It’s a wish date

If you’re offered tickets to “Wish Date” shows, grab them. Don’t waste time asking who are performing in the show because we assure you that for some years now, those entertainment fares produced by KDR Music House always features the hottest singers and hottest bands at the time the tickets are offered to you.

For months now, among the hottest singers in the country are Dionela and Josh Cullen, and among the bands are Dilaw and Letters from June. Well, KDR Music House has just featured them in the company’s latest show “WishDate: Solace.” The extravaganza was held at the Mall of Asia Arena just last Sunday, 13 October.

That entertainment event may well be dubbed as an extravaganza because it simultaneously features a live concert and a movie -- with some scenes of the film acted out live on stage. The film is actually a rendition of a letter sent to a disc jockey on Wish radio 107.5FM with the fancy name, Dr. Clark.

The songs performed on stage enhance the emotive reading of the letter to Dr. Clark. The letters usually involve the bittersweet love stories of the avid listeners of Dr. Clark. For years now, the live show “Wish Date” is the only one its kind in the Philippine entertainment scene.

Last Sunday’s production was billed as “WishDate: Solace.” Its musical features included belter singers Angeline Quinto and Arabella Cruz and the seasoned Itchyworms. The film featured James Blanco, Nicky Valdez, former Pinoy Big Brother contestant Zonia Mejia, GMA 7 Sparkle star Shan Vegas and Chastity Dizon. Blanco is 43, but he is very boyish on screen.

Dionela is unusual in so many ways. Despite the feminine name, the singer is actually a fierce-looking macho from the town of Guiginto, Bulacan. Dionela is actually his surname, and his first name is Tim. He used to record songs as Tim Dionela, but if no one has bothered to explain why he goes by a female single monicker as a recording artist, it could be because his first single, “Sining,” currently holds the top spot on Spotify Philippines.

The song, which has a mix lyrics of English and Filipino, had an unprecedented seven straight weeks on being on top of the local charts but has also climbed to No. 60 on the Global Charts as of August.

Not only does the song have an impressive 56, 905, 536 in total streams on Spotify as of this writing, but it has also amassed a remarkable 7,392,633 monthly listeners. That means right now, he’s the OPM artist with the most monthly listeners.

His popularity extends beyond a single platform. The rising star’s latest song topped the Apple Music Philippines Top 100 Charts.

In August, the official music video for “Sining” with stars BINI member Stacey and seasoned actor Joonee Gamboa in it also earned 11,220,086 views on YouTube. The music video was also Dionela’s directorial debut.

Actually, Dionela teamed up with OPM icon Jay R for the song, which featured Dionela’s modern vibe and Jay R’s smooth vocals. Dionela expressed his excitement about the collaboration, noting that it was a dream come true to work with an artist he has long admired.

The self-confessed romantic Dionela finds inspiration in spontaneous and fun moments he has spent with Meizy, his partner and muse. “Sining” is actually only one of many songs he penned for her, including the popular TikTok hits “Musika,” “Oksihina” (Oxygen) ­— and “Sugal." Dionela performed — with his band at “WishDate: Solace” his compositions Musika, Oksihina and 153. He couldn’t do "Sining" as JR was not among the performers.

Dionela was the first guest to perform after the anthemic opening singing of the Wish Date Chorale which has become the tradition of "Wish Date" concerts. The 80-member chorale’s rendition of "We are the Champions" and "Bohemian Rhapsody" are remarkably vigorous and set the theme of the movie’s narrative which has to do with a father’s doting love for his only child (a daughter) as his wife died soon after giving birth due to a sickness she had even before the marriage.

Dionela roused the audience into a romantic mood. His lyrics are quite intense, almost bordering on hyperboles that the audience lap up. Some words in his songs seem to be malalim na Tagalog Bulacan. One example is “balor.”

The show does not introduce the performing singer or band, not even on the video screen. After Dionela, SB19’s Josh Cullen and his back up dancers and musicians turned up at one part of the spacious stage. But Cullen (whose real surname is Santos) definitely knows how to fire up a crowd! The hitmaker got the audience excited and sang along to hit track “1999” — a song from his debut solo album Lost and Found.

Cullen also sang “ See Me” from the same album. For some reason, he decided to clown it up for that number. He did some clownish balletic steps and even ended up practically kneeling in front of one of his back up musicians. We’re not sure what that stance is symbolic of.

We learned that at 30, Cullen is the oldest member of SB19. And yet, Cullen looks like the youngest and also seems to be the most handsome. Could that be why the A’tins (SB19 fans) let him get away with a stance as silly as kneeling in front of some guy?

Dilaw, a band from Baguio City up North, is absolutely well-loved now in many parts of the country. They vibrantly performed their hits “Uhaw,” “Janice” and “Orasa.” It’s amazing that these Ilocano-speaking songwriters craft highly engaging songs in Tagalog.

Letters from June is a band managed by KDR Music House itself. The band is refreshing for its unaffected way of singing and their almost plain outfits, decent (conservative) hairstyle. They sing and play almost serenely their musical instruments. Most bands these days perform with so many antics, perhaps to distract the audience from their flats and sharps and the monotonous chords of their vaunted compositions.

Letters from June dished out the old serene songs “Make It With You,” “Universe” and “Head Over Heels.”

It must be for concert viewers who love flashy, overwrought singing that KDR Music House included in the list of performers for “WishDate: Solace” the kind of belt out (birit!) Angelene Quinto, Arabella Cruz and Itchyworm band, which has overweight singing.

Well, as the saying goes, “the proof of the pudding is in the eating.” You may catch the full concert-movie “WishDate: Solace” on 27 October at the KDR Music House YouTube channel.