CRAWFORD. Could still recapture his past European glory
Former child star and European pop headliner Billy Crawford turned 35 recently and was warmly feted by his “Showtime” family, in a long and fun-filled birthday tribute.
As we watched the celebration, we were happy for Billy because his stellar career has remained bright and busy, even as some of his “thirtysomething” contemporaries have faded from view. In this country, it’s no mean feat for a career to last some 30 years, as Billy’s has!
At the same time, however, we rued the fact that he appears to be unsuccessful at reviving his European performing and recording career, which was doing very well for some years.
From time to time, we hear of plans for Billy to once again touch base with his fans in France, but they appear to have remained pretty much on the drawing boards, thus far.
We think that, despite the stultifying passage of the years, Billy should still try really hard to recapture his past European glory, because it forced him to energize his act to truly professional levels, and made him one of the few Filipino performing stars who could surprise and even startled us with the total preparation, commitment and creativity that all international stars must have to remain competitive.
Remarkable success
Billy is still a remarkable success locally, but he’s tended to rest on his laurels, take it “easier”—and put on some unwanted pounds that virtually shout out the fact that he’s no longer a young cockerel strutting his snazzy, jazzy stuff on the local show biz barnyard.
That’s not a good position to sluggishly remain in for long. Before he knows it, 35 will creep faster and faster toward 40—when life is supposed to begin again for the rest of us, but for most “surviving” stars could be a dangerous decline into middle-age—and incipient hasbeen-hood.
We submit that Billy is too talented to allow himself to comfortably go to seed this way. Yes, life on daily noontime television is a fun-filled romp and hoot, and it’s enabled Billy to establish himself as a masa-friendly star.
But, much too often, he isn’t pushing himself anymore and is just winging it, and the exciting edge and flash that made his performance upstage and upset the lazy competition is going, going—because he’s becoming one of them!
He’s too good to allow this to happen to himself, so his 35th year should be the time for him to decide to bring the truly stellar Billy back.
He shouldn’t allow the complacent people around him to limit what he can still do while they just tweedle their thumbs and slap-happily run all the way to the bank.
That bank tends to all too soon close its vaults to stars who take their success for granted—and we certainly don’t want Billy to join their smug company!