For a more ‘welcoming’ musical trip

JAY-R. Breezy chat quickly became bland and predictable.

Mondays at 9 p.m. on E!, “Sound Trip” features an OPM artist per week, with the interview being conducted in the music lounge of a 2GO passenger ship as it cruises to different parts of the country.

It’s a novel program and staging concept that should be encouraged, because OPM needs all the “showcasing” it can get, due to our unfortunate “colonial” preference for foreign songs and performers.

When we caught the show last Monday, however, we found some of its aspects not as viewer-friendly and welcoming as they should be, so we hope that adjustments and improvements are made.

The telecast featured Jay-R, with program hosts Rico Blanco and Stefano De Medici shooting the breeze with him about his musical origins in the States, how he got to the sweet stellar spot he’s in now, etc.

The talk was breezy enough, but its generally chronological progression quickly became rather bland and predictable, because much of the info that Jay-R shared was already well-known.

In addition, the hosts’ questions were mostly of the obvious sort, so few unexpected sparks of insight into what makes Jay-R tick were struck.

Visuals

It was also disconcerting to see that, while the ship was ostensibly cruising, the show’s visuals and shots were mostly indoors, confined to the onboard lounge where the interview was being taped.

Further underscoring viewers’ feeling of isolation and lack of context was the fact that, aside from the two cohosts and their guest, there were no people around, listening in on their conversation.

Also found wanting was the show’s musical content. It’s supposed to be about OPM, but Jay-R performed only one song, at the end of the show.

Yes, the program may have time constraints, but viewers expect more music. After all, it’s about Filipino singing stars, right?

We hope that these notes will prompt the show to come up with adjustments to make the program more musical and viewable. We repeat, “Sound Trip” is doing a good thing in promoting OPM and thus deserves to succeed. It just has to find ways to do it in a more accessible, open, musical and “welcoming” way!