June 17, 2014

Thank you again, Charice



I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Thank you, Charice.

In at least two previous articles, I mentioned a number of reasons why I am thankful to Charice. I have also made tweets and posts on Facebook stating some of them. This particular blog post is about another reason why I am thankful to her.

ABS-CBN has started airing the blind auditions for The Voice Kids Philippines. And many of the kids have fantastic voices. Not only can they sing, they can perform! They can touch the hearts and souls of the audience, including myself.

We often hear the statementThey're just kids.in our everyday life. Yes, they are kids, but not just that. The participants' being kids adds to my amazement of how awesome they are in the blind auditions. They're simply great! And I'm not kidding! Most of them not only blew me away (and the coachesSarah Geronimo, Bamboo, and Ms. Lea Salonga), but reminded me, once again, of the so many great singing talents in the Philippines waiting to be discovered.

It would be unfair to the God-given talents if I would name just a few, or more so, just one. So, please check out the ABS-CBN videos of the blind auditions. As of this writing, the list of videos is incomplete because two more sets of auditions will be aired this coming weekend.

After having said the above, about fairness or unfairness, let me lead your attention to the one performer in the video below. No, I am not being unfair to the other kids. I just want to share my experience that triggered my writing this particular article. The 13-year-old girl, Giedie, started singing The Power of Love and before the last few lines of the song, my reactions were similar to that of the other kids' great talents. But when she ended the song with that high note on the word love, suddenly, there was something there, an impact on me that I could not explain.

Video from The Voice Kids Philippines YouTube Channel

Unconsciously wanting to satisfy my quest, I watched Giedie's performance on YouTube a few more times. At the end, when she expertly orchestrated her singing voice in the final drama with the musical accompaniment, she made the undeniably-in-perfect-timing hand and head gestures, complete with powerful facial expression. Then, at last, I realized where the impact, on me, was coming from.

Giedie's performance reminded me of Charice. Let me stress here that I am in no way comparing Giedie and Charice. No. I am simply saying that my experience of watching Giedie's performance brought me back to how Charice influenced me to appreciate, again, great performances. I believe the choice of song, The Power of Love, (Charice has sung this song many times) and the gestures of the younger artist made me subsconsciously try my best to find out what actually stimulated the delight in my heart and soul. Giedie made a connection with her audience. I was glad to have watched her performance when it was aired on TV for the first time. For me, it was a privilege to be part of her audience. She is a representation of all the great kids, in the Philippines and elsewhere, whose talents should not be missed.

Have I mentioned that there was a time when I stopped listening to songs on the radio and refrained from buying any artist's albums? I also had few chances to watch TV shows. When everyone at work would talk about this or that song by this or that artist, I could not relate. Well, except perhaps for one or two. The airing of the Little Big Star (LBS), where Charice was one of the contestants, was within this period. I discovered Charice five years after LBS. Yes, right. Where was I all those five years! After discovering Charice, something changed. I now even know some artists that could have escaped my attention if I were still my 'old self.' I am thankful to Charice for bringing music back into my everyday life.

Here, I am stating one more reason why I am thankful to her. Charice made me reverse gear and go back to being an audience to budding musical talents on Philippine television. It would be a mistake not to give my heart and soul the chance to flow with the beautiful music coming freshly from the kids who I now consider kids no more in the art of music. I am fortunate and thankful that I have discovered Charice before the airing of the The Voice Kids Philippines.

Now, go ahead and enjoy watching their awesome performances!




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