The Ego Episodes

Friday, Mar. 07, 2003

Pizza! Mozzarella! OR The Day I Became A Groupie

I'll try to make this short (keyword: try). Promise.

Daddy D's birthday last Saturday brought us all back to the postgrad's flat (a.k.a Home for the Aged, tsk tsk tsk) to celebrate it with cake (apparently not enough) and games of cards and monopoly. Me? I anticipated an all-nighter so I brought my newly acquired book, "Here on Earth" by Alice Hoffman and a sachet of Nescafe Frothe in hazelnut flavor. At midnight, when almost everyone left to catch the last bus to school, I was getting a stress-relieving back massage from Nienna. The 7 of us tried to stay awake by playing cards and yeah, watching "Jackal" even if we couldn't hear the dialogues from all the talking and laughing. Had there been a device that could transform noise to electricity, we would've provided power for the whole house. Note to self: Invent such device and make millions. At about 4:30 am, in what is slowly becoming a tradition, we watched another movie ("Keeping the Faith") to kill time before the first morning bus arrives.

I only had time to change and eat breakfast before leaving for church. Sleepless but amazingly able to speak in complete sentences, I sang during mass and attended choir practice after that. I had agreed with LC to go with her to Scotts at 3 pm to watch a free show featuring the Italian a cappella group, Neri Per Caso. Given how my body was in dire need of sleep, I could've easily said 'No' to that. But I didn't. I went to Scotts knowing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about Neri Per Caso. Then...wow. It was A-MAZING! They were unbelievably good! A short 'doo doo doo' and then whoa! The mall was filled with harmony so good you could only sit there, smile and enjoy the music. Six guys singing and sounding like they have musical instruments with them? Mesmerizing! Effortless, too! I didn't care if I understood nothing (er, Italian rap?) because man, their songs rock! THEY! ROCK!

For that 15 minutes of fantastic singing, I forgot I was tired and sleepy. With them performing, who needs coffee? Still in awe, the three of us took pictures with them and their autographs. And more pictures. Then handshakes, handshakes, smiles. Hellos. Thanks. They don't understand a lot of English, so we just smiled. More smiles. Yes, we were shameless. Hee.

Me: Wow. That was a really wonderful performance. Uh, could you sign here? (puts paper and pen forward)

NpC guy1 (didn't know his name yet): (looks up) Huh? (signs anyway)

See? They're adorable. Really. They're nice. Even on stage!

I SAW THEIR SHOW!!!

Tuesday night at Singapore Conference Hall. They opened with "Via La Mamma" and took the crowd with Queen's "Mama mia, mama mia! Mama mia let me go..." Everybody went crazy, I tell you. And crazier still when they sang their most popular (and I'd say most-loved) song ever, "Le Ragazze" (in English, "Women"). Every song was more than worth the $35 I paid for the show. I had a great time with "Sentimento Pentimento" because Diego did his "beat hand to chest while dancing" thing. He dances better than Ricky Martin. But then, I've never seen Ricky Martin in person. Ooh, and Massimo? His voice is awesome! Especially in the reggae part.

Massimo: (puts out microphone for the audience) Nooo woman no cryyy...

Me: (and only me) Nooo woman no cryyy...

That really happened. Honest. I didn't hear another person sing that Bob Marley bit. At least in my section of the hall.

So yeah, it was so fun. Shameless, but fun. It was good to let my hair down (literally, too) and be entertained by 6 guys with muscular shoulders. Hehe...joke. I joke. Their singing really made me smile and happy inside.

Note to self: Marry rich and invite Neri Per Caso to sing for wedding reception.

From left: Diego, Massimo, Gonzalo, Ciro, Mario, and Mimi (the bald one).

{ joycie at 10:52 a.m.}