Thanks to Sammy Rubido for giving me a CD of the 5th OKM Awards finalists. Wara takun nakalantaw kang actual performances kang mga finalists, kasi naman the awards night was held in far away Bugasong. Well, mga one hour drive man lang, but my car is still in the talyer, so I had nothing to drive. Drive me crazy na lang. Tried hard to convince Poks to bring her carurang, pero wiz feel kang murat magrampa sa Bugaysong hay wa man driver, and her chubby daughter Mariela wara't mabantay.
In other words, nagahinulsul gid ako tulad nga wiz ko witness ang 5th OKM, especially nga nag-winalou si Love Estaris for her song "Ti ano karon." Listen na lang me sa CD nga givsung ni Sammy Rubs.
Jongga ang song ni Love, in the tradition of Cabaret and Hey Big Spender. It's about a chaka girl nga nagarationalize kang anang pagka-chaka. Shades of Betty La Fea. Sureness, it's not Love's persona coz super-jutiful si Rubbie Rizza Estaris, Lin-ay kang Antique 2005. But for her to take on the persona and be the voice of the homely is unselfishness. May feminist voice sa kanta ni Love, so that indi matrivialize as just another Liza Minelli/Shirley Bassey wannabee. In a pop music tradition nga puro love song kang panganduhoy kon bukut over the top romantisismo about the Maragtas, matawag ta nga novelty ang kanta ni Love Estaris. Dugangan pa nga super performer si Love, ti bukut makatiringala nga madaug na ang top prize this year. Congrats, Love.
Ang second cut sa CD - "Wara" ni Noel Tabotabo stars out in a Sting-ish beat, and I suspect amo gid ang model ni Noel. On second thought, daw si Billy Joel man. Something between rock and jazz. Rock ang beat pero gina-jazz up ni Noel. hahaha. Amo gid man ang signature ni Noel, who's been into composing and music for the longest time I remember. I got him as my musical director for "Hiniraya" in 2002, pero wara nagsipot sa performance hay nagbata si misis na. Trademark na man dya. hehehe. Anyway, Noel's music is something he alone could sing. Amo ria wara nagapopular ang anang music. If I remember right he also won first prize in the 3rd OKM. Si Love Estaris ang interpreter na. Small world.
The second prize winner, "Ikaw nadura tungud kanakun" is by Marte Jun Granada, who Jun Teneso told me is still a student. This is a love duet, and quite mushy. A song about lost love, the lyrics are prosaic and corny, but the music is good enough. It gives enough material for the local singers.
The other songs in the album are forgettable. There's Edison Otañez's "Daw Hangin", which is a far cry from his earlier music, plus the rather trying hard singing style he puts on. He won third for this. It's easy to accept. Edison is OKM's first champion, when we started the competition in 2003. He lost in the second, and that was quite an issue. But as one local composer said in his one-time popular OKM, "Pa-tyempo tyempo lang" (sing that 100x).
There's another song I would tend to like - "San-o" (track 9), which comes in the tradition of Pinoy rock. Am not a big rock music fan, but this one hits me good enough. It's by Filbert Paunon (music) and Thelmo Fano (lyrics).
I think the 5th OKM is in a higher level now. Kauna, most of the music is about Kinaray-a, kag Maragtas, ek-ek beng. Mga romantisismo nga mabudlay huksun sa Karay-a artists. Pero tulad, thanks to new music artists like Love Estaris, and old timers like Noel, who are experimenting, and trying to put new elements in OKM.
We must congratulate Paranubliun Antique, for sustaining OKM Awards, which has now become an annual event to look out for.
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