Diva vs. Diva: Mariah Carey displaces Lani Misalucha in concert ‘wars’
When Mariah Carey takes to the Mall of Asia Arena stage later tonight, she would’ve displaced one other diva who had scheduled her show at about this same time.
Las Vegas-based singer Lani Misalucha, who is also known as Asia’s Nightingale, should have had her own show a week earlier but in the battle of Diva vs. Diva, the Elusive Chanteuse wins the round.
Lani admitted as much.
Foreign shows affect local performers
“Alam mo, hindi naman lingid sa kaalaman natin na ang dami talaga (ng foreign acts),” she said during a recent Skype interview with local bloggers. She was referring not only to Mariah Carey but also to acts like John Legend, who had a sold-out show at the Araneta Coliseum on September 26.
“If you’re gonna ask me, and diyan ako nakatira: if I had this amount of money for me to see one show, definitely I would go for something that I don’t usually see…. So, I’ll definitely go for John Legend or Mariah Carey,” she fessed up.
“So yung mga dami ng foreign acts na dumating, definitely naapektuhan yung local performers, yung mga taga dyaan. Hindi ko inde-deny yon na maari talagang maapektuhan yung show natin….”
Lani Misalucha at the SMDC Grand Showroom event, July 24, 2014
Barbra Streisand meets Cirque du Soleil
Which is why her La Nightingale concert, her first in seven years, has been pushed back to December 6 at the Araneta Coliseum, where she’ll be joined by Arnel Pineda, Jed Madela and G-Force, together with the ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Gerard Salonga.
But, she is sanguine about the delay, saying it gives her and her production team time to make the show even better.
La Nightingale, she promises, will combine the elegant, no-frills approach of a Barbra Streisand concert, with the lavish production of Cirque du Soleil. She’ll do her usual mix of Tagalog and English ballads, upbeat numbers, a classical piece in the vein of the aria “Nessun Dorma,” including the OPM classics she reinterprets in her 2014 album “The Nightingale Returns: Lani Misalucha Sings the Greatest Filipino Songbook.”
Lani Misalucha duets with Arnel Pineda in the Ray Valera classic
Risque costume?
She’s also consulting closely with her costume designers.
“Yung isa sa mga designers nga, ine-envision daw niya na magta-tangga ako,” the 45-year-old singer said, as the roomful of bloggers erupts in laughter.
“Sige magtawa kayo,” she deadpans.
But then Lani herself dissolves in fit of silent laughter, her shoulders shaking, her hand clapped to her mouth.
“Walanghiya rin naman pala kayo,” she said when the mirth subsided.
“Wala namang ganyanan,” she jokingly told the costume designers. “Saan ka ba nakakita ng lola ng nagta-tangga pa.”
At the SMDC event, showing off her 'whistle' register
Fans flying in from abroad
Still, the 45 year old lola diva promises to deliver the same effect on a more modest bodysuit. (Lani is an actual lola with an eight-month-old grandson from her bunso, Lian, who’s 21.)
She wants to do right by her fans, some of whom went to lengths expecting to see her perform this October.
“Lingid sa aking kaalaman, may mga fans pala ako from Indonesia, from Singapore. Actually mga Indonesian talaga sila, mga Singaporean, mga Amerikano na manggagaling pa dito na pupuna diyan.”
A promise of beautiful songs
They had already booked their flights and their hotels before finding out the show date had been moved.
Some of them, she disclosed, have simply changed their plans and rebooked their flights to catch the reschedule of La Nightingale.
“Sana mapanood nila ito because I really don’t know when there’s gonna be a next one or if there’s going to be a next one,” she said, citing her show commitments in the US. “Kung mapanood nila sa December 6, I just want them to remember me as the artist who gave them beautiful songs, beautiful singing.”
Which we can only hope Mariah herself can do tonight.
Lani Misalucha’s La Nightingale concert is happening on December 6, 2014 at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City. Tickets at P480, 795, 1275, 3180, 4770 and 6225 are available at Ticketnet Online or at the gate.
“The Nightingale Returns: Lani Misalucha Sings the Greatest Filipino Songbook” is available at all record bars nationwide for only P350 and online via Amazon and iTunes.
