Martin Nievera takes a cue from Anne Curtis
Martin Nievera humbly calls himself a dinosaur. It’s his way of poking fun at the fact that he’s been in the business for 30 years – a business that has baptized him “Concert King.”
He scans the music scene and sees a lot of young talents. And out of the many vying for people’s attention these days, Martin singles out Anne Curtis.
Yes, Anne.
“Everyone’s knocking her (down),” Martin observes. “But we singers of yesterday are forgetting the drive, the determination, how it all started from a dream. You can say whatever you want. Anne works her ass off. She’s quick on her feet.”
Martin admits Anne may not have Regine Velasquez or Sarah Geroninimo’s soaring vocals. But he insists the Fil-Aussie actress can never be accused of pretending to be what she’s not as a singer. Neither does Anne sit down and do nothing about her singing.
“She’s willing to listen. She knows that with the help of people like myself, she can be a total performer.”
So Martin pleads, give Anne a break. It is people like Anne, he explains, who teach veterans like him to keep pushing themselves. Her excitement whenever she hits a high note is inspiring, says Martin.
The Concert King admits seasoned singers like him could be guilty of treating work as a business, as just a matter of billing.
Anne, he goes on, “just thinks it’s great to be in tune.” Someday, he predicts, Anne would have to choose between being a total performer on one hand, and being an actress, on the other.
Of Hashtags and hash browns
Aside from Anne, Martin is learning about hashtags from people young enough to be his sons, like Robin and Ram Nievera.
It was Martin who thought of giving the title of the repeat of his 30th anniversary concert a more youthful twist.
“I thought of adding the hashtag – or hash brown – in #3D2. I don’t know what it means. Whatever it is, you have to listen to kids of today.”
The rest of the symbols in the title stand for the three decades Martin has been in the business (3D), and the fact that the show on Nov. 22, 7:30 p.m. at Smart Araneta Coliseum is a repeat (the number 2 in #3D2) of one staged in September .
Martin knows he’s luckier than some of his colleagues because he still has a repeat concert, and at the Big Dome at that.
“Before, it happens all the time. We had a repeat of the Sarah (Geronimo) show (the two teamed up in a Valentine show in 2011). We had a repeat of ‘Foursome’ with Pops (Fernandez, his ex-wife), Ogie (Alcasid) and Regine (Velasquez). It makes me very, very proud to say I’m having a repeat.”
If Martin is still around after three decades, it’s because he controls himself.
“I don’t smoke, I don’t drink. I make a lot of sacrifices. I exercise more. I’ve become more health-conscious. I need to keep on singing. If you don’t use your singing voice, you lose it. Never ako nagpahinga vocally – mall shows, big shows, karaoke.”
Good vs bad singers
Martin can tell a good singer from a so-so one by his effect on the audience. A good singer, Martin relates, gives the audience the same ‘wow’ feeling when he whispers a song as when he goes for the highest notes (read: birit).
He should know. Martin has produced the hits “Kahit Isang Saglit,” “You Are My Song,” “Ikaw Lang ang Mamahalin,” “Forever” and others.
Martin doesn’t want to fool himself, though. He knows young people are not as familiar with his songs the way they are with the likes of Christian Bautista.
“Someone came up to me and told me how dare I remake Christian’s ‘You are My Song’ I’ve remade Basil Valdez songs, but ‘You Are My Song’ is mine,” says Martin.
Did he feel bad?
“I was laughing to death!”
It is this knack for poking fun at himself that keeps Martin afloat in a business riddled with competition.
And it is this ability to look at the light side of things that could help him fulfill a dream: returning to late-night talk shows where “I can grow old with the station of my choice.”
So far, Martin adds, the station willing to help him is ABS-CBN. And he has stuck it out as a Kapamilya, despite the temptation to join other networks.
How about a food show, like “Grilling with Martin”, since he prepared and served grilled hamburger patties to the press recently?
He looks at the reporter for a minute, lost for words (yes, he can be speechless).
“See how I look? This is the first presscon I haven’t gone to the salon for. My apron (a white one showing the caricature of a muscled guy in underwear) is X-rated!”
Martin, self-deprecating, funny, and witty, has not lost his touch.
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