Lea Salonga. Image: Instagram/@juansarte
Lea Salonga’s niece Carmen, daughter of her orchestra conductor brother Gerard Salonga, recently noticed that some performers were “singing out of tune” and “way too slow” during a number in a certain noontime variety show. She echoed her niece’s sentiments, saying the audience “deserve better.”
While the Broadway star did not name the variety show, some fans have speculated that her niece may have been referring to the Kapamilya Sunday noontime show “ASAP Natin ‘To”.
She took to Facebook last Sunday, May 5, to repost the young viewer’s observation as shared by her dad Gerard.
“[I] Was watching a noontime musical variety show, and my daughter very accurately remarked ‘they’re singing out of tune, and way too slow,'” Gerard said.
The musical director also gave advice to the producers and the artists, saying, “Please realize that there are a lot of people who actually listen, and are not merely dazzled by the stars.”
“Lagi naman eh! (It has always been like that!) But no one wants to do anything about it,” Lea Salonga then replied. “[I would] like to think that we deserve far better than what we’re being offered.”
The Tony Award-winning performer, however, clarified that she only shared Carmen’s sentiment and has not seen the performance her niece was referring to. “I’m actually curious, just to verify how off key it was,” she added.
Lea then said that she “believes with all [her] heart” that “the audiences are smarter than many of those in the know think they are.”
“Their ears are sharper than we give them credit for, and have really good taste. Pandering to a demographic, that just feels wrong,” she added. JB
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