Gigi de Lana and Stell Ajero steal the show in ‘Wish Date: Obscure’

Breathtaking singers Gigi de Lana and Stell Ajero of the P-pop group SB19 had the audience spellbound at the Araneta Coliseum during their performances in the show “Wish Date: Obscure” on Sunday night, 11 August.

Their voices soared to the sky without their throats bulging from excessive vocal force. Their relaxed throats produced firm voices that embodied emotion — voices that are unbroken, solid yet gentle and soothing, not shrieking or screaming like other belters often do.

In a country full of senseless and clownish belters, Gigi’s and Stell’s soaring voices are like fleeting jewels in the sky, etched in the consciousness of some viewers and listeners.

The show was held to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Wish Radio 107.5 FM, which airs the much-followed program Wish Date, hosted by a disc jockey who calls himself “Dr. Clark” and reads letters from listeners sharing their bittersweet or rollercoaster love stories.

In 2022, the radio station’s marketing arm, KDR Music House, decided to produce unique shows that blend a live concert with a movie whose storyline is based on letters sent to Dr. Clark. The songs punctuate the ups and downs of the love stories.

The shows are titled with the keyword Wish Date, followed by a word or two that evoke the highs and lows of the love story dramatized in the movie.

The 11 August Wish Date is the 12th edition. The earlier editions featured movies where all scenes were shot and then shown on screen. Since these movies star attractive actors, who wouldn’t want to see them performing live on stage?

Only Wish Date has the unique format of a concert-within-a-film, where certain scenes are acted out live on stage. This format, which began in 2023 with actors Alice Dixson and Ella de Cordova as the first to perform on stage, has been followed in subsequent editions by Mary Joy Apostol, Jerome Ponce, Arnold Reyes, EA de Guzman and Kira Balinger.

Love triangle

In Wish Date: Obscure, young ABS-CBN stars Karina Bautista, Elijah Canlas and JC Alcantara took the stage at the Big Dome to act out their characters’ love triangle.

Elijah portrays Carlos, a young lawyer who was raised by his grandmother after being mysteriously abandoned by his mother when he was only seven years old. Alcantara plays Chris, a young geologist who has been Carlos’ friend since childhood but was never told about Carlos’ trauma of abandonment. Carlos grew up aloof, though he became philanthropic toward abandoned children in orphanages and centers. It is in one of these centers that he meets the lovely and genial Bernadette (played by Karina), who is involved in volunteer work.

The film’s script, however, does not provide any backstory about Chris and Bernadette. Both young men fall for Bernadette, but only Chris reveals his feelings to Carlos. Chris cannot bring himself to confess his feelings to Bernadette. On the other hand, Carlos will only reveal his feelings to her when he believes they might die together in an accident.

It was a good decision not to ask De Lana and Ajero to perform a duet, as such a performance would have deprived the audience of the chance to enjoy the two amazing singers’ solo numbers. They are not a love team on- or off-screen, and they perform superbly as solo acts with equal intensity and quality, so blending them would be unnecessary. Besides, Stell already does a lot of blending, harmonizing and coordinating with his four fellow members in SB19.

De Lana and Ajero were the last two performers to emerge, signaling that they were the main attraction of the concert. Although they sang one song at a time, each song was more or less related to the previous movie scene or the one forthcoming.

Promising

The other performers included the KDR Music House artists (who are all promising but need more mentoring on building a song vocally and emotively), Neocolours (still featuring Ito Rapadas as the lead vocalist), and the 24-year-old rock band Silent Sanctuary.

KDR Music House’s artists Hakki Patricio, Letters from June and Esay opened the night with their heartfelt rendition of APO Hiking Society’s “Batang-Bata Ka Pa.” Rising band Letters from June also showcased a cover of True Faith’s “Dahil Ikaw.” Up-and-coming singer Hakki belted out “Defying Gravity,” while budding singer-songwriter Esay put her spin on the Les Misérables tune “I Dreamed a Dream.”

OPM band Neocolours made their debut on the “Wish Date” concert stage with original performances of their hits “Tuloy Pa Rin,” “Maybe,” “Say You’ll Never Go” and “Hold On.” Ito Rapadas is still the band’s lead vocalist, with pop idol composer Jimmy Antiporda as their keyboardist.

For Silent Sanctuary’s set, the Pinoy rock band performed their well-loved tracks “Sa’yo,” “14,” “Ikaw Lamang” and “Pasensya Ka Na.”

Silent Sanctuary is a six-piece Filipino rock band formed in the Philippines in 2001. They are known for being one of the first Pinoy rock bands to incorporate classical instruments, such as the viola and violin, into their music.

De Lana’s first song with her all-male band Gigi Vibes was the shocking “She’s Gone” by Steelheart, released in 1991. Steelheart is an American glam metal band that was popular in the ‘90s. ‘She’s Gone’ is a surprising choice for De Lana to cover, as it is a song originally performed by a male vocalist about a woman who left him. The Steelheart frontman is Miljenko Matijevic, an American-Croatian singer.

Vocal calisthenics

De Lana’s next number was Mariah Carey’s “Hero.” De Lana, of course, excelled at Carey’s famous vocal calisthenics. However, it was in her next performance, Evanescence’s “Bring Me to Life,” that De Lana truly shone, almost mirroring the performance of its original singer, the feisty Amy Lee. Lee was a co-founder of Evanescence in 1994 in Arkansas, USA, along with guitarist Ben Moody. The band was one of the first hard rock groups with a female lead vocalist, and the male-dominated music industry struggled with this. They suggested adding a male rapper to “Bring Me to Life,” which Lee reluctantly agreed to, resulting in the song winning a Grammy. Later, she managed to release her original version of the song without the rapper.

For their final number, De Lana and Gigi Vibes performed Jackson 5’s “I’ll Be There.”

We were told that the inclusion of iconic foreign songs from the ‘90s in Wish Date concerts is the brainchild of a relatively young musical director, Jason Quitane. He also seems to be responsible for De Lana’s return to the Wish Date concert stage. She and her band performed there previously in December. She was remarkable at that time as well, though her performances were not as iconoclastic as those in this August’s show. Bravo, Jason Quitane!

On the other hand, Ajero performed only three well-applauded songs, two of which were “Di Ko Masabi” and “Anino” from his latest EP, “Room.” These are long songs about self-sacrificing love, sung to the highest sky above—à la Celine Dion, undoubtedly. Ajero also stirred hearts with his stellar rendition of Michael Bolton’s “Go the Distance.”

We heard some young people behind us whispering their ardent wish that Ajero would come down to the audience for selfies. He didn’t. We later asked KDR Music House PR Adjes Carreon why Ajero didn’t go down, and the PR’s straightforward reply was: “For security reasons.”

You have a chance to see for yourself how remarkable De Lana’s and Ajero’s performances were at Wish Date: Obscure. The event will have a digital premiere tomorrow (Sunday) on the KDR Music House YouTube channel at 7 p.m. Enjoy the movie that unfolds around the concert’s theme of three young lovers.

At the end of the event, the performers were recognized by the station as Ambassadors of Charity and Goodwill, acknowledging their support for Wish 107.5’s advocacy of championing charity and using music as an avenue to pay it forward.