Christian Bautista once again showed his range as a performer when I saw the second night of X Class, his successful 10th
year anniversary concert series that was held at the Meralco Theater. Along with stage director
Rowell Santiago, music director Louie Ocampo and producer STAGES, Christian took
the audience to an audio-visual experience which was on a different class of
its own. Paying homage to his theater/balladeer roots while also highlighting
his current sound, Christian proved that in his 10 years in the business, he
has shown tremendous growth as a singer and actor with an added bonus of a peek at a
different side of Christian not normally seen on television.
X
Class combined eye popping visuals with occasional gasp inducing theatrics and
special effects all tied up together by Christian Bautista’s music. Probably
one of the audience’s favorites from the concert was the number Could It be Magic with the stage
converted into a fantasy world where bicycles can tread the skies and balloons can
make people fly. Another highlight was the Broken
Vow number where Christian acknowledged the influence of Josh Groban
earlier in his career. In this number, massively popular cosplayer Alodia
Gosiengfiao joined Christian onstage and acted as if she was Cio Cio San from
the opera Madame Butterfly. Subtle and yet neat effects like the blooming
flowers made this number a visual treat. Another memorable number was Invincible with the Hotlegs doing
creative choreography as part of the walls that Christian was able to break
through.
 |
| X Class stage director Rowell Santiago and music director Louie Ocampo |
The
concert could’ve gone overboard with the saturation of special effects but
thankfully, there were numbers that only had little or no effects at
all. The numbers Hands to Heaven,
Colour Everywhere, I’m Already King and his encore, The Way You Look at Me were poignant moments during the concert that the star of the show weren't the visuals, but Christian's voice and music. The concert also provided some chances for Christian to have some fun, strut his stuff and shake his booty via
the upbeat and action filled numbers. These numbers were the
opening Fix You/It’s My Life, Live and Let Live and the crowd pleaser of
the night, the mash up of Somebody That I
Used to Know/Gangnam Style. Christian’s guests were
former Akafellas member Ikey Canoy and DJ Myke, brother Jordan Bautista, Zia
Quizon and MiG Ayesa who was the special guest for that night. Other guests who performed
on other nights were Regine Velasquez, Sharon Cuneta and Kuh Ledesma. The
Manoeuvres and Hotlegs were the backup dancers for the entire five nights of the concert series.
A
nice mix of light and shade, moments of spectacle and subdued elegance were the
main strengths of X Class. And this is also a reflection of Christian Bautista’s 10 year career which was
celebrated in this concert. I’ve said this before and I say it once again: a
clear and noticeable evolution and progression could be heard in the music of
Christian throughout the years which cannot be said among his contemporaries.
And this is not bad at all coming from what people originally dubbed as a Josh
Groban clone during his Star in a
Million days.
The Cutie Pie at Radio Republic’s
Muchikahan
 |
| Cutie Pie Christian Bautista |
One
thing I regret about the concert was that I failed to see Christian backstage
afterwards. I went over to the orchestra pit and congratulated music director
Louie Ocampo right after the concert and I missed my chance to go backstage.
But I didn’t fret that much since I knew that I would have my chance to see
Christian up close once again very, very soon.
 |
| Jay Durias, Ryan Cayabyab and Christian at Muchikahan |
Just
a few days after I saw X Class, Christian dropped by Radio Republic (which is one of my
favorite places ever) to be the guest for Muchikahan,
the show hosted by Ryan Cayabyab and Jay Durias. After the lavish production
numbers from X Class, it was very
nice to see Christian in a more laid back and relaxed setting as he talked
about his career, like his theater roots and how he made it big in Indonesia among other things. He
also sang a few songs like So It’s You,
Nag-Iisang Ikaw, and Beautiful Girl with stripped down
accompaniment coming from just two keyboards courtesy of the hosts. During that
night at Radio Republic
After
the program, I’ve had my chance to personally congratulate Christian for X Class and I told him how surprised I
was about the crowd pleasing number. This brief chat actually prompted Ryan
Cayabyab to do the Gangnam Style
dance for a bit. I thought that Christian doing it was already surprising but seeing
Mr. C do that is something on an entirely different class of its own. And
speaking of dancing, Christian’s next project will involve a lot of dancers,
ballet dancers specifically and will also involve the Ryan Cayabyab as well.
Christian to star in Ballet Philippines’
Rama Hari
Christian
will soon star in probably one of the biggest stage productions that he would
be in: Ballet Philippines ’
Rama Hari happening this November
30-December 9, 2012 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
He and Karylle join Ballet Philippines
in this re-staging of the classic work by Alice Reyes, National Artist for Literature Bienvenido
Lumbera and Ryan Cayabyab. I asked Ryan Cayabyab after Muchikahan what he
thinks Christian and Karylle will bring to the table in this production.
He said that the two will bring freshness since they are current. Their take
will be different from those of Basil Valdez and Kuh Ledesma who originated the
role. And that during the original staging, Basil and Kuh also brought freshness and a current feel to the songs. The two has since become living legends in the music industry. I told him that I still can’t imagine how Christian and Karylle would
handle the roles and the songs. But Ryan Cayabyab has full confidence in them
and told me that Karylle’s session went really well. I guess I have to wait for
the opening night on November 30, 2012 to see and hear them with the
Manila Symphony Orchestra.
X Plus album celebrates Christian’s first
decade in the industry
Rama Hari is still over a month away
but here is something new from Christian for those who can’t wait any longer:
his latest album X Plus. Featured in
this album released by Universal Records are his renditions of three television
series’ theme songs: Gaano Kadalas ang
Minsan, Nag-Iisang Bituin and Nag-Iisang Ikaw. There are also new
recordings of previous hits The Way You
Look at Me and Hands to Heaven
featuring Zia Quizon. It is currently available on retail outlets nationwide and at online stores like MyMusicStore Philippines.
X Plus
Tracks:
1.
Gaano Kadalas Ang Minsan (From the Teleserye Walang Hanggan)
2.
Nag-Iisang Bituin (from the Teleserye Princess & I)
3.
Nag-Iisang Ikaw (from the Teleserye Precious Hearts Romance presents Pintada)
4.
Unphotographable (Remix)
5.
Love Moves In Mysterious Ways
6.
What Can I Do
7.
Beautiful Girl
8.
The Way You Look At Me
9.
Please Be Careful With My Heart with Sarah Geronimo
10.
Hands To Heaven feat. Zia Quizon
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