"I'm excited," ang umpisang bulalas ni Regine Velasquez-Alcasid tungkol sa nalalapit niyang digital concert, ang Freedom, na magaganap sa mismong Valentine's Day, February 14, 2021, at 8 p.m.
"I've been... actually hindi pa kami nagre-rehearse pero nagre-rehearse na ako by myself. Ganun ako ka-excited.
"Tawang-tawa yung asawa [Ogie Alcasid] ko sa akin kasi hindi ako normally, alam mo yun...Minsan, sabi niya sa akin, 'Excited ka ba?'
"Sabi ko, 'Medyo.'
"So I'm very excited, and I'm also... kasi medyo, alam mo yung parang eager na eager ako dito sa concert na ito, I don't know why.
"I've done a couple of online shows last year, pero I'm so eager with this one and I'm so excited because I guess the rep [repertoire] is different, so ibang mga awitin, ibang genre so that's why I guess I'm really very excited abut this one."
Tuwing may concert si Regine ay napakarami nitong hinahandang pasabog na performances, sorpresa, at gowns and costumes.
"Oo pero ito mas madaming pasabog dito, iyon," at muling tumawa si Regine.
"Like I said, I'm so excited about this one. Hindi na nga ako mapagkatulog kaya nga yata pumayat na rin ako."
Nakausap ng members ng media mula sa iba't ibang bansa si Regine sa live streaming for Freedom mediacon kahapon, January 26.
Natanong si Regine kung bakit Freedom ang titulo ng kanyang digital concert.
"Marami siyang meaning sa akin ngayon, e. Because of this pandemic that happened parang we all want to be free. We want to be able to go out and do, you know, what we used to do. Go to work, eat in a restaurant, without being afraid of contracting, you know, whatever.
"Ganun siya, free of fear, freedom from anxiety, iyon, madami siyang meaning.
"But personally, freedom really means ano lang to me, kasi nga since I've been doing the online show, medyo parang... hindi naman sa nagsawa akong kantahin yung mga lagi kong kinakanta, pero medyo I wanted to do something else, and I wanted to be given that freedom of singing whatever I want.
"Parang iyon lang naman yun."
At dahil naging Valentine's Day tradition na niya ang mag-concert, aminado ang Songbird na medyo challenging ang mataas na expectation ng mga viewers.
Dugtong ng Kapamilya star, "And I also wanted to be free of the expectations of people. You know like how every year I would have a concert and nai-stress ako sa kind of... kasi nababasa ko sa Twitter, sa Instagram, and the kind of expectations that people have whenever I would do concerts, it drives me crazy!
"So I wanted to be free of that and so I haven't been reading and just... kasi pagka yung masyadong mataas yung expectations ng tao, hindi ko na sila nasu-surprise.
"So parang iyon yung pakiusap ko na, 'Ibaba muna natin nang konti yung expectations natin, para kahit papaano ma-surprise kayo.'
"Kahit sa isang relationship kailangan pa rin yung nasu-surprise natin yung isa't-isa, hindi ba? Kasi kasama yun e, kasama yun, e.
"So I wanted to have that in this concert."
Dagdag pa ni Regine tungkol sa kanyang digital concert, "Freedom is really more personal, for me. I wanted to be free of all these things; anxiety, fear, expectations of people, I wanted to be free of that."
Sa direksiyon ni Paolo Valenciano at musical direction ni Raul Mitra, dalawampung production numbers ang mapapanood sa Freedom, na isang full concert na aabutin ng humigit-kumulang dalawang oras, kumpleto sa band at back-up dancers.
May special guest rin si Regine na ayaw muna niyang i-reveal. Basta ang guest raw niya sa concert ay hindi online mapapanood kundi nasa stage, sa concert studio ng ABS-CBN, mismo ito at live rin na magpe-perform.
Freedom will be streamed worldwide via the digital platform KTX.ph, following previous exclusive and successful musical events like Jed Madela's New Normal and Apollo: A Daniel Padilla Digital Experience.
