Lea on Anne’s concert: I thought it was really cute

Lea Salonga finds Anne Curtis’ recently fulfilled dream to do a concert at the Araneta Coliseum "cute."

“I think she just wanted for one night to be able to do that. And it’s really cool that a lot of people wanted to support her dream.” she told members of the press during the shoot of her music video for TV5’s upcoming reality talent show “Kanta Pilipinas” last night, February 11.
 
Lea added, “But, yeah, I’m not sure if she should make a career out of singing. But I think, in reality, I think she knows what she is, she knows who she is. I think she just basically let out a wish and somebody made it come true. I thought it was really cute.”
 
The Broadway and West End star was not able to see Anne’s “Anne-bisyosa Live!” concert at Smart Araneta Coliseum last January 28. However, she said “everybody that I know who went had a lot of fun.”
 
A self-confessed frustrated singer, Anne's music endeavors started when she released an album titled “Anne-bisyosa” late last year. The album received the Platinum Record award after a few months.
 
On bad singing
 
Anne’s singing career was brought up during the interview when a member of the media asked Lea who she’d want to work with among the current local singers. When someone suggested the Kapamilya actress, Lea said: “Anne Curtis? No, I’m sorry.”
 
She explained, “No offense to her, but you said ‘what singer.’ Anne admits herself that she’s not a singer so I have to give her that. I congratulate her sa concert.”
 
But the good thing about Anne, Lea explained, is that she doesn’t represent herself as a singer.

“I can’t get mad at her because (she says) ‘I’m not a singer, I’m an entertainer’,” the Tony Award-winning actress said.
 
“If somebody, for purposes of self-promotion, puts out an album and it’s well produced naman and it’s okay, then it’s fine,” Lea said.

What she finds offensive, however, are those who cannot sing but represent themselves as singers.
“It’s like, you’re just insulting me and every other singer who makes a living out of singing and working hard in honing their craft.”
 
Is the proliferation of non-singers in the music scene the fault of the artists or those who support them?

“If you know that it’s a one-off, then go ahead, it’s fine. Pero pag paulit-ulit ka na, medyo ano ka, ‘Aaah...can you check your ears please?’,” Lea  said jokingly. “Really, if you are going to spend your money, go to where you know you're gonna have a good time.”

“And if you are a real discerning concert-goer, you will go to where you know your ears will have a good time.” Obviously, Lea is a not fan of bad singing.

“I don't like going to concerts where people are out of tune, to be quite honest. I hate it, hate it! I cannot stand it. I cannot listen to somebody out of tune for maybe more than 10 or 20 seconds. After that, I'm gonna kill myself,” she quipped, without pertaining to anyone in particular.

The singer-actress said performers should put up something to leave a positive, even life-changing, lasting impression on the audience.

“That's what a lot of singers try to achieve and that's what I personally try to achieve,” she said.

Valentine’s Day plan

Is she and husband Robert Chien planning anything for Valentine’s Day this Tuesday?

“Wala e, kasi my daughter (Nicole) has a lot of activities and I kind of had to see to them. So we’ll probably figure out something to do with our little one also,” Lea replied.
 
If ever, she’d want to include  Nicole in their Valentine’s Day celebration because she believes the occasion is not just for lovers.

“Siya nga yung naging bunga ng pag-ibig naming dalawa so it’s not Valentine’s unless she’s kind of part of it,” Lea explains.

Lea will be busy this year. Besides her upcoming concerts, she is slated to do two musicals: Atlantis Productions’ staging of the Tony Award-winning play “God of Carnage” (which will run in Manila and Singapore) and “Allegiance” in Los Angeles with George Takei.

This means that while she did the theme song of the show, Lea’s participation in “Kanta Pilipinas” may be limited since she won’t be in the country for the duration of the show.

“So I guess everything is still under discussion,” she said, adding “it would be nice to do something more than just sing the theme song.”

Auditions for “Kanta Pilipinas”, which is open to Filipinos aged 14 to 30 years, will begin this month.