Have you had, so far, enough of Manny Pacquiao a.k.a. Pacman slugging it out in the ring, taking punches and giving them back to opponents whom he usually knocks out?
Don’t look now, but Pacman is set to mount not the ring but the stage this time, and not with gloves and mouthpiece but with a microphone for a concert with – brace yourselves – Allan Pineda (a.k.a. apl.de.ap) of The Black-Eyed Peas. I’m not kidding!
The main event will be held on Dec. 23, 8 p.m., at the CCP Open Field. The concert, aptly dubbed as bokSING sa Manila, will give Pacman a chance to fully showcase his, ehem, singing prowess and to convince his fans that he can be as good with his vocal cords as he is with his fists, never mind if he sometimes (but very rarely, I hasten to add) sings off-key and his Visayan accent can be delightfully distracting.
The concert is Pacman’s first public performance after he knocked out Erik Morales on Nov. 19 at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas in their best-of-three bout.
Of course, Pinoy music buffs know very well that Pineda is a Filipino (born in Angeles City) who was adopted at age 14 by an American couple who brought him to America. Like Champ Pacman, Pineda is a champion in his own right in the sense that he was able to overcome the adversities caused by loneliness and discrimination by being a champion break-dancer at parties and other events in California. The good thing about Allan, who has been here a few times for performances with the rest of The Black-Eyed Peas, is that he has never forgotten his Filipino heritage, shouting “I am a Filipino!” anywhere he is. In The Black-Eyed Peas latest album, he even wrote a Filipino-inspired song called Bebot (meaning girl) for which he did a music video with Jasmine Trias (the Pinay who hit third spot in the American Idol search two years ago). The two were even rumored to have been briefly “fascinated” with each other.
bokSING sa Manila will feature Camille Velasco, the other Pinay singer who figured prominently with Jasmine in the same talent search, along with Rae, Nump, Roscoe, Slapshock, All-Star Dance Group and the LSDC Street Dancers.
(Note: For inquiries about bokSING sa Manila, call 0917-5274928.)
