lawrence Devera said of Bieber, in an interview with the Inquirer on Friday.

Devera and the rest of Poreotics first met Bieber when they appeared on the music video of “Somebody to Love,” the second single off the Canadian teen pop star’s “My World 2.0” album.

Composed of three Filipinos (Devera, Jet Li Valles, Chad Mayate) and three Vietnamese (Dumbo, Can and Charles Nguyen), Poreotics will open Bieber’s concert.

ASIAN-American dance crew Poreotics is Justin Bieber’s front act.

“We’re not celebrities. We’re just normal, regular guys who love to dance,” they said, brushing aside their newfound fame after winning America’s Best Dance Crew season 5 last year.

<strong>High spirits</strong>

Sarah Geronimo was in high spirits at a media gathering also on Friday for the launch of her new album, “One Heart” (Viva Records).

Singing a few songs from the album plus some old OPM hits from the karaoke machine, Geronimo let humor slip through when she over-emphasized lyrics about failed romance.

“Na-in-love ako, akala ko tama (I fell in love, I thought it was right),” she told the Inquirer, referring to her short-lived relationship with Rayver Cruz, her colleague in the ABS-CBN show “ASAP.”

Although she doesn’t regret the experience, she said her biggest lesson is to always listen to advice from her parents.

But wouldn’t it help her music somehow, we asked. “Siguro, lalo na sa mga heartbreak songs ko (Maybe, especially in my songs about heartbreak),” she quipped.

<strong>Perfect ambience</strong>

The ambience was perfect for the kind of music that singer Zenaida Celdran dished out last week at La Cuisine Française on Sedeño corner San Agustin, Salcedo Village, Makati.

The French restaurant was homey, its waiting staff courteous and its clientele laid-back—an ideal setting for the musical trio onstage.

Backed by guitarist Edgar Avenir and bassist Colby de la Calzada, Celdran sang vintage blues and torch classics in a low voice that exuded warmth and depth.

She engaged an intimate audience with witty remarks in between tunes from the 1940s like “Black Coffee,” “Come Rain or Shine,” including “La Vie En Rose” and “C’est si bon.”

Two more French songs, “C’est Magnifique” from the Cole Porter musical “Can-Can,” and “Les feuilles mortes,” the original version of “Autumn Leaves,” transported us to another world.

Celdran never ran out of surprises—interpreting Marlene Dietrich (“Falling in Love Again” from the film “Blue Angel”), Bessie Smith (“St. Louis Blues”) and The Animals (“House of the Rising Sun”).

It felt like music that one would enjoy in the bedroom while unwinding from the day’s cares.

La Cuisine Française also features Motown and jazz fusion (Mondays), classic jazz (Wednesdays), cabaret (Thursdays), all-French music (Fridays) and Latin (Saturdays).

<strong>Music and fashion</strong>

“I’ve grown musically,” said Pops Fernandez, “like one gets chiseled in life.”

She talked with the Inquirer at the recent press con for her concert on May 24 at Resorts World Manila’s Newport Performing Arts Theater.

“When I was young I was confident that I can sing,” she explained, adding that she realized later that her vocal range was rather limited.

Apparently she’ll be relying on the ups and downs that her personal life has weathered—to give justice to her repertoire.

We have no idea what to expect, but at least it’s safe to assume that the music would be exceptional in the hands of the AMP Big Band under Mel Villena’s direction.

Plus, a visual distraction: a number of costume changes will show Fernandez in clothes designed by Maxi Cinco, Francis Libiran and Carrie Santiago. That’s why the concert is dubbed “Pops Fernandez in Fashion.”

<strong>Meet Humanfolk</strong>

“I asked my record label (MCA Music Philippines) if can we do something different this time with music about our country,” said guitarist-composer Johnny Alegre, explaining how he pitched a new group called Humanfolk and its self-titled album.

The group is actually a collaboration between Alegre and Filipino-American musician Susie Ibarra, who’s known in the avante-garde, jazz, world and new music scenes in the United States. She was named best percussionist in the 2010 Downbeat International Readers Poll and best percussionist, rising star in the 2009 Downbeat Critics Poll.

The album was recorded with musicians who fit the music’s folk-jazz-world-electronica mold: Cynthia Alexander, Malek Lopez, Abby Clutario and Roberto Juan Rodriguez (Ibarra’s husband).

The result, which the band gave a sample of at the album launch Friday night at B-Side on Malugay St. Makati, was a heady mix of traditional and hip music with wordless harmonies.

If warring couples or friends-turned-enemies would listen to it, they’d reconcile in no time.

<strong>That Girl</strong>

Girl Valencia visited Merk’s Place last week and jammed a few numbers with pianist Mel Santos, bassist Ed Cariño and singing lawyer Ferdie Topacio. Known as the late Nick Joaquin’s favorite singer, Valencia rendered “Bayan Ko” on a bossa nova rhythm—a bit disconcerting at first, but actually a soothing way to hear protest music.

Valencia has, for the past seven years, been singing Thursday nights at the Exchange Bar of Richmonde Hotel in Pasig.