IT WAS a night of romance and nostalgia as singing broadcaster Dante Luzon and Cebuana Songbird Girlie Lapinid Las Piñas wowed the Cebuano audience with their carefully selected repertoire of Broadway classics and standards at the Teatro Casino, Waterfront Hotel, Cebu City last October 17. Dubbed On Cue, the show was indeed a resounding success.

Dante belted out his opening number For Once In My Life with a reggae tempo followed by a Sinatra ditty I've Got You Under My Skin.

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And to prove his versatility as a performer, he crooned Ikaw Lamang Ang Mamahalin, a song originally sung by Joey Albert and re-recorded later by Martin Nievera.

As if he owns the stage when he performs. He's very comfortable even with his spiels", Jingle Saynes the concert director commented during the dress rehearsal.

For her part, Girlie Lapinid Las Piñas truly lived up to her title "The Homegrown Diva". After all, she's not the 2009 Cebu Pop Music Festival Grand Prize winner for nothing. She was Barbra Streisand when she did "Happy Days Are Here Again" and automatically became Gladys Knight for her next number.

One of the audience's favorite that night was her duet with Dante as they sang Usahay (sometimes) and Kanunay (always). Their cover version of Lou Rawls' "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine" also elicited a big round of applause from the audience including famous Cebuana singer Dulce who took time out of her busy schedule in Manila just to watch the show.

All the songs in the show were exclusively arranged for Dante and Girlie by musical director Nilo Abella.

"We only had a four piece band but I felt it was a symphony backing us up. There was no room for mistakes. Everything was in notes," Dante says.

On Cue was produced by Image Wise Company for the benefit of the SOS Children's Village and the victims of typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng.

"How I wish we could bring the show to Davao. I've been away for almost four years now and doing a concert in Davao would be a great homecoming gift for me", Dante sighs.

Email this writer for comments and suggestions, send to skipojack@gmail.com or aaron2villena@yahoo.com. Watch our first monthly finals of the gods and goddesses pageant at Rizal Promenade. Our apologies for postponing for the nth time, see you on October 30 and witness the four ladies and five lords vying for the plum a day before Halloween.