ANNE Curtis: Singing nonsinger
For quite a number of years, Anne Curtis was your typical tisay star—young, effervescent but quite safe and, oh, so predictable. Ever since she cohosted the noontime group talent tilt, “Showtime,” however, her show biz image and performing persona underwent a significant change.
Squeaky vocals
Did the “crazy” show have a lot to do with it, or was it just one of the “symptoms” of the young star’s determined bid to shake up the public’s perception of her, and radically widen her performing options? Whatever.
It steadily became clear, too, that she was bent on becoming a masa fave. To ingratiate herself with the “Showtime” crowd, she began to do ditzy things—like cutting up, looking silly and, goodness, gracious, singing! Or rather, screeching and screaming. It became one of the show’s running gags and eventually caught on, until she was able to take financial advantage of the freaky, squeaky vocal display—and cut an album (!) which sold like hotcakes, until it went platinum. Gasp!
To be sure, Anne didn’t invent the “hit singer who can’t sing” phenomenon. Many decades ago, a wealthy American socialite who sang really badly became a recording sensation and everyone had a great time poking fun at her—but she was the one who ran laughing all the way to the bank. So, the joke was on them!
Well, that’s what’s happening to Anne’s unexpectedly profitable recording “career”; only, she obviously intends to do that American “singing” joke one better, by eventually managing to really pass muster as a legit singer.
Concert next year
To pressure herself even more to produce that desired result, she’s even announced that she will be starring in her very own big musical concert next year!
It could end up like the hit shows of another “singing non-singer,” Ai Ai de las Alas, who employs a mix of music and comedy to bowl her audiences over.
But, Anne could up the ante even more by unveiling a number or two in which she sings really well. Just to prove a point—that this is all part of a bigger plan to radically and profitably widen her appeal and prospects.
It’s already succeeding. By poking fun at herself, Anne has disarmed the masa crowd, which is no longer intimidated by her “classy” beauty. And, with her enhanced popularity have come many other goodies, like commercials and endorsements.
To complicate things further, Anne has launched a bid to sex up her serious performing image, by way of her starring role in “No Other Woman,” which became a blockbuster hit. In that sexy drama, she scored points as a liberated woman and was as sultry and sophisticated as heck.
Her performance contradicted the silliness of her new TV image—but, what do you know, viewers still lapped it up. In the film, the actress didn’t prove that she had become a good dramatic thespian, but she came out as a big winner in other departments.
So, Anne is now enjoying the best of both worlds—she’s successful as a silly nonsinger and madcap TV host, and as a sultry movie star.
Double-feat
That’s a difficult double-feat to pull off, but she’s been able to do it, partly because the local viewing public likes halo-halo entertainment and doesn’t have firm standards regarding consistency and focus in performance.
Is there a method to Anne Curtis’ new “madness”? Because it perceives and takes advantage of that shallow disregard for artistic consistency, you bet!