JED Madela
JED Madela, the balladeer best known for his prodigious belting skills, has always relished the fact that he can do things with his voice that not many other local male vocalists can replicate. And in this birit-crazy country, his style of singing is definitely an edge—the one thing that he feels sets him apart from the rest of the pack.
In the coming concert series mounted in support of his latest album, “Iconic,” Jed will test how much further his instrument can go, as he takes on the music of some of the most influential pop divas. And he will be holding no punches. His first show on May 28 at Music Museum will be dedicated to pop-R&B superstar Mariah Carey.
“There’s deeper purpose of singing, which is telling stories—and I saw that with Mariah. You can feel what she’s going through just by listening to her,” the singer said in a pocket interview for “The Iconic Concert Series: Jed Madela Sings…”
The challenge, of course, is doing all that while keeping up with Mariah’s trademark vocal calisthenics—intricate riffing and dexterous shifting among different vocal registers.
“It’s exciting but hard—and there’s pressure because people expect me to hit all the high notes and pull off the vocal runs, which I’m not used to doing because I don’t sing R&B. That is why I have friends teaching me how to do it,” he said. “I always want to challenge myself … I do not want to be complacent.”
Jed, the first Filipino Hall of Fame inductee at the World Championships of the Performing Arts, had just arrived from rehearsals, where he worked on the ballad, “Can’t Take That Away.” The song, he admitted, had unwittingly exposed a weak spot he needs to address.
Difficult
“I thought it was going to be easy, but it wasn’t. The phrasing and dynamics the song requires are difficult. Mariah can probably sing an entire verse with one breath. That was where I had trouble,” said Jed, adding that he asked his fans in social media to help create a set list.
The result is a mixture of Mariah’s classic and more recent hits: “Hero,” “Make It Happen,” “Anytime You Need a Friend,” “My All,” etc.
Late last year, due to fatigue, Jed completely lost his voice for two months. Is he worried that this latest musical endeavor will end up putting tremendous stress on his vocal cords?
“I hope I do not re-aggravate my voice. I just need to find a comfortable placement and key,” he said. “And I cannot whistle, so I have to come up with appealing ad libs.”
Aside from Mariah, the Star Music recording artist will also pay tribute to Celine Dion in July, Madonna in August and Whitney Houston in September.
With everyone in the lineup being female artists—gay icons, at that—longstanding rumors about Jed’s sexual preference are bound to be reignited. At this point in his 13-year career, however, the singer has stopped paying too much attention to the intrigues, saying that it’s impossible to please everyone. “It gets tiring. Even if you deny it or explain your side, people will find something bad to say about you,” he pointed out. “I am here to sing.”
Jed admitted that gossip affected him before, but he has learned to take things in stride. “I try not to let negativity affect my performances; I cannot let that control my life,” he stressed.
He still has a lot of dreams, Jed related, and he’d rather focus his energy on fulfilling them. “I have yet to have a major solo show at the Araneta Coliseum or Mall of Asia Arena. I want to have a successful, all-original album. And I want to have a music school,” he said. “I’d rather work on those.”