One of Favorite Episodes of PDA

Last night was one of my favorite episodes of pda. *If you haven't seen the episode yet and plan to watch it consider this a spoiler.

The scholars were told that there would be a surprise guest coming later that evening, but they didn't tell them who. So to give them clues, they played a song by this guest artist... and they played... I am but a small voice! omg. i was jumping around in front of the tv! i still didn't know who it was. i thought it was a boy singing it. Turns out that it was Lea Salonga! When i was 16 - 18, and the first time i watched the "Making of Miss Saigon" VHS that I bought from a bookstore at the Barnyard in Carmel, and saw her face. I fell in love! then i heard her voice. oh boy. I think that it was the first time i ever saw a pinoy/pinay making it in the "mainstream" world. I did think it odd that she had an english accent though. And I remember when me and beej would talk about her, he loved her even more. Then he gave in to the tsismis of her being big-headed and he didn't like her anymore... and moved on to loving Regine. shoot. i did too.

doy... getting back to Lea. So fast forward... 15 years to last night she was on the show to give advise to the scholars. I learned a lot from her and her career. Turns out she was with them for 2 hours. Here's a synopsis of her discussion from the PDA website:

Soon after the last expulsion night, the scholars were surprised when internationally-known singer and theater actress Lea Salonga visited the Academy. Headmaster Jim was on hand to watch the proceedings but, like the scholars, couldn’t help asking a few questions himself. Lea herself was eager to impart some of the tricks of the trade she has learned after about 17 years in the music business, as well as answer all the questions the starstruck scholars were able to muster up; she even sang ‘On My Own’ for them.

“This is a very fickle business,” she advised. [If you have to start a rehearsal at 10am, you don't walk through the door at 10am. You have to be able to work and be awake AT 10AM!] “You can be fired for being late and not basically doing your job.” She also looked back at some 'flash-in-the-pan' musicians, and noted: “Being famous is not the hard part, (you’re already in a reality TV show); it’s staying there. Your job is to stay in people’s minds, in people’s hearts – that’s what you have to work for.”

She also told the students how some of the famous personalities she has encountered and worked with are, in her own words, “very undiva-ish.” She mentioned that people like Jonathan Price, Julie Andrews and Hugh Jackman (“He really is that handsome,” she added) all show up for rehearsals promptly, without assistants or alalays. This brought her to impart her own technique in dealing with arrogance brought about by fame: “Don’t believe a single word of adulation.” [She also said to not believe anything anyone tells you, like if you were amazing or if you were bad. Don't believe them. Be gracious and thank them, but in the back of your head keep telling yourself that you can ALWAYS get better. That there is always room for improvement. She also mentioned people like Sharon, Gary, and Martin as examples of artists who have kept a long career. She cited their professionalism.]

She also shared some info on how to get into character, how to deal with sudden drastic changes in performances (“I got used to memorizing a song in 20 minutes”), and complimented them on having teachers to give them technical voice lessons early in their career; a privilege she herself hasn’t experienced. Finally, she left the scholars with these words of advice: “Be punctual, be respectful, be disciplined, be professional (your lifestyle must complement your work), and put your heart into it. This is the best freakin’ job in the world!” [She said that in every performance, you have to think of it as like the best food in the world, and sink your teeth into it, like a big piece of Crispy Pata! Love what you do that much!]

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her visit was really inpirational and educational to me. if you don't like her for her "personality", you have to respect her for following her dream and her determination for being in the business. as i say, you can't hate on anyone if they've actually DONE IT!

check her out on PDA on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFXVdrkfh6s (this is part 1 of 4, but you can navigate from there.)

ciao