Why Regine's Silver Concert tonight was still a success

Even before the show started, I already knew she had lost her voice earlier today. Got the news from one of my friends also performing in the show asking for prayers for her, plus I ran into my choirmate Melf, who was Reg's doctor.  Apparently things were pretty bad.  They seriously considered calling off the show in the morning, but decided otherwise as Regine got her voice back - or at least some of it - later in the day.  With some medication, she still managed to perform and give her all. 

She opened the show with an uptempo version of my song "Shine" - which, oo nga naman, was the perfect opener for a show called "Silver" - and she still managed to sing and hit the high notes, but the audience could immediately tell something was wrong.  After that, her opening spiel was an unscripted and sincere one expressing frustration that of all days for her to get sick, it had to be today.  She promised to still do her best, and she most certainly did.

I was moved to tears when, during one of her first few numbers (I think it was "Dadalhin"), she remained quiet during the song's chorus, and you could hear the audience singing as if to reassure Regine of their presence, or to encourage her to sing back, or to sing in her place and sort of say "don't worry Reg, we got this for you." 

And when Regine spoke, in tears, about how her audience deserved so much more than she could give, you would hear people randomly shouting back at her "Okay lang 'yan!" or "Kaya mo 'yan!"  It was heartwarming, to say the least.

With that kind of appreciation from her fans, it wasn't hard to understand Regine's frustration over losing her voice.  She said she had worked so hard for months to get back in shape because she wanted to be perfect for everyone.  She really wanted to give her audience the best, and even though she did actually manage to sing (and actually sing pretty well and manage to belt  out some high notes - just not as well as she usually does) for Regine, her current state was just not acceptable. 

And so she made a spur-of-the-moment promise (which must have made the show's producers nervous) to do the concert again for free when she got better.  Later on, to show it wasn't all lip service, she told the audience to keep their tickets so they could see the repeat for free.  She was absolutely serious about giving her audience the perfect show.  And of course, the audience was absolutely thrilled over this bit of news.

So beyond celebrating 25 years of Regine's commitment to her craft, the evening became a testament to an important part of her success: the unconditional love of her fans.  In my opinion, it unexpectedly made this anniversary concert perfect.  After all, where would any artist be without their fans?

Vice Ganda, whom Regine called onstage for some impromptu entertainment, said it best and spoke for everyone there: "Hindi mo na kailangang bumirit at patunayan sa amin na magaling ka.  Alam na alam na namin 'yun.  Andito kami kasi gusto ka naming makasama ulit."

So much love in that arena tonight.  I'm glad I was there to see it.