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| Lea Salonga blasted suggestion that she’s hard to ‘deal’ with |
MANILA, Philippines – Even before people could criticize her for seemingly “siding” with a foreign artist by appearing as special guest at the James Ingram concerts next week that directly compete with those mounted by local artists, accomplished singer-actress Lea Salonga shared her thoughts on why it shouldn’t be an issue at all.
“I’d like to think of it this way: I am good enough to compete with anyone in the world. You pit me against someone like him [James] – put me in a show with him – and I won’t be a shrinking violet. I won’t hesitate to step up because here is someone who has sold millions of records and won Grammys. I mean, this guy is amazing so I want to perform with him,” she told Bulletin Entertainment and other members of media in an interview last Feb. 8.
While she understands that those who raise the issue about foreign “invasion” just want to protect the local industry, she believes they should trust the market and strive to be competitive.
“Come up with a product that can exceed the quality of shows that are coming in [from abroad]. The concert going public knows well enough what they want, what they like, and where they wanna go.”
According to a reliable source, ticket sales to the James Ingram concert started moving faster as soon as people found out about Lea’s participation. This is the reason Lea feels that in this case, it’s not James Ingram competing with local artists, but she in healthy contest with her peers.
“Let the games begin!” she quipped good-naturedly.
Lea put herself in the public’s shoes to further drive her point home.
“Alam ko kung sino ang magaling at hindi magaling, whether foreign or local [artist]. I know when I can be guaranteed a good time so I will choose [a show by] an artist kung saan ako magiging masaya. It’s my hard-earned peso, after all, so I wanna spend it where I’m gonna get more bang,” she said.
The singer-actress revealed that the James Ingram concert was the only offer she got for this season. She, however, blasted talk that this may have been so perhaps because she’s hard to “deal” with.
“Hindi ako mahirap kausapin. You just have to speak to me like a professional. Don’t talk to me in a way that would make me go, ‘Why am I talking to you?’
“I’ve been in the business for something 30 years…and I’m turning 41 in a couple of weeks. I’d appreciate it if my mom and I are spoken to professionally, with everything cut and dried.”
She pointed out that singing and performing is her livelihood and that “I know my worth.”
“And if you know my worth, it’s very easy. Hindi ako mahirap kausapin kung professional mo akong kakausapin,” she said. “I have the highest respect for that kind of usapan, yung professional.”
The James Ingram concerts will be held at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Feb. 17, and at the Waterfront Hotel Cebu on Feb. 18. Aside from solo songs, James and Lea will perform the duets “Somewhere Out There” and “How Do You Keep the Music Playing?”
This Valentine event is presented by That’s Ntertainment Productions and Cora Rodrigo with special participation of eRAse, The Edsa Shangri-La Hotel, The Black Fleet Limousine Bus, Glutathione, eRAse Placenta, Cyma Taverna, Cedrix, Fox Int’l Channels, ABS-CBN, Myx, ASAP 2012, Radio High 105.9 FM, Mellow 94.7, Monster Radio RX 93.1, Crossover 105.1, Love Radio 90.7, Yes FM 101.1, Easy Rock 96.3, Tambayan 101.9, Barangay LS 97.1, The Manila Bulletin, URLED Enterprise, StopOvers, Astro Plus, Ivory Music and Video, Sony Music, and Airtime Marketing Phils. Inc.