harmonium (part II)

ii. Oh Yeah, Oh Yeah, Oh Yeah, Oh Yeah

Back in first grade, I attended voice lessons at the request of my parents. It was really awkward as I was the only kid among the towering senior students. I dropped out just before the recital. I told the instructor that I could not squeeze it on my already-busy calendar. It turned out that it was a good move as I found out that I don’t need any formal training on singing. How should I put it? Some people are better suited for dancing than singing. I’m neither.

I could remember joining a singing contest that year with a piece from Nonoy Zuñiga (“Nais Ko“). My mom still insists that I sang a different song but I have to disagree because I can’t go wrong with something as memorably traumatic like that. Anyway, I just did it to please my father who also happens to be a frustrated singer. Though karaoke-wise, he is good. And so is my brother. I think. It’s an unspoken rule in our household that Sundays are karaoke-days for my dad. The same goes for my Mhanoy (my term of endearment for an aunt) and another aunt. And since we live in a compound of sorts, you can just imagine the ruckus when the minus one tracks of James Ingram, Regine Velasquez and The Carpenters blast on each of their entertainment systems simultaneously. The noise pollution!

The only other time that I sung in public was during our audit in Dagupan, Pangasinan. There was a café which had an open mic night and being highly-caffeinated (and due to peer pressure) I went up the stage and sang “I Honestly Love You”. Ha ha. No, I did “Don’t Know What To Do, Don’t Know What To Say”. It was hilarious.

That’s why I prefer doing solo concerts to avoid ridicule. Also, my choice of songs tends to be more of the Top 40 which clashes with that of my father’s and brother’s picks. Plus, I wouldn’t have the nerve to pull a stone-groove smash performance of “Touch My Body” if they were there.

Ah karaoke! It used to be my favorite past time. My friends and I would even organize a RedBox session patterned over American Idol – we get to pick songs based on themes. How High School is that? It’s fun though especially when we are forced to sing unfamiliar songs. But of course, that presents no real challenge to me. Lol. That’s the benefit of being a music aficionado. I remember last year’s Post-Christmas Party Party when the team went to Platinum KTV. After the third song, the beautiful plasma TV short-circuited (as it was smartly placed directly below the dripping air-conditioning unit) leaving them clueless to the words of the selected songs as the videoke player was still up and running. I hogged the mic, took over and wowed them until we were asked to transfer to the room upstairs (Cory Quirino was politely asked to vacate to make way for us. Hah!). Ha ha.

Most of the times though, I’m content with listening to other people sing. And just do a Cowell on them afterwards. Fortunately, I’ve got friends who are as good, if not better, than the finalists and some winners of local singing competitions like Pinoy Idol and Pinoy Pop Superstarrrrr! They’re the ones whom I love having RedBox sessions with because not only do I get to marvel at their vocal prowess and learn new singing techniques (Lol. I could still recall Striker’s comments when I sang “Hurt” with a then-raspy, breathy voice.) but it’s also the closest I’ll get to realizing my dream to sing with a real performer. Aw.