Zola Macarambon
Popular ABS-CBN stars Aiza Seguerra, Angeline Quinto, Beauty Gonzalez, Kakai Bautista, Eric Santos, and Zanjoe Marudo warmed a chilly spring evening with music and laughter on September 18, 2015 at the One – Kapamilya Go event held at Planet Shakers Auditorium, 400 City Road, Southbank, Melbourne.
A line-up of talented Australia-based Filipino front acts included 15-year-old Justin Vasquez who made it to last year’s X Factor Australia and whose rendition of Ed Sheeran’s ‘Thinking Out Loud’ rivaled the original in tonal quality. Sixteen year-old Sheralyn May Hill in a beige slit dress sounded how Rihanna and Beyonce would if voices could dissolve into each other. At the end of ‘Halo’, one can understand how it is about the divine. Last of the front acts, Sean Hutton was both masterful guitarist and impressive vocalist with his cover of the Jason Mraz hit, ‘Beautiful Mess’. It is easy to picture a singing-song writing success for Hutton, given his level of talent and skill.
Off to a good start, the show opens with Kakai Bautista who is an equally powerful singer as she is a comedian. She opened the show with an Ariana Grande, the hit ‘Break Free’, Sia’s ‘Chandelier’, and Jessi J’s ‘Flashlight’. In between songs, Bautista delivered her brand of Filipino humour – a combination of slapstick, self-deprecation, sharp observation, and quick wit.
Soap actress, Beauty Gonzalez also charmed the audience with classic OPM pieces, Sharon Cuneta’s ‘Kahit Maputi na ang Buhok Ko’ and Hotdog’s ‘O, Lumapit Ka’. Later joining her on stage was co-actor in popular soap, ‘Dream Dad’s’ Zanjoe Marudo who sang the Rey Valera classic, ‘Kumusta Ka’ and River Maya’s ‘Hinahanap Hanap Kita’. Audience participation was high with some participating in games onstage and Marudo singing to and joining the audiences in pictures as well.
Highlights of the evening were stellar performances by Angeline Quinto and Eric Santos. Between the two of them were topnotch renditions of the teleserye themes ‘Kung Ako’y Iiwan Mo’, ‘Kunin mo na ang Lahat sa Akin’, ‘Saan Darating ang Umaga’, ‘Isang Pangarap’, ‘Maging Sino Ka Man’, ‘Iisa pa Lang’, ‘May Bukas Pa’, and ‘You and I’, all crowd favourites of soap-loving Filipinos at home and abroad. The duo also sang to the younger crowd, belting pop hits like the Frozen theme track ‘Let it Go’, the Black Eyed Peas’ ‘I’ve got a Feeling’, and David Guetta’s ‘Titanium’.
The night ended with an Aiza Seguerra set which started with a raw and emotional performance of her hit song, ‘Pagdating ng Panahon’. Seguerra with an acoustic guitar is a tour de force in original pieces like ‘Anong Nangyari’, and covers of the Eraserheads modern classic ‘Huling El Bimbo’, and Francis Magalona’s ‘Kaleidoscope World.’
TFC One Kapamilya Go – Melbourne 2015 was sponsored by Philippine Airlines, LBC, SMDC, Avida Amaia, Megaworld International, and The Philippine Times.