Regine Velasquez : The Inside Buzz

" Regine at the Movies "                                    - Nov. 17 show 
    ( Reviewed by a Regine mailing list fan )

There has always been a connection between Regine Velasquez and the 
movies. Personally, she claims that she is a movie buff which is true as 
proven by my recent encounter with her at the video store. Professionally, 
she has been singing movie themes since she started in the music 
industry. One of her early hits was a movie theme - "Isang Lahi." So it 
is baffling that she mounts a concert series on movie themes only 
now. Perhaps it is a blessing because if she did the series before, we 
would have missed some good new materials.

As I arrived at the venue at 8:30 p.m., I was sure that the show would not 
start on time (9 p.m.) since people were still outside on a line that 
seemed to have no end. When we got inside, I was startled to see the stage 
because it was so bare. The backdrop was white and the floor was covered 
with white linoleum. The musicians were in a row at the back. At the 
middle, there was a white baby grand piano and beside it were a high chair 
and a small side table. With that set-up, the audience would just focus at 
the center. By 9:30 p.m., the musicians in white shirts went to their 
position. Then Regine was escorted to the center. She looked so neat with 
that white blazer, faded jeans, transparent high heels and silver/diamond 
accessories.

The show started with "Time of My Life" (from "Dirty Dancing"). "How Do I 
Live" (from "Con Air") immediately followed. It was quite strange because 
in her shows, the 2nd number is usually another upbeat song. But this 
time, she chose a ballad. She started exchanging pleasantries with the 
audience. What made us laugh was her disclaimer that she would not sing 
whatever we expect or want her to sing. "Gusto ko lang ho linawin para 
paglabas n'yo ng Music Museum, at least 'di kayo disappointed dahil alam 
n'yo agad na hindi 'yon eh." Then she saw latecomers so she teased them, 
"wala na, last 2 songs na 'yon eh... pasensya na."

To get on with the show, Regine did a kilometric medley of theme 
songs. Before doing so, she told us that the medley would be sort of a 
guessing game. Well, the game was quite deceiving. They made us think of 
a song but then, Regine would sing another song. The medley started with 
the theme of "St. Elmo's Fire" but when Regine opened her mouth, the medley 
shifted to "Can You Read My Mind" (from "Superman"). "More Than Words" 
followed but Regine did not sing it, she sang "It Might Be You" (from 
"Tootsie"). This version of hers was so different from her version of the 
song 7 years ago. Back then, she did it the way Patti Austin did it (with 
all those belting). This time, it was mellow. The other songs in the 
medley: "Foolish Heart," the theme from "Mahogany," "Arthur's Theme" 
and "Got to Believe in Magic." There was a shower of white confetti that 
looked like petals while she was singing. This was the first time that 
they did that in Music Museum. Regine marveled at the audience when they 
were able to guess the movies where the songs were used. She disclosed 
that she is a big movie fan like most of the people in the audience. She 
can finish 5 movies in 2 nights!

Like what some of us experience, there were instances that Regine got to 
like songs only after she saw the movies where they were used. The songs 
were Celine Dion's: "Because You Love Me" and "My Heart Will Go On."
These 2 songs had nice arrangements. "Because You Love Me" was turned
into a country song. I am so sick of "My Heart Will Go On" but with
the way they did it, I found it good.

The time came when Regine had to introduce her guest. Gabby Eigenmann 
appeared in a white shirt and did a slower version of "The Best That I Can 
Be (She Loves Me)." He was so serious while singing. Maybe he was afraid 
to commit a mistake. Regine joined him onstage wearing a soft, floral, 
spaghetti-strap, long dress. They were about to do "Cruisin'" but Regine 
first commented on Gwyneth Paltrow that she might have bad breath in the 
morning or an attitude problem because surely, one cannot have 
everything. After the duet, Gabby left and Regine began the "Moulin Rouge" 
medley.

The "Moulin Rouge" medley tells the phases of love. It started with 
"Nature Boy." After that song, Regine had a monologue. She talked about 
how it is to fall in love, that there is so much excitement at the start, 
that it makes one crazy. Then she did "Your Song." There was another 
monologue on questions or doubts on love. She was teary-eyed already while 
she was talking. So when she sang "One Day I'll Fly Away," I thought that 
her tears would fall. For me, this was the most emotional part of the 
medley or even the show. Then she spoke on being sure about love and 
launched into "Come What May" with Zebedee doing the male part. The medley 
went full circle by ending with "Nature Boy." The audience did not tease 
her after since they sensed that the medley affected her. There was no 
shower of confetti in this number but they made use of beautiful lights.

Since Regine did the theme songs of her block-buster movies and they were 
big hits, she had to include them in the show. She first did a jazzed up 
"You Are My Song." She sat at the steps of the stage to sing another 
medley. She teased 2 couples at the front row before singing. They again 
deceived the audience by giving the intro of "Kailangan Ko'y Ikaw" instead 
of "Ikaw." Regine first sang "Ikaw," followed by "Pangako" and finally, 
"Kailangan Ko'y Ikaw." It was amazing seeing her belt real close. Her 
microphone was already far from her but one could still hear the power of 
her voice. I think she got amused when she saw us clapping our hands 
because she pointed at us and said, "ang mga 'to, 8 beses na yata nanood 
ang mga 'to eh." In this medley, there was red confetti shower.

Unexpectedly, Regine called the composer of the 2 songs in the medley (Ogie 
Alcasid) and he joined her onstage. They entertained us with this 
hilarious and long banter. They talked about so many things from the 
"tiangge" downstairs to Ogie's new album. They had to cut the chat because 
they had to do a duet ("I Want to Spend My Lifetime Loving You" from "The 
Mask of Zorro"). Regine left the stage after and Ogie again made us laugh 
with his spiel. There was someone at the side who kept waving at him so he 
said, "hindi po ako waiter." Then when he sat at the high chair, his feet 
did not touch the ground. He said, "sinabi ko sa inyo liitan n'yo 'to 
eh." Soon after, he did his composition - "Bakit Ngayon Ka Lang?" The 
audience sang with him. He left when Regine came back wearing a light 
brown, backless, long gown with silver and green sequence all over.

To lighten the mood, Regine did "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (from 
"Sister Act 2"). Then a medley of the songs in Julia Roberts' movies. It 
started with "She" but Regine sang "Fallen" (from "Pretty Woman"). "When 
You Say Nothing at All" (from "Notting Hill"), "All the Love in the World" 
(from "America's Sweetheart") and "I Say a Little Prayer" (from "My Best 
Friend's Wedding") were the other songs in the medley. She made "I Say a 
Little Prayer" the playtime song. She went down and asked several people 
to sing a line or two from the song. The last person she asked was Anton 
(her impersonator). She went all the way to his seat (at the other side of 
the venue) just to ask him sing. When she got there, she made him sing the 
last line of "What Kind of Fool Am I" before the lines from "I Say a Little 
Prayer." To show how much pride she has in Anton, she got a ballpen and 
acted like she was about to stab him with it because he was so good.
Afterwards, she introduced the members of the band. Then flirted
a bit with a single businessman in the audience.

There was this "works of singers who I admire" portion in the show. She 
did "Never Too Far" by Mariah Carey (from "Glitter"). What followed 
were back to back songs of Barbra Streisand: "The Way We Were" and 
"No Matter What Happens." This was such an intense number. She was 
given a thunderous applause after.

Regine remarked at that point of the show that she wanted to dance. She 
made this "giling" step that was both funny and shocking. She went from 
one end of the stage to the other end singing "What a Feeling" and 
"Fame." There was a shower of multi-colored confetti. Seeing the great 
amount of confetti at the floor, Regine said, "itigil n'yo na ang 
pagkakalat ha... ako na naman ang magwa-walis niyan eh."

The saying "time flies so fast when you're having fun" proved to be true 
when Regine started to thank the audience for coming and was about to
sing the final song. It was quite surprising that the show was about to end 
because the second to the last number were dance songs. The audience's 
energy was way up. Regine did "Somewhere" by Barbra Streisand as the
final song. She had no fear, she belted all the way to the end. Regine went 
backstage but after 2 minutes, she came back. She blurted, "kayo naman, 
'di na kayo nasanay. Siyempre, may encore..." She thanked the sponsors
of the show, then did "I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing" as the encore.

It is apparent that Regine has matured as a singer. She knows what to do 
to get the desired effect. Now, it is not all belting. Regine of the past 
would have belted in every song. Doing that would have boasted her  
vocal prowess but not her sensitivity to the songs' meaning. Real life 
experiences and getting into the different fields of the entertainment 
business must have caused this greater sensitivity. But, her vocal prowess 
was still evident even if she did not belt in all the songs. Every time she 
belted (except at the encore), she was sitting down. Looking at her shoes, 
it was understandable why she sat down most of the time. I would have 
thrown those shoes (due to pain) after walking for just 5 minutes in them.

Having an acoustic set did not rob the audience of intense emotion the 
songs evoke in the movies. Some even came off as more affecting since
there is purity or sincerity that one feels in hearing a song done 
acoustically. Kudos to the band for doing a fine job. Regine would not 
have sounded that great if the musicians were not that good. 

Raul Mitra did well in making people notice his talent. It takes so much 
skill and effort to arrange a medley. One has to carefully select the 
songs to be included, know what parts of the songs to take and connect 
those parts correctly to make the medley smooth. It is astounding that 
Raul made several great medleys. Then he gave something more by 
leading the audience to songs that Regine did not really sing in the 
medley. Pretty ingenious and impressive!

After witnessing the entire show, it is definitely a blessing that Regine 
is doing a concert series on movie themes just now, not just because of 
beautiful recent songs in the repertoire but also because she might not 
have done the songs as well as she does them today.

" Regine at the Movies " ( Nov. 17 show )
Reviewed by a long time active Regine fan
we Fondly refer to as the Regine Velasquez mailing list's 'secretary'

The Music Inside Buzz