Afterwards, she delighted the spectators with her version of a Lady Gaga hit. Nope, she didn't don the American singer's flashy outfits, but she wore that perfect "Poker Face" expression.
The OPM segment began with Lea's soulful performance of "Kahit Isang Saglit." Then, Richard Poon joined her to sing "Bakit Labis Kitang Mahal," "Mahal Kita Walang Iba," "Sana Maulit Muli," "I Don't Love You Anymore," and "Sometime, Somewhere." The lady owned the stage!
The quite unexpected yet most-applauded part of the evening was the showdown between Lea and Ai-Ai Delas Alas.
The Comedy Queen brought the house down with her funny quips. "It's so cool to be with you," was how she greeted Lea. Ai-Ai continued, addressing the people at the orchestra section of the hall, "Babatiin ko lang po ang mga fans ni Ms. Lea. Grabe, ang yayaman. Sosyal! Mga nakabarong." Then she looked up and waved to the crowd occupying the balcony seats, "Hi, fans. 'Musta kayo riyan? Buti na lang nakarating kayo at na-afford niyo diyan."
The hall roared with laughter.
It was the audience's utmost enjoyment to witness Lea sing Akon's "Right Now," Rihanna's "Umbrella," and for her to drop her prim-and-proper persona for a few minutes as she belted out the Aegis song "Halik." And for those who want to know how she ended the song—yes, she sang the "bakit iniwan mo ako" line with that garalgal quality of a rock star!
Ai-Ai took care of the "pang-piyesta" versions, like Blank Tape's "Banana" and Miss Ganda's "Payong."
The segment was totally entertaining—from the moment Ai-Ai's video clips were shown to her "Tomorrow" number, up to the hilarious exit with her dog "Bantay."
BEST PIECES. Lea performed, with her distinctly clear voice, a total of 33 songs. Aside from her well-applauded "Halik" and "Poker Face," her Broadway pieces also topped the crowd's list of favorites.
She had the people gaping in awe as she rendered Les Miserables' "I Dreamed A Dream" and "On My Own," Cats' "Memory," Billy Elliot's "Electricity," and Wicked's "Defying Gravity."
Her heartfelt rendition of "Gone Too Soon"—her tribute to King of Pop Michael Jackson—brought the excited audience to a standstill. Gerald did a good job of interweaving the intro of "She's Out of My Life" into the song.
And she did a great job in choosing "Ang Bayan Ko" for the finale.
In these trying times for our people, it was more than apt to inject a sense of nationalism to the concept. Lea even quoted CNN's first Pinoy hero Efren Peñaflorida: "You are the change that you dream, as I am the change that I dream, and collectively, we are the change that this world needs to be."
For the encore, she sang "Thank You for the Music" and "If I Could."
The concert finished past 11:00 p.m. It was past most of the people's bedtime, but they had this sulit expression on their faces. Of course, there were a few hiccups. Some said that a few of her spiels—like, "I like you too, though I don't know you..." or "Let's get back to business..." were a bit abrupt and too brisk. Some also noticed that her shoes may have been giving her a hard time walking from one end of the stage to the other. And a few remarked about the transposition of note keys lower in some of the medley numbers, resulting to a less dramatic (though not necessarily less satisfactory) climax for the songs.
