That national-anthem contest Nonito Donaire is staging this month in advance of his Oct. 22 fight in New York has consumed my past week in the Bay Area. I was hard at work on it even before the U.S. anthem entered the equation at mid-week.
Yes, here I am on YouTube doing my best, in Tagalog, on Lupang Hinirang.
I’m pretty sure Donaire will be tickled, and I?m hoping it won?t seem sacreligious to my friends in the Philippines.
It?s a fabulous anthem about a lovely country whose people will endure there forever, and musically its three sections build tension to a thunderously triumphant final verse.
Family and I render the finale in four-part harmony.
I?m not vying to sing this anthem at Donaire?s bantamweight title fight with Omar Narvaez on HBO, of course. A Filipino-American should do that, and Team Donaire reports there?s an impressive aggregation building on YouTube that?s sure to yield a thrilling rendition on fight night.
