EXO singing Yeng Constantino's Hawak Kamay at Dream Kpop
Fantasy Concert
I have a thing with Korean stars singing OPM songs.
It all started with MYMP's songs being played on Super Junior's radio program Sukira, and Donghae listening to MYMP and even tweeting Fil-Am The Voice contestant JR Aquino saying he is a fan and would like to make friends (lol that kid).
And yesterday, EXO sang Yeng Constantino's original Hawak Kamay in Dream Kpop Fantasy Concert at the Mall of Asia Concert Grounds. Chanyeol and Lay played the guitars while Kris beat boxed. The remaining members sang.
It was very fulfilling. EXO is a favorite group of mine and knowing that they managed to memorize this Filipino song is just wonderful. The thought of them listening to the original just sends shivers down my spine. EXO listening to Yeng, learning how to play and sing the song. They say learning how to pronounce Tagalog is difficult, and they pulled it off effortlessly! Xiumin's pronunciation is superb, I just wish he sang more lines. They even changed some of the notes and made it higher, they owned it.
There seems to be a thing with OPM and SM Entertainment's artists. To start off with, Super Junior KRY's ballad in their 3rd album What If is a Nina original (though I prefer the Korean version). Jung sisters, Jessica and Krystal sang another Nina original in one of their 2012 Gayo performances
Someday, thank God Jessica's English is fine.
Is it just SME franchising songs from other countries like they usually do? Or some SME staff is a half Filipino or an OPM fan? Whatever that thing is, I don't know. But it's nice that in a growing music industry that is Kpop, OPM is being acknowledged.
It's nice to find out that some miles away from our archipelago, someone is listening to an OPM song. Though that person doesn't understand the lyrics, he/she finds the melody worth listening to - just like how everyone of us got addicted to Kpop.
I am a Kpop fan living on Philippine soil where the genre is highly known but is often bashed. I am a Kpop fan who is still - and forever will be a fan of Original Philippine Music. Instances such as these makes my Filipino heart proud.
