Ilang araw bago ang actual na kaarawan ni Martin Nievera ay sinurpresa siyang kantahan ng Happy Birthday song, at binigyan ng cake at gift sa presscon ng Valentine’s concert nila ni Lani Misalucha titled Timeless Classics.
Fifty-seven na si Martin on February 5.
Pero sabi nga namin sa kanya, hindi siya mukhang 57.
“Oh, I don’t feel it, some morning, I feel I’m 107 but most of the days of the week, I feel much, much younger around with young people, good people. I just feel so blessed with friends and family and I feel young all the time,” positibong pahayag ng Concert King.
Ano ang mga nilu-look forward niya ngayong 2019?
“I look forward to more challenges, more shows.
“I’m a workaholic,” saad niya.
“I love to perform and meet new people. Travel to places that I’ve never been. I wanna be all-over the world and spread the Filipino entertainment all-over the world.”
Nabanggit ni Martin at inamin na dati, sobra siyang “hungry for fame.” Lalo na ang makilala internationally.
Nawala na ba ang pangarap niyang iyon?
“No, that’s always there,” pag-amin niya.
“That’s one thing I truly believe, you have to be hungry. That’s why sometimes it’s a common practice on my part, I don’t know with other artists but I don’t want to get paid until after the show.
“I want to perform hungry.
“You need to be hungry.
“That’s the singer worth paying the tickets for, but if you watch all of these complacent superstars and think that they’re God’s gift to perform and they don’t owe the audience, it really means a lot to me that people spend their last earnings to come and watch my show.
“Sometimes when I go to Las Vegas, people traveled from Ohio, from Alaska, from Honolulu. They traveled so far, they spent so much to watch me one hour and a half, I really appreciate what the people do for me that I try to give back as much as possible.
“I do a long meet and greet. I take pictures, selfies,” lahad niya.
“There’s no rules when it comes to me. I don’t even want my securities to get involved because I feel, I owe it to people who worked so hard and just spend one hour and half, two hours with me.”
Pagdating sa kanyang career, sa kabila ng titulo niya bilang Concert King, may hinahangad pa rin daw siya na magawa o makamit.
Sabi nga niya, “Actually, the moment you say, nandiyan na kayo, then you’re not there anymore. That’s fast!
“Success, fame is very temporary and very immediate. The moment you had it, it’s gone tomorrow. Someone else will become the next Concert King or the next person to watch.”
Ang maging talk show host pa rin daw na tatatak sa lahat ang gusto niyang gawin.
“Gusto kong gawin ang ginagawa ko ngayon,” lahad niya.
“I wanna keep doing what I’m doing. I’d like to have a talk show that will grow old with me. I’m already doing one now at ANC called Long Story Short, LSS, it’s a Martin Nievera show.
“That’s a nice start for me to go back to hosting department. But I’d like to have a show similar to that of James Corden, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel. Yung patagalan ba, the older I get, the older the show gets. And I wanna grow old with the station that believes in me.”
Ipinarating na rin daw niya ito sa kasalukuyang network, ang ABS-CBN.
Ayon kay Martin, “I’ve always pitched it to ABS-CBN but there just doesn’t seem to be enough viewership or demand for that kind of show. So whatever it is that I’m doing right now, I love to keep doing it.
“But if there’s one thing that I want to do that I have not yet done, to have a TV show that I can say, the station wants me to grow old with.”
Ngayong February 14, kasama ang Asia’s Nightingale na si Lani ay magkakaroon sila ng Valentine’s concert sa P.I.C.C. Plenary Hall hatid ng Starmedia Entertainment.
Naitanong nga namin kay Martin na sa napakarami na ng Valentine’s concert na nagawa niya, paano pa niya nasasabing espesyal at kaibahan ng Timeless Classics.
Ayon kay Martin, “With Lani Misalucha, it’s always such a pleasure. She’s such an amazing performer. Humble, sincere, hardworking person. These are the traits of the people you want to work with.
“I hate being uncomfortable with who I’m with. I hate having to lower my standards and bring them down. With Lani, you have to bring up into a different level.
“What makes it different, it’s a different year, different songs, the same two people. I think, the audience who comes to watch us sing, we don’t need to see you rap, we don’t need to see you dance, that’s someone else, right?
“That’s other singers and if you want to watch us on February 14 at the P.I.C.C., you’re going to watch Lani Misalucha and Martin Nievera do what they do best and that’s to sing and to sing together.”
