Color Me Badd and All 4 One experience and yes I danced onstage – FINALE

And so finally we have come to the BIG FINALE of my All 4 One in Philippines and Color Me Badd in Philippines fan experience! Yes, folks, that entire experience deserves 3 parts 😀

For part 1, please visit my big All 4 One and Color Me Badd experience page.

For part 2, you can visit this Color Me Badd experience page.

I would also like to thank each and every one of you who took the time out to read, leave comments and shared the articles. Hopefully, more Color Me Badd fans and more All 4 One fans would get the chance to read my posts! Help me promote, okay? 🙂 I’m thinking of raffling off autographed photos as my token of gratitude! What do you think? 🙂 Yes? No? 🙂 Let me know in the comments section! 🙂

Thanks again from the bottom of my heart and please, please, please leave comments and share this post with everyone! That would mean a whole lot to me. Daghang salamat! Maraming salamat! Muchas gracias! Terima kasih! Merci! Thank you! And, oh, by the way, this article will be published in newspapers, magazines and a host of other blogs and websites. Sit tight 🙂 Warning: this post contains a lot of photos and videos! So prepare to spend minutes, hours, an entire day on this post 😛

~oOo~

As expected, hundreds of people already started lining up as early as 6 PM outside the venue of the All 4 One and Color Me Badd Live in Cagayan de Oro Philippines show. Everyone had anxious looks on their faces – most probably because everyone wanted to grab the best seats possible. Lucky for me, I had a seat along the front row! 😉

And look at what was included in the video playback: (They kept on playing the video for about an hour before the start of the show!)

A lot of my friends were in the audience and they kept sending me text messages – all reminding me to enjoy the concert, take tons of photos and videos and most importantly, to stay calm and collected. And yes, flash the Color Me Badd and All 4 One boys my biggest, sweetest smile. They knew me too well.

Several Mindanaoan.com readers/subscribers also bought tickets after they read my posts (some even from far flung areas like Surigao and Lanao del Norte!) and I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you! Thank you so much for trusting this blog!

And finally…the show!

Be still my heart 🙂

Now here comes the scariest part of the All 4 One and Color Me Badd Philippines show *gulp*. BUT please allow me a teensy weensy backstory.

So since the Cagayan de Oro City leg was the 3rd show in the Philippines and because I watched some of the videos taken during the Manila and Cebu City shows online (I know, I was only slightly excited), I pretty much had an idea of what to expect. I knew that Color Me Badd will be on first and that All 4 One will get a female member of the audience and serenade her and that there will be a Michael Jackson tribute and that there will be an encore featuring the MJ song “Man In The Mirror.” All those happened except that two ladies went up the stage for the serenade bit.

Now what I honestly DID NOT…no, make that…what I NEVER, EVER in my entire life EVER expect was I’d turn into some kind of overnight sensation (or embarrassment, depending on how you look at it) that evening. Well, it was more like someone who just got thrust into the limelight and basically enjoyed her 15 minutes of fame but you get the drift!

The Color Me Badd and All 4 One guys were doing the Michael Jackson medley. I had just finished taking a short video and a few photos when I decided I really had to stop documenting and just start dancing, singing along and simply having fun! (It was an MJ medley, after all!) I think they were about to sing the 4th song when out of nowhere, KT just ran towards me and grabbed my hand! I honestly thought Kevin and I were only supposed to stay THERE…as in at the spot where I was but nooooo, he instructed me to leave my camera on my chair and dragged me towards the stage. It all happened so fast I could only remember muttering “wait, wait, wait!” and thinking if the rest of the guys pulled others, too.

To my horror, I realized that I was the only female onstage, that KT had this big smile on his face, that the spotlight was on me and that the cheers and applause were real.

OH.

MY.

GOD.

And to make things worse (or abso-freakin-lutely amazing – again, depending on how you look at it), the song that they were about to sing was one of my Michael Jackson favorites – “The Way You Make Me Feel.” (Here’s the music video to refresh your memory) Yes, the very same song that I often play when I’m in one of my crazy moods and want to practice my ramp modeling skills…not that I have any!

It all felt so surreal. Certainly, this was not part of the show! And certainly, I did not expect this to happen! Wait, wait, wait! Was this all real? Oh. Yes. It. Was.

When I realized that there was no turning back, I just gamely danced and had fun onstage! And here are photos to immortalize that truly amazing experience (courtesy of my friend Ding and a new blogger – friend Michelle…thank you so much!) I also have videos but I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to share them. What do you guys think? Let me know!

For your reading pleasure, I present you the lyrics of “The Way You Make Me Feel,” as sung to me and to thousands of others by All 4 One and Color Me Badd, circa September 10, 2011:

MARK:

Hey Pretty Baby With The High Heels On
You Give Me Fever
Like I’ve Never, Ever Known
You’re Just A Product Of Loveliness
I Like The Groove Of Your Walk,
Your Talk, Your Dress

JAMIE:

I Feel Your Fever From Miles Around
I’ll Pick You Up In My Car
And We’ll Paint The Town
Just Kiss Me Baby
And Tell Me Twice
That You’re The One For Me

BRYAN (with everyone else doing the back-up lyrics):

The Way You Make Me Feel (The Way You Make Me Feel)
You Really Turn Me On (You Really Turn Me On)
You Knock Me Off Of My Feet (You Knock Me Off Of My Feet)
My Lonely Days Are Gone (My Lonely Days Are Gone)

MARK:
I Like The Feelin’ You’re Givin’ Me
Just Hold Me Baby And I’m In Ecstasy
Oh I’ll Be Workin’ From Nine To Five
To Buy You Things To Keep You By My Side

JAMIE:

I Never Felt So In Love Before
Just Promise Baby, You’ll Love Me Forevermore
I Swear I’m Keepin’ You Satisfied
‘Cause You’re The One For Me

All just happened within a span of 4 minutes but those were the funnest 4 minutes of my life.

Jamie Jones, the ever gentleman that he is, escorted me back to my seat. Bryan enjoined the crowd by saying, “Yeah! Let’s give her a hand!” while KT said, “Let’s give it up for Irene!” Tony, Delious, Alfred Nevarez and Mark all clapped, cheered and smiled. I also remember hearing a lot of applause from the audience.

Hallelujah! I survived!

Just check out Mark and Tony! So sweet!

Of course, it took me a good few minutes to compose myself. I was still on a high! The people around me kept on congratulating me. When I looked back on stage, I saw Bryan Abrams trying to catch my attention. I caught Bryan Abrams’ gaze. He smiled broadly and gave me an A-OK sign. Alfred smiled at me while Tony Borowiak winked at me. Apparently they thought I did a good job onstage! So cool! My heart burst with pride.

The boys then continued with the rest of the Michael Jackson medley. When they started singing “Billie Jean,” though, Bryan was again in one of his goofy moods. Just look at these dorky looks he gave me: (he was trying to tease me because that was also the look I gave him when it was his turn to sing to me onstage) See? I told you Bryan Abrams is funny!

The show ended with a rousing encore – MJ’s “Man In The Mirror.” I was able to take this nice photo of Delious Kennedy (he currently uses this as his official Facebook profile photo!) I have other photos of the guys which I will post in my upcoming (and long overdue!) professional photography portfolio. So please stay tuned.

What do you think of the photo I took? 🙂

[Show as slideshow]

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Fast forward a few days later…the guys already went to Bacolod then to Guam…when I found out that they were to come back to Manila. Apparently, they were to fly out to Los Angeles from Manila! As it happened, I myself was also in Manila as well to attend official embassy functions, meet new PR and social media marketing clients and tend to my outsourcing and content development business.

Shall we call it providential?

Anyways, I couldn’t help but wonder if I could see them again, ask for autographs and maybe ask for a special video message. Now remember Hanna, Jamie Jones’ friendly and beautiful wife? I practically gathered all my intestinal fortitude, contacted her and asked if it was possible for me to have a few minutes of their time before their flight to L.A. She immediately said yes and shared with me the details of where they were supposed to stay and what time would be best for me to drop by. And for that – I will always be grateful to Hanna.

Thank you so much Hanna for all the kindness and understanding! You have a great heart!

Now, I will be honest — I cancelled my appointments with two political PR clients that day because of Color Me Badd and All 4 One. No, I did not regret it and yes, they’re still my clients. They actually found it rather amusing that I allowed myself to become the ultimate fan. Thank goodness.

By the way, the guys did not know that I was going to meet them that day so as soon as they saw me, they all looked pleasantly surprised and gave me big bear hugs! I spotted Mr. Burly, who again did not look quite happy to see me, but I no longer cared what he thought.

I then grabbed that chance to chat with the guys. Alfred, Delious and Tony all said that while they could not wait to be back home, they know that they would miss the Philippines a lot.

“The energy here is different,” Alfred said.

Before I forget, I must make special mention of Tony Borowiak. When I saw him again, he was clean shaven, had quite a smile on his face and he looked mighty dapper. I actually did not recognize him! I told him that there was just something about his aura that seemed right. Well, as it turned out, he got engaged to his beautiful Alyssa days after! What wonderful news! Congratulations Tony and best wishes Alyssa!

Meanwhile, KT and Bryan told me that Color Me Badd is set to release an album next year. I assured them that it will definitely be a hit! Who else is as excited as I am?

Of course, I also maximized that chance to talk to my love Mark Calderon, who I think looked the most startled when he saw me. He hugged me and then said, “It’s such a blessing that you’re here because I have something important to tell you.”

He took me by the hand and led me to a corner. He said that he missed the Philippines. He also told me about what happened in Guam (there apparently was a little drama over there, too), how he appreciated this big break that they got from Wright Entertainment Group (their management arm) and how he feels blessed to be back writing songs again. We even talked about his wife (yes, my heart cracked a bit!), his children and about the pendant I wore! (I think I’ve been lucky with my chosen accessories, don’t you think?) I’m sure I was blushing the entire time.

And then Mark Calderon led me to where Kevin Thornton and Bryan Abrams stood. He turned serious and told me something that practically melted my heart like ice cream left under the sun:

“Now, in front of these two, I will say this. You are really something. You have personality. You made the show incredibly fun. You’re the reason why the show was fun to do! I wish you were there in all of our shows. I wish you will always be there in all of our shows! You are just amazing! Thank you Irene.”

It was the sweetest thing I have ever heard. I felt a lump in my throat. I could not speak. Inevitably, tears ran across my cheek. Mark said, “Aww,” gave me a kiss on the cheek and hugged me tight. KT hugged me as well. And Bryan, who stood beside me, held my hand and gave me kisses on the cheek and forehead. Needless to say, my world spun and it felt like heaven on earth. Just like the first time! I felt like the luckiest fan in the entire universe!

Here’s the special video message from All 4 One and Color Me Badd for all their Filipino fans:

Before we all parted ways, I got warm hugs again from all of the guys. Jamie even whispered “I appreciate you” when he hugged me. That was really nice of him to say.

Then Color Me Badd and All 4 One left for the airport. Call me overly dramatic but I felt a sudden surge of sadness.

A few minutes later, the main producer (NOT the local producers who were all very nice to me) saw me, approached me and told me, “Ang tiyaga mo rin, ano?” (You really are patient, aren’t you?)

Now, I realize that in the Filipino culture, that can easily be considered as a snide remark. And I also realize that I could take it as such but I thought I should take the high road and take it as a compliment instead. I mean, really, let’s face it. There is a grain of truth to that — I really was patient. Patient enough to cancel all my appointments (with political clients, no less! Hah!), travel all the way to where they were, forget all about pride and timidity and just be…A FAN. I was that patient little fan who gathered all her temerity just to show how she appreciates the artists that she likes. For others, that may have been a little bit absurd or even unnecessary. To me, it was but something I felt I must do.

I’ll share a quick anecdote — at the time I met the guys, the American Idol season 10 finalists were also in the same area where we all were. There was actually a small army of fans waiting for the AI finalists – all armed with posters, CDs and what-have-yous – but I was that one patient fan who’d rather talk to and spend time with All 4 One and Color Me Badd, thank you very much.

So if being a real fan means being that patient, I will gladly take it and pat myself on the back.

My big Color Me Badd fan experience and All 4 One fan experience was absolutely magical — to the truest sense of the word. If there’s one thing that I truly appreciate out of this entire All 4 One and Color Me Badd experience, that is the chance to remember the beauty and fully experience the simple joys of being a real fan once again. The kind who will go a little crazy and cheer her heart out because it will make her feel…whole. Frankly, I thought I was already a tad too old to be tickled pink over these things. I thought I’ve already become jaded. Thank goodness that’s apparently not the case.

So thank you Jamie, Tony, Alfred, Delious, Mark, Bryan and KT. At the risk of using a hackneyed phrase, may I say it was surreal…but nice.

See you all again! My love to all of you!

Related Images:

Mindanaoan Irene

Mindanaoan is a multi-awarded blogger, content creator, seasoned social media strategist and publicist with undeniably successful track record. 2012 International Visitor Leadership Program (for global leaders) alumnus and O visa grantee (for people with extraordinary skills and who have risen to the top of their field). Avid traveler and a proud relief operations volunteer. Regular resource person for social media, blogging and content creation. Available for work and travel – [email protected]

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