Cager James Yap temporarily ditched his basketball jersey for a smooth black suit when he arrived at the Araneta Coliseum last night, January 12, at Sharon Cuneta's birthday concert.
And for a rare moment he traded shooting a basketball for—singing!
Sending the Big Dome into a frenzy, the naturally shy and reserved Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants swingman obliged to do a duet with his wife, actress and television host Kris Aquino, as a present to the Megastar who celebrated her 44th birthday last January 6.
The celebrated couple sang the heartbreaking OPM gem, "Kung Tayo'y Magkakalayo," the ballad popularized by renowned songsmith Rey Valera, who incidentally is one of Sharon's favorite local composers.
James and Kris were not immune to controversies in their past domestic troubles. Sharon blurted out, "Huwag naman!" when the singing pair reached the number's refrain: "Aking nadarama / pagsasama nati'y 'di magtatagal."
As the saying goes, "a song is just a song," and there's no reason to put color on those lines.
And how did James fare as a singer? Uncomfortable as he seemed in singing on stage, the mere fact that he exerted effort to face a large crowd in an unusual setting deserved an appreciative applause. And he got it with a lot of cheering.
James should perhaps be accustomed to the idea of singing in public. As one spectator surmised, maybe James and Kris are practising to fine-tune their duet in time for the rigorous presidential campaign of Noynoy Aquino for the national elections this coming May. We will see.