Sam Costanilla
Spotlight
COLLABORATION. Guess who unexpectedly called me up for the second time a few days back? No less than one of the country’s highly respected musical artists, Jose Mari Chan, phoned to let me hear him sing a jingle that the two of us collaborated on—he for the tune or music and I for the lyrics in Cebuano. Chan is an Ilonggo and writing the Cebuano lyrics to the political jingle was a problem.
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RECORDING. In the middle of last month, I e-mailed to Chan the lyrics based on a tune that he hummed and recorded on a cassette tape that he sent to Cebu. It’s a tune that can be sung and semi-march in tempo. After listening to it for two times, I had an idea about the right lyrics to use. In his second phone call, Chan sang the jingle to me so that I could check on the right syllabication as well as the correct pronunciation of the Cebuano words. After telling him that everything was okay, he told me that the recording would be done in Manila with Gino Padilla as singer. Chan could not sing it because of his very tight schedule. He was slated to fly to Canada for a concert. It’s a big honor to work with these musical giants.
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ARROGANCE. This incident took place shortly before a recent concert started inside the ballroom of a big hotel in the city.
Three matrons, all popular figures from a neighboring city, occupied some vacant seats near the stage in order to have a clearer and closer look at the performers. A young man from the production crew approached the matrons and told them that the seats they had taken were not for them. His voice was loud enough to be overheard by the other people seated nearby.
The guy could have calmly and diplomatically advised the three women to transfer to the other seats even if they only had complimentary tickets to the show.
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RESIGN. Let me advise the general public that I have tendered my irrevocable resignation from the Cebu United Radio and Television Inc. of which I was one of the founding consultants.
I need not specify the reason of my action. But I am just notifying the public that any solicitation letter or any form of communication from this club bearing or mentioning my name should be viewed as without any sanction from me and therefore considered unauthorized.
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BAD. The subordinates of this person are one in saying that their boss is a very good friend and a kind person but wanting as a radio station manager. They are complaining that their area is not conducive to working as it is without proper ventilation, to say the least. (E-mail: samcost@yahoo.com or call/text 09163999909)