SARAH: “I just want to go out, focus on my own music and do my own thing.”
WHEN Sarah Geronimo attends shows by foreign acts, one of the things she notices is how their repertoires, save for the occasional cover, are always composed of their original material—something the singer-actress has been wanting to emulate for the longest time.
“I just want to go out, focus on my music and do my own thing. It’s a dream of mine,” Sarah told the Inquirer in a recent interview. “Oftentimes, when I do corporate gigs, I get asked to perform whatever’s popular. And I get sad because they hire me to do covers and not because of my hits.”
“It frustrates me,” stressed the 27-year-old artist, adding that it isn’t uncommon for her to be asked by Filipino fans abroad this question: “Why don’t you sing your own songs? You record albums, but you perform only a few tracks off those.”
They do make a fair point, she conceded. So while staging a concert that features mostly her catalog of songs may alienate the more casual fans, Sarah is looking forward to taking on that challenge in “From the Top,” her two-night show, on Dec. 4 and 5, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“It was something we considered,” pointed out Sarah, whose previous album, “Perfectly Imperfect,” yielded the burnished, mid-tempo earworm, “Kilometro.” “Lakasan lang ang loob natin… There could be consequences and you have to be prepared… I figured, let’s just go for it; this is for my craft.”
Since winning the talent search, “Star for a Night,” in 2003, Sarah has released more than 10 studio records and a slew of unreleased material that she doesn’t want to go to waste.
“I have enough songs—many of which weren’t promoted or selected as singles. My only concern now is how they’ll be received. We’ll just have to work hard and make each number special,” Sarah related. “I’m worried, but what’s important is that I give importance to my music.”
Colossal
Is she setting her sights on doing a concert at the Philippine Arena after “From the Top”?
According to Sarah, she doesn’t think she can pack a colossal venue, and is content to perform in smaller places.
“Honestly, I’ll be fine with Music Museum,” she said. “Of course it’s a dream to fill up a venue that huge and see all the fans who support you. But you’ll have to be prepared for something like that: You have to have the hits and lots of new things to offer.”
Also, at the press conference, not a few show biz writers prodded Sarah into divulging details about her relationship with her boyfriend, Matteo Guidicelli. And for the most part, she was her usual meek and giggly self, visibly thinking if she had been sharing with the press more than she should—far from what she’s like when performing.
Onstage, she’s a different woman. “When I know I’m prepared and all set physically, mentally and emotionally, I get a natural high,” she said. “When I feel the light, my makeup, my costume and the music coming all together, I get lost. I don’t even see the people; I get lost in my own world!”
(apolicarpio@inquirer.com.ph)