It’s Chinese New Year tomorrow and it’s Valentine’s Day a week later. And for those who choose to celebrate love, it’s a good time to plan where to go, what to watch and who to be with.
If you are a music lover and you want a two-in-one kind of a treat for February 14, then we suggest you consider getting your tickets this early for a special concert featuring The CompanY and Jamie Rivera. Billed as Jamie in Perfect CompanY, the show to be staged at the Music Museum will easily answer one’s question on why only very few artists like them stand the test of time.
We have always revered and respected the country’s unparalleled vocal group that has seen many changes in its composition through the years. From the 16 original members in the ’80s that dwindled down to eight, then to six, then to five, The CompanY has recently downsized into a quartet, when one of its well-loved original members, Cecile Bautista-Reynoso, took a sabbatical because of personal reasons. The group now bank on its fabulous four members: Moy Ortiz, OJ Mariano, Sweet Plantado and Annie Quintos-Uy.
Their songs have remained timeless. Some of the group’s original songs that have become our personal favorites include “Muntik na Kitang Minahal” and “Baka Ikaw.” The members work hard and train hard to always give their followers a good show.
It’s the group’s first time to have back-to-back concert with Jamie Rivera, herself a time-tested singer. She started her rise to fame in the mid-1980s with easy-to-sing love songs, like “Hey It’s Me,” “I’m Sorry,” “Pangarap Ka na Lang Ba” and “I’ve Fallen for You.”
In the early-1990s, Jamie took a leap of faith, auditioned and bagged the plum role of Kim in the musical Miss Saigon in London before settling back in Manila. “I was accompanying a friend and then suddenly decided to audition. I wasn’t prepared, so I did not sing any of the Saigon songs,” she recalled, adding, “I sang a Barbra Streisand song called ‘A Piece of Sky’ from the movie Yentl. And the next thing I know, I was requested to fly overseas to do more auditions, and then the rest was history.”
Rivera, who is 53, believes that everything happens at the right time. When she came back from her Saigon stint, she sang a few religious-themed songs and she found her niche in the music industry, eventually being labeled as “the inspirational diva.” Rivera has sang for the Pope and some of the highest-ranking foreign dignitaries that have come to the country for official state visits.
This special Valentine concert has a few musical surprises up its sleeves. Quintos-Uy, who is more popular as Teacher Annie in show business, shared, “I am very excited because Jamie and The CompanY coming together is new to us. So there is a lot of experimenting going on. There will definitely be hits-swapping and there’s a lot of new approaches to old songs, too!”
Ortiz, the leader of the famed group, added, “We will be giving our audience songs from the stage, both classics and contemporary, and our respective hits, too, with a twist. It will be a night of love, wonderful music and lasting memories.”
Rivera, who knows she is definitely in perfect music company, is thankful that rising concert producer Calvin Chua’s CCC Productions teamed up with ABS-CBN’s Star Events to make sure this dream musical collaboration see the light. She hopes that this show will have a repeat and wishes that it can be brought to the other key cities of the country so more people can watch this special concert.