NAPAKA-GENTLEMAN talaga ni Martin Nievera dahil hindi niya tinabihang umupo ang Asia’s Nightingle na si Lani Misalucha sa couch, bilang paggalang, nang dumalo ang dalawa sa mediacon ng Valentine show nilang Timeless Classics, na gaganapin sa PICC Plenary Hall, Pebrero 14, mula sa musical direction ni Louie Ocampo. Hindi namin alam kung suggestion ito ng production o sinadya ng Concert King.

Martin at Lani

Anyway, sa nasabing mediacon ay naikuwento ni Martin na ang ex-wife niyang si Pops Fernandez ang isa sa mga hurado ng international talent search ng CBS, ang The World’s Best, bilang kinatawan ng Pilipinas.

Pero bago raw nakuha si Pops ang posisyon ay sa kanya muna ito ibinigay na hindi lang natuloy dahil sa conflict of schedules.

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Ayon kay Martin, “I already got it. They had a whole list of people na ‘for sure,’ ’yung mga ‘for sure’ choices. So I went on a Facetime audition which I’ve never done and they asked me these questions and I was just being myself and they said, ‘okay, you’re in, this is exactly what we’re looking for,’”

“It just so happened na everyday of taping for the show, I have a concert in a different city. So, I tried to get out of my commitments but it was too late.

“They said, ‘I’m sorry, Martin, we really want you, we already organized your taping days but we can’t meet the days of your concerts. So, do you know anyone else that you think could play the role?’”

Binanggit niya ang pangalan ni Pops na nagkataong nasa listahan din pala ng mga aalukin.

At nagulat ang kausap niya dahil paano raw niya nakilala si Pops, “maybe they don’t have the idea that we once married. I told them, ‘well, we have two kids.

“So they went to Pops straight and they were able to fix her schedules so that she could be there for the taping days,” pagkukuwento ng Concert King.

Nabanggit din ng ex-husband ni Pops na gustung-gusto niyang magkaroon ng international career na nu’ng dumating na ay saka naman hindi siya puwede.

“I’ve always wanted that; I’ve always wanted that break. I was so fixated about that so much so that I actually lost Pops and the kids. We’re no longer together ’coz I’m so hungry for fame, international fame.

“And finally, here it is, and who do I give it to? The person I lost. That’s God saying na ‘ah, ganu’n, ha?’ Give it to Pops. Which I did and I’m so happy I did,” masayang kuwento ni Martin.

O, ‘di ba ateng Jet, napaka-gentleman talaga ni Martin dahil maski hiwalay na sila ni Pops ay hindi pa rin niya ito nakalimutang i-rekomenda para sa pangarap niyang magkaroon ng international break.

Going back to Timeless Classics ay ‘almost sold-out’ na ito, ayon mismo kina Martin at Lani, kaya petiks-petiks na lang ang producer nilang si Ana Puno.

Naikuwento ni Lani na sobrang hands-on si Martin sa show nila, “may pagka-OC (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). I’m telling you, he wants our show really-really entertaining and have a good time. Sabi nga, Valentines, ‘yung show namin parang appetizer.”

Dagdag ni Martin, “appetizer sa mga magdi-date, boyfriend-girlfriend, husband and wife, husband and other wife ganu’n, it’s a new world that other wife and another husband. All is fair in love and war, we were trying to set the mood and I think every Valentines show has the same intention na talagang people in the mood for love and to remind them what the value and the importance of love. Lani and I are the same that’s why the title of the show is malalaman mo kaagad kung anong gagawin na we’re do songs that were timeless. Songs that you wanna hear over and over again that you wanted to hear but you never heard for such a long, long time.”

Ang Times Classics ay handog ng Starmedia Entertainment in association with Global Police Community Relations. Ang beneficiary ng show ay ang mga proyekto ng Rotary Club of Makati East, Rotary Club of Cubao Central at Rotary Club of Paranaque East.

-Reggee Bonoan